<p>I knew 2 sisters (one yr apart in age) that attended Cooper. They were happy with their experience but their situation was quite different from what many kids are looking for. They grew up in Manhattan and went to Cooper basically as commuter students. They didn't like the dorms and felt the school facilities needed updating. They agreed with taxguy that the social scene was lacking, no real sense of community so they decided to live at home and hung out mostly with their city friends, although they did make some friends at Cooper. </p>
<p>They felt fortunate for their "free" education. Cooper is well respected in the workplace. They took advantage of the free tuition and got a good education at a small cost (higher fees than most). They did say that many Cooper students were very serious about their studies and socializing was low on their list of priorities... It's probably not the best place for an "all around college experience". Probably a better choice for the serious student that is very independent and used to city life.</p>
<p>I'm an engineering major, so everything I say comes from the engineering school's point of view, with few exceptions.</p>
<p>I agree with jerzgrlmom to an extent. The school facilities are quite outdated with the exception of one of the computer labs. The social scene being lacking though isn't a result of the school, but rather the people. I've heard from a friend who heard a dean say that the "outgoingness" of students change from year to year. It usually comes in cycles: one year there are very introverted students, the next year there are very outgoing students who do love to have fun, and the next is usually somewhere in between. I don't know enough people from all years to comment on this, but I can at least say that people in my year (and from what I hear as well) are the more outgoing type. There are enough parties and we do have our share of fun.</p>
<p>Socially, there is a HUGE difference between living in the dorms or with friends in a city apartment than commutting from home. It's more difficult to make friends when you commute because you're only in school when you have class and you don't hang out with your classmates during other times. It's not impossible though; there are a few commutters who are friends with many people. It's also tougher to get group projects done or study for exams together when you're a commutter simply because the people who live in the area can just get together at any time, while you more often than not have to be home by a certain time. </p>
<p>So basically, when it comes to the social scene, it really depends on how your fellow classmates are. It does vary from year to year from what I've heard.</p>
<p>Again I agree with jerzgrlmom in that Cooper doesn't give the traditional college experience. If you want the big gyms with lots of equipment, don't come here. If you want to do very little work and party every weekend, don't come here. If you want a college that offers many different courses in a huge variety of fields, don't come here. However, if you want a college which will challenge you, one that has very small class sizes (I've been in one with as few as 10-15 students and there are others that may be smaller), one which will prepare you for the real world, and has the best campus in the world (New York City) Cooper Union is for you.</p>
<p>We just came back for NYC for our family vacation. On the way to see the off Broadway show "Stomp," we walked right past Cooper. Very, very small. The area around the school was depressing to us. Lots of gothic looking type shops and people, leather, tatoo shops, some light porno displayed on the sidewalk. People walking around seemed to be into leather, dyed hair, piercings, etc. Not a single pom pom or letter sweater in sight! If you are looking for the traditional college experience, I don't think you will find it at Cooper. I've heard it is an excellent education and very selective, but one should go in with their eyes wide open before applying.</p>
<p>Lukester, you probably walked down St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. That's the only place nearby with those type of shops. I wouldn't consider everything that you mentioned a downside though; I hate (well, maybe hate is too strong a word) people who are afraid to be themselves and unique. The East Village as a whole thrives on its uniqueness, including the art and architecture schools here at Cooper Union. </p>
<p>The theme of this thread seems to continue in Lukester's post: Don't come to Cooper with the expectation of a traditional college education or anything you see on TV. It's nothing like that. You're not going to find acres and acres of green grass on campus nor a 60,000 seat football stadium with national TV broadcast games. That doesn't mean sports is non-existent here though... our basketball team went undefeated last year. Off the top of my head, I know we have soccer, ultimate frisbee, and tennis teams as well. </p>
<p>Cooper Union is phasing out the B.S.E. program in favor of the more rigorous B.E. program. See the course catalog update for details. More or less, it's the same concept though. It's really more geared towards people who don't plan on being engineers after graduation, but there are many who don't want to be engineers and do go into a specific major. The common perception around here is that the BE/BSE program is a joke, because many people just take all the easy courses when they're allowed to pick their electives. Some do, however, use the program as it's meant to be used; they take the courses that interest them and have an application towards their future careers. </p>
<p>In my year, we were allowed to pick whichever major we wanted after the first semester, though I don't think it was supposed to be that way. The administration was in the midst of making changes to the majors but then decided against it and went back to the traditional system. Based on which majors people chose in my year though, I assume electrical engineering is the most competitive becuase 50 of the 120 students enrolled in my year enrolled in it.</p>
<p>"people who are afraid to be themselves and unique."
The people lukester mentioned are not "unique." They are just conforming to an alternative set of standards. Are you a nonconformist by engaging in gothic culture? No, you're just conforming to an alternative culture.
Hmm, porn and piercings, very unique.</p>
<p>"As long as you have a 1550+ and 770+ SAT 2's than this school is not as tough as you think."
Better consistency than arbitrary, fungible selection.</p>
<p>ahernm, maybe you are right. I don't know; I'm not one of them and I'm not a psychologist. All I'm saying is there's nothing "wrong" with them. It just seemed there was some sort of fear surrounding them, which there shouldn't be. If you really want to avoid them for whatever reason, just walk one block up or one block down. I just wouldn't make a decision about college over something as minute as this.</p>
<p>epoch_dreams, it all really depends on what you want to do as a career. And by the way, 4.0 GPA's are far and few between. I'm guessing there are maybe 2 or 3 people out of class of 120 with a 4.0 GPA. Ever hear of grade inflation at other schools? Well at CU, we have grade deflation.</p>