CAS freshman answering questions

<p>Just finished my first semester here. I'll write a detailed review later, but if anyone wants to know anything specific...</p>

<p>Hi! I made a separate thread about this, but I’m very curious (and I hope I’m not being obnoxious about this, if I am I apologize), do you know anything about conditional acceptances in the ED round and what it might mean?</p>

<p>It means they liked something about your application but think you might need some academic preparation before enrolling, so you’re going to have to go to a summer program before your freshman year.</p>

<p>My daughter will be applying to colleges next year. She is a bit quiet and reserve. Is it easy for someone like her to fit in due to the bigness in size of the campus and student population? How tough is it to beat the curve and get As?</p>

<p>Awesome, thanks!</p>

<p>Hey so how strict is the swim test. I heard for one of the 3 laps u need to use a backstrock. Assuming you only know how to swim on ur front will they fail you?</p>

<p>Sorry for the late response.</p>

<p>^^
I don’t think the size would affect something like that much. It really depends on her. The school does go out of its way to help people make friends during the first few weeks, but some people don’t put in the effort. I know people whose friend counts are in the single digits.</p>

<p>Curve? Depends on the class. Some of them have very tough curves.</p>

<p>BreakingGrace. I don’t know, as I haven’t taken it yet. I’ve heard it’s really easy.</p>

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<p>As long as you don’t drown and are on your back, you’ll be fine. </p>

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<p>There are a good amount of quiet/reserved people here, so I think she’ll be fine. And no, the size doesn’t have much to do with it. If anything, it makes it easier for her to find students that she gets along with well. </p>

<p>Like Saugus said, it depends on the college and class you’re in. Freshmen classes generally are curved lower than upper level classes, though.</p>

<p>^
My FWS had NO curve at all. I never did any of the assigned readings and wrote every essay the night before, but I still got a solid ‘A’.</p>

<p>On the other hand, classes like Intermediate Micro are pretty painful curve wise given that a lot of the class are internationals who know calculus like the backs of their hands.</p>

<p>International Relations wasn’t too nice either.</p>

<p>How hard is economics at Cornell? Would you have gone to UC Berkeley instead? Personally I think Berk is better than Cornell in econ, but the only reason I’d go to Cornell is really because of the name…but if it’s as crazy as I’ve seen and so not “well-rounded” then i really wouldn’t wanna go there….</p>

<p>Is it a college devoted to studying? or do kids there do cool extra curriculars? is everyone nerdy or is it real diverse like other ivies? <----what I meant to ask last post lol…</p>

<p>and how large are the class sizes…? if its gonna be hundreds, I might as well go to Berkeley lol</p>

<p>This is Saugus’ thread, but if you don’t mind I will answer Young’s question. Cornell students tend to be more well rounded than other top tier schools. You may not find as many cured cancer type, but they are the kind people you wouldn’t mind having a drink with. You’ll find a franternity brother with 3.9 GPA in engineering who enjoys hiking. You’ll find a pretty girl who is a math major with ambition of going into IB. Everyone studies hard at Cornell, but they also party quite a bit. Lower level courses have more students, but upper level courses can be quite small. Cornell is more similar to Penn, NU and Duke, they have more of a pre-professional feel.</p>

<p>Unless you are instate, but why would you pay to go to a public school with bad funding.</p>

<p>On the average, how long does it take you during freshmen year to go from ibe class to another. Is it frustrating to walk so far from north campus every day?</p>

<p>Thanks man. I was worried that the kids who go to cornell are robots from the stuff ive seen. </p>

<p>And yes Im instate for UC berk… Id only go there for econ</p>

<p>@YoungDerivative</p>

<p>I’ve only taken Intermediate Micro, and yes, it was ridiculously hard. Supposedly it’s one of the hardest classes, though.</p>

<p>It doesn’t really matter which school is “better” for a subject like economics at the undergraduate level. It’s the same everywhere.</p>

<p>Why would it be less diverse than other Ivies when it’s the largest in size? Yeah, there are all kinds of people.</p>

<p>Class size depends upon the class, but they are smaller than Berkeley’s.</p>

<p>What type of stuff have you seen that made you think everyone was a robot?</p>

<p>I had to choose between Cornell and Berkeley last year. Unless finances are a major issue for you, I would choose Cornell.</p>

<p>@disillusionagain</p>

<p>Ugh. From North to the Arts Quad is a fifteen minute walk for me. Then from the Arts Quad to Uris is another five or so. And then I have to walk back. If I have a club meeting or something, then I have to walk to those too…</p>

<p>Yeah, there’s a TON of walking, which is why I schedule my classes one after the other. You get used to it, though.</p>