Quarantine guidelines are NY State. Prohibition in buildings is Cornell.
State of NY. Read the travel advisory guidelines for more specifics.
Also, it’s Cornell themselves who are not allowing visitors in any campus buildings, guided tours, etc. this includes the bookstores and dorms. So basically you can walk outside or drive through campus but you can’t even park in most places if any, without a permit. They still have a lot of classes remote this semester so also not sure how many students you’ll see outside since most are in their dorms or apartments taking their classes.
Thanks!!! This seems typical of touring right now as we visiting UT, UM and Duke like this. However with NY restrictions it will be way more challenging.
On a different note…does Cornell typically give out scholarships or aid to students?
No to scholarships other than a very few, they claim they meet unmet need, but I know many of my friends EFC went WAY up last year as did what their student’s had to contribute and the parents were very upset on the parent age when they received their financial aid decisions for this year. The unmet need is only if you qualify based on your qualifications, etc. Off campus housing in later years is expensive as well unless you live further out. Students can do work study though which does help.
The weather thing is way over-rated. In my house senior year at Cornell, we had two students from Texas (both from Waxahachie), one student from California (San Diego), one student from Florida (Winterhaven) and one student from Mississippi (Jackson). All of us survived and thrived. You just learn how to dress for the cold and how to deal with the long winter.
As for getting in and out of Ithaca, you can take Ithaca Tompkins County airport and with one connection, pretty much get to all major airports. American flies through ITH to Charlotte. As others have stated, you can also fly through Syracuse.
As others have implied, you are not going to get much out of those tours if you cannot go into the buildings. Cornell is so spread out that you cannot get a flavor of it through a driving tour or a walking tour without going into buildings and speaking with people.
As for comparisons between those schools you mentioned, I am familiar with all three schools you mentioned - I attended Cornell, lived in Austin, and had a sister attend Michigan (back when the football team was good - when the current coach was behind the center). I also toured Cornell and Michigan with my daughter in Summer of 2019. Aside from the weather and specific unique academic programs, the biggest difference is the density of the schools and how they are laid out. UT is very dense, with very little distinction between there the university boundaries ends and where the town begins. University of Michgan is less dense and is laid out in a more traditional university layout. What is unique about how UM is how the engineering buildings are north of campus at least 1.6 miles away. Cornell is a much less dense layout, although most all academic buildings are located within a fifteen minute walk from each other.
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Does anyone know why some people have to request an interview for cornell and some get contacted by an alumni for a interview?
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it seems to me that the interview that can be requested through the application portal is not an evaluative interview, but instead simply an informative one about cornell for the student.
So the people that get contacted by an alumni is evaluative?
I applied to CALS, and alumni contacted me. And I can say that I am 99.999999% sure that it was not evaluative just because alumni talked more about Cornell than asked about me and my passions during the meeting. Basically, the whole “interview” (or should I say “meeting with alumni” instead?) was me asking questions about the school and student body and her answering them.
Other people already stated this, but I will repeat: by this meeting, they are only checking if you are interested in Cornell enough to spend 30 min talking about it with alumni. So, it won’t hurt to request this meeting. (But keep in mind it won’t affect your decision)
Okay thank you. The interview I had with an alumni seemed like a legit interview. He was asking me about my past experiences and the reasons to why I applied but also seemed like a conversation as well.
The fact that our interviews were so different also kinda proves that they are not evaluative 
Seeing as I have a kid at UT and one at Cornell and UM was each of their second choices, this about sums it up as accurately as can be. One other big difference is sports. If your kid is into sports, they really won’t get it at Cornell. Hockey is the big thing and even this year all sports have been cancelled.
I identical twins have each thrived at the respective schools, have made life long friends, have really gotten involved socially, but there are some big differences I see from an academic perspective that depending on the kid, one school may not be as good of a fit as the next. CS classes at Cornell are huge. The first course can have up to 1000 students in it. My daughter had it in the same building/hall Arts and Sciences used to hold their graduation in (not sure they still do since she’s in COE). Advising leaves a lot to be desired. Some get lucky and have great advisors. There is not a lot of choice for classes as your schedule is pretty well set. APs will allow you to take a lighter load or earn a major which is great, but not everyone can work that in if they don’t have those courses. Some kids truly struggle. Career planning there is eh, kids are left to fend for themselves a lot which is why it’s important to get involved. Mine is quiet so she is ok with not being a Type A student getting all the attention but I think some kids have some trouble with that. She has done great especially in light of Covid.
