Hello I’m a prospective rising senior for cornell engineering. I visited cornell in the summer and thought that the campus was beautiful. I liked the atmosphere and the fact that it was a top ranked engineering institute made me consider early decision to cornell. However, some of my family/friends are telling me that the winters are extremely harsh and that you end up just cooped up in your room studying during these times. How is the Cornell student culture, and are the winters so harsh that students become depressed?
“Extremely harsh” is like “beauty:” it is in the eye of the beholder.
So here’s some historical weather data, do your own “beholding”:
http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/wxstation/ithaca/normal.html
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?month=7
My own experience, from a million years ago:
When I attended, serious snow always seemed to start during finals week in December. And when we came back to campus to start spring semester the campus was blanketed. So we missed a lot off serious winter while we were off on break
.
But by no means all of it. .
February and March had some serious winter weather. IIRC. There were generally about four serious snow storms, as I recall. And smaller flurries as well. And it was cold.
But I was raised in the Northeast, and had experienced winter weather my whole life.
This was a measure worse, but I could handle it. Which is not to say I loved it.
It was very comparable to what I experienced later, when I lived in Chicago.
I wouldn’t say that students just stayed in their rooms all the time during those periods, though. Some days, probably.
But we were young and strong and had an overriding need to socialize. And we had to go to class. Most of the time it was in the 20s and 30s. People just bulked up. You get tough.
I got depressed when I was doing poorly academically or socially. I don’t recall getting depressed because of the weather. But that’s me.
The thing that is different with winters at Cornell is not the weather per se. It’s the extent that you have to deal with it.
Here in the suburbs we drive from place to place. in a heated, weatherproof car.
But at Cornell you (generally) have to walk to/from the dorms, and between classes. Which can be a long way. So you are out in the elements for extended periods of time. It’s sort of like when you are out going skiing.
But because you have to deal with it every day, you acclimate. Like I said, you learn to dress appropriately, you get tough, and deal with it.
Though winter weather is not a “high point” of the Cornell experience, having been through it, I personally would not recommend avoiding Cornell just for this reason. In fact I happily sent my daughter there. We both loved Ithaca…
Personally I think I should have made more of it than I did. I only went to Greek Peak a few times. I should have taken some ski classes for PE. And/or gone there with groups of people.
It’s funny but after all these years I hardly remember the winters. What I remember most is the beauty of the area, and the feel of the fresh air, during fall. Early to mid October there is nowhere else I would rather be. and of course I remember the summers, which are great. I still go up there often.
Thanks so much! Yah so I’m from sunny california haha but if you say it’s kind of like skiing weather I think it shouldn’t be that bad. How do you feel about the people at cornell? I visited in the summer, so didnt meet many students. Is the environment largely cut-throat competitive or more collaborative?
To be clearer.,not so much the 50 degrees, “ski in your tee shirt”, Colorado skiing weather. More like the
20 degrees, “they are making the snow so it is slushy”, Vermont skiing weather.
Re: your other questions,
Cornell is not a tiny liberal arts college. It has over 14,000 undergraduates studying in seven diverse undergraduate colleges. Everyone there is not the same.
At some size point it becomes like asking “how are the people in San Diego?”
Academically, if I have to pick an overall descriptor I would call it “academically challenging” but not “cut throat competitive”.
Like most schools, there are a lot of curved classes in the underclassman years. The students at Cornell are generally capable and motivated. That sort of dictates a certain level of academic challenge. As at most peer institutions.
Nevertheless, when I was there, a million years ago, the engineering students I knew were not “cut throat competitive”. Kids in my dorm formed study groups to prepare for freshman physics exams. For example.
I never felt like anyone as going to steal my lab report, or anything like that.
There’s no such thing as bad weather - only bad clothing. Get a Gore-tex parka, waterproof boots, a hat and gloves, and you won’t notice it. Besides, you’ll be pretty busy in engineering, so not having the temptation of wanting to play outside might be a plus. My daughter is just starting there now and her first semester schedule is packed. We are from the northeast though, and she only considered cold weather schools, so your perspective may be different. She arrived with a whole collection of different foul-weather boots and is very excited to give them some use. I agree with @monydad - early fall is spectacular. Also, many engineers spend at least one summer in Ithaca, and that is also great. I spent one summer there working on campus, and it was one of the best times of my life.
@JonTargareyan my son is from California and he didn’t mind the winter…he’d prefer sun over snow any day but that didn’t detract from his overall experience there his first year. He also didn’t find it to be cutthroat…competitive and high level, quality caliber of students for sure but not anything negative from his first year experience. Cornell and its campus is a one of kind place compared to the other Ivies and you won’t regret going there should you get accepted. Good luck!!
To add: the social life is very good and so is the school spirit. There are so many clubs offered and with such a big, diverse student body, you won’t have any trouble meeting other students and making friends if you make the effort.
If you’re from a sunny place and not from a cold weather place, be warned and learn to take care of yourself your first few winters. My daughter is a Senior there and we are from SoCal. First semester on her freshmen year, she was OK and loving the snow and cold weather. Second semester, it was a different story. She’s very active here in SoCal and loves outdoor activities. Hiking, running, swimming, outdoor games and loves the sun. She din’t mind the cold and snow actually, but without seeing the sun sometimes in 2 or 3 weeks, she developed a mild SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Combined that with the demands of Cornell academics, she had a rough semester. But, to make the story short, she adapted and actually thriving there. We bought her a “happy” light and she went to counselling few times. FYI, she’s very social and have a large group of friends and was very active but still got affected by the “weather”.
@2018dad oh yes I agree…it’s not the cold and snow, but the lack of sunshine that is a challenge! I made sure my S took adequate vitamin D supplement but I think I will look into a special light for SAD.
@CALSmom Yup. She’s taking vitamin D supplement as well. We bought her special light from Amazon and it helped her a lot. She turns on right away as soon as she wakes up in the morning.