I agree with broader questions about lack of diversity at ND, not just racial and ethnic but economic and viewpoint. However, for folks who don’t know the area, I wanted to say that South Bend is not like, say, Grinnell or Kenyon, schools often described as being in the middle of nowhere. SB is a recovering, industrial city, and Chicago is 90 min by car for special occasions.
Omg grinnell totally. I visited a friend there in college and the closest mcdonalds was 20 mins away in Waterloo and I hear ya on that point. We lived in Iowa City for 5 years. 0 diversity in the entire state, nice college town, but literally nothing else.
I love, love, love Grinnell – visited multiple times with both my kids, a great school. And having lived in smaller midwest towns (though spent most of my adult life in major east coast cities), I found the town of Grinnell charming. For a kid who doesn’t crave urban stimulation, Grinnell is a delightful community to spend 4 years, much like Kenyon or St Lawrence.
But I digress . . . .
Let’s get back to the OPs question please.
Seems like OP should go to ND (he is predisposed to it).
It’s not a mistake, so all good 
It would be helpful if the OP could confirm which specific Cornell college they’ve been accepted to.
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I am not in control of what the OP chooses to disclose. I’m just trying to keep the thread on track (ex. discussions about Grinnell do not belong here).
I got caught in the trap this year of applying to a wide net of schools that i don’t really know about – Cornell being one of them. I know a good amount about Notre Dame b/c of friends/family though.
I got into CAS but that was b/c it felt more liberal artsy to me which would give me more freedom to figure my major out. I’ve read only that you can transfer into Eng given you do well in your science/math classes first semester, and those classes tend to come easy for me. So assume engineering could be an option (although thats always up in the air, I get it).
OP said that he is concerned that ND is not built up in STEM. That would imply that he’s interested in STEM.
Anyone who thinks that NYC is as accessible to Cornell undergrads as Chicago is to those at ND has obviously never made the drive from Ithaca to NYC.
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Thanks for your thoughts. I definitely am going to map things out at both schools now that you suggested it. I never really had a firm grasp on what I was going to do at each school, so I appreciate the reminder!
Let me ask you though: what were you underwhelmed with at the labs at ND? (I assume given the context of your answer that you meant underwhelmed not over whelmed but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!
Hi! Thanks for your reply! I forgot to add that ND is rural, my fault and thanks for calling me out!
The only reason why I said the diversity is a negative is in what type of diversity I’m refering too. Not racial, ethnic, etc diversity (I see that as a positive at cornell)…I was refering to diversity of thought, but I will take that out of the question because I realize now it doesn’t make too much sense!
And I was accepted in CAS, but would be equally as happy to transfer to Eng if that’s what I decide to do (and if I can transfer smoothly)…really I’m interested in STEM but (annoyingly, I know) need a little more time to figure out exactly what that is.
Question for you: You mention that straight A’s rarely happens in Eng. Does that in anyway hurt students after graduation for jobs of graduate school. I know many Top 20 schools have grade inflation (Harvard, Dartmouth, etc). Thanks!
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I graduated CS 3.45 GPA … Never hurt me one bit.
Dude, don’t overthink it - neither one is a mistake pick one, move on
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You get accepted to a college-- for me it was CAS-- but you can internally transfer after the first semester given your grades are strong. So if I were to transfer to Eng I would need strong math/science grades that first semester. STEM is a strength of mine, so I assume I would be fine, but who knows
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CAS to COE is easy, unless your GPA is 2.0
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I haven’t heard anything said about religion as a pro or con for this student. What are the OP’s thoughts about single sex dorms, parietals, being in a largely Catholic (80%) undergrad student body?
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Here is the internal transfer info at Cornell, including a recently recorded webinar:
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Yes, underwhelmed. Most schools were happy to show off their facilities. We had to beg and plead to see the ND labs.
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Given that the OP has family & friends who went to ND, I doubt that the religious traditions there are going to bother him all that much.
Ya good point! I went to a fairly large all boys catholic high school, so I definitely don’t have an issue with it. It’s also not a necessity by any means, so I never felt like I had to bring it up.