Cornell ILR and Cornell questions?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I'm a current junior and recently, two of my close friends who are seniors got accepted to Cornell ED (Hotel Management, CAS), heightening my interest in the school.</p>

<p>I am wondering if Cornell ILR (and Cornell in general) would be a good fit for me :) </p>

<p>I would call myself an open-minded, compassionate, quirky, funny, ambitious, adventurous, and by-no-means-perfect individual. </p>

<p>I am interested in finance, economics, and the social sciences. In the future, I am hoping to work in banking and then go to law school and work as a lawyer or graduate school and work in academia. I would say that my strengths are public speaking and writing. My extracurriculars are mostly focused on this area as well (100+ hours interning at a law firm, debate team, Lead Asia Youth Nuclear Security Summit Committee, etc.) </p>

<p>Other schools that I am looking at include UChicago, Northwestern, Duke, etc.</p>

<p>I am interested in going to a school with an open-minded, lively, intellectual, and diverse community. It would also be nice if there were a pre-professional vibe to the school.</p>

<p>I mostly like Cornell, except for a couple details..please help refute/explain/acknowledge them?
1. Greek life is big? Social scene relies on heavy drinking/partying?
2. The adage: "Easy to get in, hard to get out" (I realize that the "easy to get in" part is wrong, but I'm not too sure about the "hard to get out" part)
3. Ithaca is boring and isolated? Extremely far and difficult to get to from JFK?
4. Professors don't care about the students? Classes other than writing seminars are huge?
5. It is hard to get an internship/get recruited in the City?
6. What is the weather like? Super cold? Would you say it is better/worse than Chicago weather?</p>

<p>Thanks...!</p>

2

<p>I have an older daughter who just graduated this year, and another incoming freshman class 2016.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Older daughter was in a sorority. She enjoyed it very much, and her social life revolved around the Greek life. There are many students who decide not to join, and have very active social life. Cornell is a large school with many activities for students to participate in.</p></li>
<li><p>Students at Cornell do work very hard, but I am not sure if it is really that different than other competitive schools. When most students are top 10% of their HS, and courses are graded on a curve, someone has to get C & Ds.</p></li>
<li><p>There is a campus to campus bus from midtown NY to Ithaca, complete with wifi. Once you make some friends, it is pretty easy to get a ride from NYC. Ithaca is a very nice college town, has many good restaurants, spas. My older daughter didn’t find it boring at all. </p></li>
<li><p>Introductory courses tend to be bigger, once you get to higher level classes, they become smaller. I still remember when our kid was a sophomore, she had a question for her professor over a break. He called her while he was running through an airport telling her that he couldn’t talk for long, but would answer her question as soon as he got to his destination. D1 went to many office hours, and that’s how she got to know many of her professors. I have also emailed the administration, even a professor, on my daughter’s behalf, they all got back to me promptly.</p></li>
<li><p>My daughter got her IB internship through Cornell and ultimately her permanent position. Most top tier banks/consulting firms come on campus to recruit. Cornell alumni are very active and supportive. They sponsor meet/greet parties in NYC over the winter break at many IBs.</p></li>
<li><p>Ithaca is wet. It snows and rains. D1 said to me once that it was snowing sideways. But I don’t think it is worse than Chicago.</p></li>
</ol>