<p>NoCalGuy, if Cornell has eliminated it's grade deflation in the past 20 years, then more power to them.</p>
<p>People I know who went to Cornell in the 70's and 80's were convinced that their grades were not normalized against those of ...oh, I don't know, maybe STANFORD!!, and this hurt them in applications to graduate schools.</p>
<p>It seems then, if what you say is true, that Cornell has changed its grading policies. That would also go a long way to changing the perception that Cornell students, as a consequence of this harder grading and the lousy weather/isolation, were more depressed than students at other highly selective colleges, large or small.</p>
<p>norcalguy- do you mean at the national average overall, or for college students? Because being at the national average overall would put it higher than the collegiate average. College students, in general, have a lower suicide rate.</p>
<p>"And, mrsopresident, play nice. Stop setting traps and waiting for people to fall in lol It's almost too easy dispelling the..."</p>
<p>i wasn't aware that i was "setting traps" lol. if that's the way it came off as, than i apologize. but i was simply trying to set something straight (seems like someone has to do it every week on these threads).</p>
<p>someone a while back posted a link to the average grades in the business program at cornell (which i believe is in the agriculture school...?) and it was pretty absurd, almost every class was giving out all As.</p>
<p>slipper-
Cornell does a lot of research. This is a plus for undergrads. TAs are actually very helpful for undergrads. Cornell has about the same proportion of undergrads as Dartmouth. I don't think Cornell A&S and Engineering are the least selective in the Ivy League in terms of SAT scores.</p>
<p>Cornell's avg. GPA back in 2004 (it's probably higher now) was 3.35. Part of this is due to the fact the registrar publishes median grade reports (which tells you the median grades in each and every class w/ an enrollment over 10). These can be found online and allows students to pick and choose their courses based on ease.</p>
<p>As for suicide rate, I meant that the Cornell suicide rate is around the national average for college students (as that would be the logical comparison).</p>
<p>As for the high percentage of NY residents in the contract colleges, well, it's logical since NY residents get reduced tuition at those schools. If CAS and CALS both offer bio (which they do), and you can attend CALS and get a Cornell education for 1/2 price, why wouldn't you? There is a lot of incentive for NY residents to apply to the contract colleges. If you're prelaw, you can major in government in CAS but you can also go into ILR (which many of the pre-law people do). If you're premed, sure, you can be a CAS bio major. But you can literally get the same major in CALS or major in something like HBHS or Human Development in the College of Human Ecology.</p>
<p>On the issue of selectivity, check out the Cornell ED thread from this year. Most of the 2300+ SAT scorers who posted were rejected. It's clear Cornell does not emphasize test scores as much as other schools. They seem to look at fit, essays, interest, etc. more. Whether you believe in such an approach or not is a matter of opinion. However, I do think that, if they wanted to, they can reasonably increase their avg. SAT scores to around the Northwestern (just picking NU as I know it's slightly ahead of Cornell in SAT scores) level.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification. It may be the logical comparison, but certain Cornell favoring posts :cough:collegehelp:cough: Don't always make logical comparisons, since they don't always forward your argument.</p>
<p>so, do you guys think ILR is a lesser education than CAS Government. I know that they are different, but how about for an out of stater, how would they choose between the two at the same cost?</p>
<p>^^ if i'm not mistaken the CAS has stronger students and should be chosen if only for that reason - higher-quality classmates (which, in my opinion, really have more to do with your education than anything else)</p>
<p>I can't speak for law schools but I do know that for premed (which is similar to prelaw in that there is no set major or "path") it won't matter at all. I highly doubt med schools even know the difference between the different colleges at Cornell. I don't know how law schools look at your coursework but because you can take courses in any college at Cornell, you can give your schedule any character that you want. If you want a more liberal arts education, then take some liberal arts courses in CAS. I was a bio major, but it didn't stop me from taking 3 history courses, 3 English courses, and courses in Spanish, anthro, psych, sociology, Asian American studies, math, etc.</p>
<p>elsijfdl: Is the difference in intelligence b/t ilr'ies and cas students huge? like are ilr students basically just run of the mill state school SUNY kids or are they anywhere near what one would expect at Cornell?</p>
<p>Norcalguy: can you do that in ILR too? characterize your education?</p>
<p>just note that ILRies have a higher average starting salary that CAS graduates, as of the Class of 2006 (probably been that way for years, but i can only speak for the Class of '06). this is with, mind you, all of the "low-salaried" human resource graduates.</p>
<p>i don't know? what do you mean by "near the intelligence?" ?? but if you're looking for SAT mid-range scores, then CAS is higher than ILR and just about every other undergraduate college/school at Cornell (if not all).</p>
<p>No, ILR is not run of the mill. The average stats at CAS are the highest of any undergraduate division of Cornell. But at the end of the day, you still need good numbers to get into ILR in general. Of course, none of this speaks to intelligence, as SAT scores and GPAs are very poor metrics of it. All those show is your ability to take a certain test or to do tedious busy work.</p>
<p>Outside of CAS and perhaps Human Ecology, all of the other schools are specialized to a degree. The engineering school obviously focuses on engineering. ILR focuses on labor. And so on. However, as an ILR student, you can take courses in any of the other colleges at Cornell. So, you are free to explore your interests through electives.</p>
<p>Cornell is undoubtedly an amazing school, and more importantly, has INCREDIBLE FOOD! Gah, I wish I would've applied there, if for that reason alone :P</p>