<p>I've heard students at Cornell are cutthroat competitive? Is this true just for the sciences, or in general?</p>
<p>if you search "myth" and "cutthroat" you will find your answer</p>
<p>hahaha seicheong :D</p>
<p>yeah, that's not true. it's a lot easier to raise 5 grades by studying in a group than to lower 200 grades by sabatoging everyone's labs, etc.</p>
<p>there may be a few bad apples, but there were probably one or two bad apples in your highschool, too.</p>
<p>None of my friends in bio 101 (notoriously difficult) has said anything about the issue.</p>
<p>My friends a group of them regularly studies together on my hall for all their bio stuff, and next semester, when several of us are taking physics 112, we've already discussed plans to study together.</p>
<p>Over the whole campus it's definitely not true--the competition in a cutthroat style can only rationally emerge in a class graded on a curve against the other students, so in any non-curve class, you'll see students more than willing to help each other out. In other words, the competitive nature of a curved class makes it just that, competitive, and while some students--I SAID SOME NOT ALL!!!--might be less than helpful, I haven't heard of anything like tainting someone else's lab results, destroying/stealing notes from students, or feeding misinformation. If it happens, it happens on a small scale.</p>
<p>definitely not human ecology. the majority of the classes aren't even curved.</p>
<p>What Sparticus said...</p>
<p>I find that most people are helpful and I usually study/do problem sets in groups, so we can all learn from each other. If by cut throat, you mean out to get each other, I don't think that's an accurate portrayl of the students here. Sure, some are the really annoying type that will do anything for an A, kiss lots of ass and ask too many annoying/obvious/unnecessary questions, but that happens in high school and in any college. People are out to do well, but not at the expense of others. I think the rumor is entirely false, I've never heard of anyone stealing homework or notes, which is pointless, since it prevents the "culprit" from actually learning and would probably have a negative effect on his/her grades in the long run. There are some of the typical high school AP kids who won't offer you any help, but I don't think people are out to get each other. Most people I've met are very helpful. I'm a premed, so I think we can consider the rumor offically false (or you could run a search and verify that it's false).</p>
<p>Yeah I'm not in a particularly competitive field, so I was tentative about officially declaring it entirely false, but if spanks is premed then I think that if she says it's not cutthroat, then nothing here is cutthroat.</p>
<p>Like she said: competitive, not cutthroat.</p>
<p>I've similar observations here in Engineering. It is competitive in the sense that everyone here is smart so you need to work harder to get a better grade, but no one actively tries to hurt anyone else's grades.</p>
<p>We're out to beat the system not each other.</p>
<p>Some classes are extremely competitive, but one person is not going to make a difference in the curve, so I have no problem helping people. I find that I learn a lot more if I try to explain the idea to someone. . .so I feel good about helping someone, and I review some things along the way. </p>
<p>I have never encountered someone that is not willing to help. . . .</p>
<p>So yes, classes are very competitive (especially bio) but definitely not cutthroat!! I'm a premed engineer (biological engineering), so my classs are pretty competitive, but I have yet to run into someone who is out to hurt someone elses grade. . . . .</p>
<p>I'm in Animal Sciences (pre-vet) and I can say with a large degree of certainty that students in my major are anything BUT cutthroat. I've never had a time when I couldn't find someone to help me with a lab problem or homework...or when I actually studied for an exam alone, LOL. And even in Chem it was certainly not cutthroat...except when it comes to getting seats in Baker 200. Then there can be something of a stampede, heh.</p>
<p>Ah, finally someone else who is pre-vet/ansci! I applied ED and haven't been able to find anyone else who applied to CALS for animal sciences. =) Would you mind if I PMed you with a question?</p>
<p>People aren't cutthroat, just very unpleasant.</p>
<p>Expect bio majors to be competitive. They may seem harmless, but wait until something goes wrong in lab...</p>
<p>Also, don't expect anyone to tell you the truth about how much (or how little) they study.</p>
<p>hmm..why are bio majors more competitive/unpleasant?</p>
<p>pre-med competition...</p>
<p>sorry.. im not familiar with the whole pre-med buisness (even though i plan to study biology)</p>
<p>..so are they fighting over grades? course openings?</p>
<p>Existentialpony--feel free to PM me. :)</p>
<p>I don't know, I'm not really competitive, but I think I'm switching majors, not because of competition, just because I don't think biology is my thing.</p>
<p>so far, Cornell is THE only school where people actually said they don't like it(these people aren't very miserable, either). For every other school, people might be unhappy to go, but once they are there, they are ALL very happy.</p>
<p>Who's said they don't like it. I like it...</p>
<p>right....because cornell's the only school where people transfer OUT of. A little faulty reasoning don't you think?</p>
<p>hard to admit it, but I'm sure there are plenty of people at cornell and other equally prestigious schools that chose it for it's prestige factor and nothing else. those people soon come to realize that perhaps they were not the best suited for cornell, and spend miserable years. it's not the institution, it's those certain individuals, after all, cornell doesn't force anyone to apply or go here. same thing applies for other school. </p>
<p>another note, just because you hear about cornell suicides doesn't mean that other schools don't have it either does it? </p>
<p>not to point you out, but the statement that cornell is THE only school is rather extreme and harsh. and just perpetuates another myth. boooo on that.</p>
<p>I don't like it. Neither will you. Unless you like unnecessary bureaucracy, malicious competition, and excessive drinking.</p>