@NYstressedmom – no, he never had a problem, but he has waited up to 30 minutes at White Plains for a bus to arrive. I do not know what sort of system they use at White Plains. Arriving half an hour early didn’t seem to help.
The drawback of the Short Line is that the trip can take six hours or it can take less than four hours. No way to know in advance. Also, with only one departure/day, if your student has a class that lets out at 3pm, he can end up ‘stuck’ on campus waiting 23 hours for the following day’s Short Line, whereas C2C offers an evening bus.
S1 2015 graduate from CALS (AEM) sophomore transfer and S3 is Rising Jr HE (PAM) and was FYSA. Both went Greek (different houses). Happy to answer any questions or concerns. Welcome to the Big Red family.
General question for parents of alumni…what are your thoughts on Cornell internship programs? Did your kids do one through their department or land one with the help of their department? I have rising sophomore.
D2 started taking Big Red Bullet when it went into business. The seats are not as nice as C2C and it leaves from downtown, but she could select her seat and it is cheaper.
You used to be able to book C2C and cancel without fees, but now they charge 10-30 for cancellation.
@CALSmom As I mentioned previously, my kiddo got great internships every summer. The first summer (after freshman year), he found one himself using the Indeed job site. When he arrived on campus in the fall of Sophomore year, he scoured listings on the Cornell Careers database and went to the career fair, and was able to secure several interviews (and ultimately an offer) via that route. Same thing prior to Junior year summer, and then actually ended up with the company that he interned with after sophomore year.
Our D18 was accepted to Cornell ED. We have visited Cornell a few times. We heard from admissions that Cornell Days will be announced in early April. Is there a value for us to attend Cornell Days? It appears that getting hotel rooms in Ithaca isn’t easy as well hence the question.
@stwide19 my advice is don’t go. You’ve already visited a few times and it’s really probably geared towards those kids who have applied RD and never visited (my S didn’t do Cornell Days). You’ll get the rah-rah experience during freshman orientation week in August
Book your hotel room NOW for August or at least an Airbnb. Ithaca is notorious for their high prices and low inventory.
Congrats by the way!!
@stwide19 – I agree with @CALSmom. My son was admitted ED and saw no point in returning for the chance to sleep on someone’s floor. While booking your August move-in hotel, book your First Year Parents’ Weekend hotel also.
@CALSmom and @CT1417 thank you both for your inputs and your wishes. We will skip Cornell Days then. We were warned about accommodations at Ithaca so we booked for August move-in as well as for First Year Family weekend a week ago. Although we didn’t try - we were told that Statler rooms get booked years in advance!
My son graduates in 2020 and I’m behind in making reservations. The good Airbnb places are already taken! I refuse to pay $500 night for hotel during grad weekend
@stwide19 – Statler’s booking policy may have changed, but when I booked a few years ago, orientation & parents’ weekend reservations were only handled via phone, starting the morning after ED decisions were released. Reservations are not available for graduation or Reunion weekends, but almost any other date can be booked on their website. The rates were high, but it was really convenient for move-in to be right on campus.
@CALSmom – the new Marriott down on the Commons wanted $700/night, three night minimum (plus tax, etc). The other hotels were all $400+ taxes, parking, etc, also three night minimum, so I plan to stay in the dorms. I have stayed for Reunion, and know that the dorms are less than lovely, but I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of driving and parking.
The dorms were absolutely fine for graduation. We were told that they have sufficient rooms for those who request them (at least that’s been the case for many years). They do a lottery, but they really haven’t been running out of rooms.
My son is graduating. I booked a room in Cortland NY for graduation…months ago.
Have to pay/fully commit before the lottery for dorm housing.
All the hotels know when is the lottery and do not want to have cancels as a result.
Local hotel I usually stay at said they would email me a lottery application, no direct reservations for graduation
weekend, even in person when I was checked into the hotel for another trip. Graduation weekend is crazy.
If I couldn’t get the room in Cortland, would have stayed on campus in the dorm.
I lived in a dorm 30 some years ago, why not again ?
