Cornell School of Hotel Administration... Any current/accepted students?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Thank you in advance for helping me out here.</p>

<p>I recently decided upon taking a tour of Cornell's School of Hotel Administration that I want to attend that school in the fall of 2014. I know that hospitality industry work experience is a very important aspect to a Hotel School application, and I am now trying to get some jobs started. I have the opportunity of working in a Checkers restaurant, starting basically any time I want. In addition, I am looking into working at a hotel over the summer for additional experience. However, it was recently brought to my attention that the people reviewing my application might think just working 2-3 months in a hotel before applying to the SHA is lame. Would it make much of a difference to start working soon, as in around late March or early April? That would result in having to give up track and field for the spring, but I would do so in a heartbeat if it would improve my chances of being accepted. Basically to sum up, I would love to hear a little bit about the importance of past work experience in getting admitted, with particular focus on what I have said above. Thank you!</p>

<p>Any input would be much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Hi there</p>

<p>I interned at a pretty decent restaurant in Sepember last year- about 2-3 months before applying. However, I had another internship at an architectural firm the previous year. I referenced both these internships in my essays, and spoke about how much more I enjoyed the one in the restaurant. </p>

<p>Here in India, it is not common for students to do part time jobs, and most colleges are aware of this. I wasn’t paid a cent for the time i spent at the restaurant or the arch firm…</p>

<p>Basically, you need to have a decent amount of work experience which shows your passion for the hospitality industry. </p>

<p>I also used my commonapp essay to talk about my passion for food and service.</p>

<p>let me know if you have anymore questions :)</p>

3

<p>Thank you! So were you recently admitted? Also, could you tell me a bit about your interview? (How it went, what was asked, etc.) Thank you!</p>

4

<p>Yes, I just got my acceptance letter for the class of 2017. I applied RD. </p>

<p>hmm the interview. In India, there are only 2 cornell alums (the interviews always by a cornell alum) who have chosen to take interviews. My interview was with a guy who has been the CEO of a major Indian restaurant chain, and recently started a restaurant consultancy biz. It was pretty cool to meet someone with his kind of experience. Oh, nd he was class of '90 or '91…</p>

<p>So first, he basically asked me about my ECs. He went into a lot of detail- he asked me why I liked to do MUN(thats my number 1 EC), and then asked me about my quizzing and internships. At the time, I had only done an internship at an architectural firm, and I told him i couldnt really foresee myself doing that everyday.</p>

<p>i then spoke about my passion for food, and he was like why havent you worked at a restaurant yet? I told him I had an internship at one lined up for September (after my exams). He had this worksheet kind of thing which he kept filling simultaneously. </p>

<p>He then went on to my academic record (I had taken my CV, so he basically “interrogated” me on every point in it) starting with my SATs. at that time, i had a 2080. he told me to try and increase it a bit. He hinted that everything should be in the top 10 percent. (for example i had some international olympiads where i had percentiles like 91, 95, 94 etc, and he was like “ooh, top 10 percent, good”)</p>

<p>i now have a score of 2110-not as big an improvement as I had hoped, but pretty good all the same. </p>

<p>Apart from this, we spoke a lot about general stuff like paying for college, life in Ithaca etc. The guy (i dont think i should tell you his name :P) was pretty chill, and he answered all my questions really candidly.</p>

<p>I guess the interview went pretty well for the most part. I remember getting stuck on one question- Whats your weakness. I gave a pretty weird answer, but I dont remember too clearly…</p>

<p>Hope this helped, Im an open book so ask me anything :)</p>

5

<p>Thanks so much! Congrats on being accepted, you must be psyched! I just finished taking the SAT about 30 minutes ago at my high school… phew. Hopefully I’ll be joining you at the Hotel School next year! I’m really going to push the work experience into overdrive in the coming weeks.</p>

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<p>Hi! I also applied to the Hotel School but I don’t have any work experience in the service industry. I’ve done two advertising internships and I’ve volunteered at the library and that’s the extent of my work experience. I would really love to go into the service industry however, but how much will not having a service job affect my admissions decision?</p>

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<p>When I was on my tour my tour guide (a current student) told me she had had no work experience and she just had to spin her extracurriculars to make them related to hospitality.</p>

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<p>Good to know. Thanks!!</p>

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<p>no problem! When are you going to hear your decision? Is it your top choice?</p>

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<p>My son is very interested in Cornell’s Hotel Admin School. He is applying Early Decision and has an on campus interview in a few weeks. can you tell me what kinds of questions they ask; is a suit necessary; what kind of attitude do they expect. He has hospitality experience , too.</p>

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<p>My sister just started at Cornell SHA. Do not minimize the value of hospitality work experience. Do your best to experience the hospitality industry in some way. It is a vast industry so there are many opportunities, not just in restaurants and hotels; airlines, cruise ships, duty free (started by SHA alumn), entertainment parks (Disney, Universal, etc.), theaters, hotel/restaurant architecture and interior design, engineering, real estate, accounting, finance, the list is nearly endless. Your grades and your EC’s should tie in with the area of hospitality you are interested in. Good Luck!
ps Yes, wear a suit or at least casual business attire for your interview. They are looking for the academic ability to succeed in the program and a passion for providing service to others.</p>

12

<p>I just joined CC because I’m obsessed with SHA at Cornell and am so happy to have found a space to connect with prospective applicants like myself. I’m applying ED for the fall of 2014!</p>

<p>I have my interview very very soon and will post when I’m out if anything strikes me as a tough question. Be sure to be able to discuss upsets and downfalls and also what makes you different than everyone else who is similar to you that may be applying. </p>

<p>I’m looking forward to seeing ALL of you at accepted students day this spring… and if anyone wants to vent hotelie, I’m sitting here in my Hotelies are Gorges tee and ready to do so :)</p>

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<p>Look at it this way. Yes, they’d like some industry experience. But applicants to the Hotel School are generally 17 or 18. If you are able to begin working at 16 – that’s not a lot of time to have a whole resume of experience.</p>

<p>Conversely, this industry takes a particular sort of personality to be successful – and working in the industry allows you to try it on for size and see if you like it, as well as giing you some background in hospitality.</p>

14

<p>haha wow… just curious how did the interview go? I have mine scheduled on the 22nd =D</p>

15

<p>I have applied for ED this year. I am currently waiting in agony for my results to come out!!!
All of you said that internships are pretty important, so i am getting a little worried. I am from China with no family member or friend ever involved in the hotel industry, or the service industry whatsoever, therefore have never ever done or had any chance to do any internship as they are hard to get if you don’t have some sort of relationship with them. Also china has a strict law that does not allow children to work under 18 unless it is an exceptions like child-actors…
so,what do you think, do i stand a chance or not?</p>