UM has not done great with Covid and hopefully they’ll do better this semester. Students are highly sought after for jobs, and you have the sports, and social, but some don’t like to go to North Campus. I’m dealing with this issue with my son if he gets in, secondary to Covid. UT CS students historically have had trouble getting into their classes. BHP at UT, no problems, classes are tiny, at Ross they are large, they are not honors at Ross either, but again it’s Ross so jobs won’t be a problem. Your best bet for any of these schools is to find a current student to talk to in each program and compare the positives to negatives. I wouldn’t worry so much about the weather. Your girls have a nice taste of it right now as it is colder there than in Ithaca. The real questions should be in the teaching, the courses, the experience in the courses, etc. more so than what the weather is, and what the campus looks like. However, if you’re looking for sunny 365 days of the year, then the no sun in winter in Ithaca can really be a downer for some.
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@srparent15 & @billchu2
Thank you both! Very helpful! Yes, we are definitely getting a taste of northern weather right now! Ugh!! I hope you are correct that it is overrated Bill! Right now, it seems daunting, but this is an extraordinary weather event for Texas. I’m a extremely familiar with UT & UMich as I am alum of BHP/Accounting & law school at UT and my husband went to UMich (aerospace engineering & law), grew up less than an hour from AA, remains a season ticket holder for football, and my son is freshman in COE at Michigan now, but I know nearly NOTHING about Cornell, which is why I was asking about visiting. My son has a friend from high school who is also currently at Michigan whose parents both went to Cornell, so I have been asking her a lot of questions. She loved it! I’m surprised about how you describe the classes and career counseling at Cornell. I guess I thought since it is Ivy League it would be smaller/more personalized. That is definitely something to consider. Completely agree that UMich has not handled Covid very well, and that is playing into my twins reluctance to follow their brother to AA. Good call about the sports thing too. That is a HUGE deal to me and my husband, but my one daughter who really likes Cornell says that’s not important to her. In a way, I believe her because she is the least sports nut in our family, but on the other hand, I wonder if she even realizes how important it is. Both twins are varsity cheerleaders for a large 6A division 1 high school in Texas (they played for state championship this year). Sports has been a big part of her life. She says she doesn’t care about big time college sports, but I think she might miss it more than she thinks she will.
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There is plenty of school spirit around sports at Cornell. Hockey is huge and is amazing to go watch. I also had football tickets and while not comparable to the Big House, still a great student experience.
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This!!! The Cornell sports that tend to have the most following: (1) Men’s ice hockey, (2) Lacrosse, (3) Wrestling, and (4) Women’s ice hockey.
In the COVID-shortened 2019-2020 season, both men’s and women’s ended the season ranked number one in the nation.
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Last year was a great hockey season. It was a bummer it was cut short. But, this year has been a disappointment as no sports at all for us. It was the understandably the right decision. But still a bummer.
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I do admit that the large intro CS classes are a bit of a drag, but is certainly not unique to Cornell. Here are some enrollment numbers:
- CS 1110 (Cornell): > 1000 students
- CS 50 (Harvard): > 750 students
- CS 61A (UC Berkeley): > 2000 students - yikes!
- 6.00 (MIT): ?
- CS106A (Stanford): Haven’t seen latest numbers, but was already over 750 in 2012
- CS 312 (U of Texas): ?
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The one thing you will notice about Cornell (and Michigan) is that in the North, snow clearing happens quickly. I’m seeing pictures of Texas three or four days after the storm and the streets are still not plowed! As an exercise, next time after a snow storm in the Ithaca area, watch the snow removal process in action at the Live View camera facing Willard Straight (student union building).
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I don’t know the numbers but you should see if you can find them for the comparable classes at UWashington, CMU, UIUC and GT all essentially equivalently ranked or better than Cornell… You’ll also note upon researching that many Cornell professors went to UWash.
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In the South we wait for the snow to melt. The infrastructure for clearing the snow is not there as it snows less often.
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