My D22 and I visited Cornell College for their recent fall visit day, and I thought I would share our impressions here for those considering the school.
We were coming from TX so flew into the Cedar Rapids airport and rented a car to get us to campus. We travelled in the day before the event and spent the night at the college’s bed and breakfast, Brackett House. Mt Vernon and Cornell are about a 20 minute drive from the airport.
Mt Vernon is a small town, a very small town. The historic downtown center is a few blocks off campus and is only a block or two long, with some cafes, shops, etc. There is a grocery store closer to the highway, but otherwise it’s the college, the bit downtown and some lovely historic homes. Now, Cedar Rapids is only 20 minutes down the highway, and there is where you will find your Target, your Walmart, and all those types of stores. We ate at the pizza place in the middle of the downtown block, and found it very nice. Not the best pizza of my life, but far far from the worst. I could see it being a student staple. There was also a candy shop that caught my daughter’s eye, but it was Sunday night and that shop (and many others) were closed.
The Brackett House, was a charming inn operated by the college and conveniently located just across the street from campus, due to COVID they offered us grab and go breakfast, but we decided instead to head over to the campus dining hall to see what was available there. It was only breakfast but the food was very good. My D declared the pancakes “yummy”. Those are practically a food group for her, that was important to us. The scrambled eggs were also good, clearly fresh made, and well cooked, which I find a rarity in food service eggs. They had a cereal bar which is apparently always available, as well as 2 chocolate milk dispensers, one for skim, one for not skim (maybe whole?). They also had one of those belgian waffle machines like you often see in the breakfast area of hotels. I believe there were other options as well, perhaps yogurt, definitely fruit, but we had loaded ourselves with eggs and pancakes, and that was more than enough. There were many other stations not in use for breakfast that we could see for other meals, like a wood fire pizza oven.
After breakfast we went downstairs in the student center to check out the cafe/market. That’s another dining option available for students and they have grill items, sandwiches, and my D’s favorite, chicken tenders. She declared herself very satisfied with the food situation.
Next up, we went and checked out the library, another space that is very important to my D. It’s a very nice open building with big windows that let in a lot of light. The library also serves as the public library for the town, so one floor has a nice collection of public library resources like popular fiction, that you might not otherwise find in an academic setting. We also found the library had a large collection of board games available as well as a sizable collection of gaming books. Each floor had tables and study desks available.
Finally it was time to check in for the event. They started off with an admissions presentation, explaining the block program and it’s benefits. I won’t go into it too much, as I feel they describe it better than I ever could, but the gist is, you still take 4 courses over a semester, you just do them one at a time instead of all at once. So for 3.5 weeks you focus intensely on just one thing, then you get a four day break to do it all over again. One of the immediate advantages for my kid that I saw was for study abroad. I don’t see my kid as someone who would necessarily choose a full semester abroad, and while you can do that at Cornell if you like, there are also many opportunities for block abroad, where the class and the instructor go off somewhere to study a subject intensely on site, they don’t just do this abroad but domestically as well. That type of bite size experience would be just right for my kid and would give her a chance to try something she otherwise might not. But it also might give a more adventurous kid the opportunity to visit numerous places, instead of just one. They are also able, because of the block plan, to do this travel during “off-peak” times, so not just January and May as you may see other colleges offer. Because of this they are able to explore these opportunities more or less to themselves.
Then we were off on our tour. The campus is small, easily walkable in a few minutes, and very pretty, with mature trees and stately historic buildings. It felt very relaxing walking through the campus, and admittedly the weather was picture perfect. The tour guide mentioned they have 15 (I think? it might have been 19) greek organizations on campus, but they are local groups only, none are nationally affiliated and “rush” is a very casual affair. It’s a small school and with that many orgs on campus, my question was, what percentage of students participate in greek life? Only about 20%. So these are small groups? Yes, she said she’s in one and they only have maybe 15 members.
My D isn’t interested in science but they have a brand new science building which houses the biology and chemistry departments. The facility was custom designed with the block plan in mind so classrooms are connected to labs, and students can just move easily between them as needed for class. Meanwhile they gutted and renovated the old science building to house Math, Engineering, Physics, and Computer Science, so that building, while old on the outside, is new on the inside with fabrication labs and whatever else those students need.
We were able to look at a sample dorm room, which seemed to be a decent size, and my D loved that most of the freshman dorms are literal steps from the commons where the dining hall is, in addition to being steps from the student health facility. Everything was very nearby. She was very happy with how cozy everything felt. Despite my dire predictions for Iowa winters, she was not deterred because everything was so close she would not have to be outside long if she didn’t want to be.
We were told the brand new student wellness center would be available by next fall, with all new workout facilities and equipment for students. My D was very excited about this, despite her admission that she is unlikely to ever step foot in it. She just wants to know it’s there for her should she change her mind. 
In terms of geographic diversity, the school has a surprising pull of students from all over. Just over half of students are from the midwest region. For a rural school in Iowa, that they can pull over 40% from outside the region is pretty impressive.
Overall, this was a very good visit. My D went through a rollercoaster of thoughts on it. From - I don’t think I want to fly to go to school, to - actually flying is better than driving; from - I think this town is way too small and this is not going to be a top choice, to - I actually love this place and now it’s my #1 choice. I think what she likes so much is the vibe and the feel of the place. Just friendly, chill, and nurturing. Despite what I imagine is a hectic pace under the block plan students seemed happy. We saw them taking advantage of the nice weather, gathering in groups outdoors to work. She also thinks the block plan could be very good for her. Will she end up there? Time will tell, but it’s nice to have it on the list.