<p>I was recently admitted so I decided to checkout the downloadable map and was shocked at the scale. Cornell's campus seems so large. Other than the bus system, how does one traverse the campus? Does the size make it impersonal? TIA.</p>
<p>I should clarify by saying … in addition to the bus and walking, do you guys/gals bike or skateboard?</p>
<p>my D goes there and loves it. It is not as big as it seems. Students walk everywhere or take the bus which is free all over the county for freshman. My D prefers to walk on most occasions. </p>
<p>Cornell is made up of several colleges so it doesn’t seem as big as it is and people are very friendly. For example, College of Engineering has around 2000 students. so engineering classes tend to be in the same area. But when you take your humanities and freshman writing seminars you will be in other parts of the campus mixing with the other colleges. </p>
<p>When my D moved in, she had gone on a pre-freshman orientation trip. She had her T shirt on from that on move in day. As we walked around campus that afternoon, there must have been 5 strangers that came up to her and asked her what trip she went on and if she enjoyed it and welcomed her to Cornell. I was totally impressed. this type of thing happens a lot there so it is not as big as it seems. And, there are always new things to discover on campus. My D found a new eatery a few weeks ago on campus that is her new favorite. I think that sense of discovery and variety will be welcome as one gets closer to senior year becuase there will still be things that are new.</p>
<p>Make sure to register it too.</p>
<p>some people ride bikes but most don’t. I have seen skateboards too. The campus is beautiful and slightly hilly so the walks are really pretty. From North campus where freshman live, it is not more than a 15 minute walk anywhere you would need to go for classes and such. I think engineering is the farthest. Architecture is close to North and CAS and Hotel classes are fairly close too.</p>
<p>honestly, it’s not as big as the map makes it seem. Most of your classes will be concentrated in one area, so you get to know a lot of kids who take classes in the same halls/quads as you. A handful of students ride bikes, but I would say the overwhelming majority (85-90%) walk.</p>
<p>Awesome information moms thank you. I’m a transfer an ILR student and was happy to find Ives hall right smack dab in the middle of campus. I think I’ll invest in some comfortable running shoes lol.</p>
<p>That’s what D did, but honestly she wears flats a lot. Don’t forget a comfortable pair of warm and waterproof boots for the winter too. They are excellent at plowing and shoveling the walks even very early in the morning after a snow storm so you are never tromping through lots of snow.</p>
<p>^I’m from California and a guy so I’ve never needed, “a pair of comfortable pair of warm and waterproof boot” so I’m not sure what they are. What are you talking about? LOL.</p>
<p>OK I’ve told this story before, but:</p>
<p>When D2 was first thinking of transfering I took her (back) to Cornell and she had the common reaction, she thought it seemed enormous, and was worried about how she could master such a huge campus in only a couple years!</p>
<p>So I printed out that campus map, covering two 8 x 11 pages, taped them together.</p>
<p>Then in front of her I started ripping off of it the parts that she would essentially never have to go to, until or unless she found herself up for new vistas.</p>
<p>North campus, well not a freshman, rip.
Ag school, plantations, maybe later, vet school not likely, rip, rip, rip.
Frats all over here, and there too, not her thing, rip, rip, rip, rip.
Engineering Quad, yeah right, rip.</p>
<p>Etc.</p>
<p>When I was done, what was left was not very scary at all.</p>
<p>Nor is it, in practice, for virtually anybody. The truth is, the campus is functionally mastered within a very short period of time.</p>
<p>^Quite the parenting skills. </p>
<p>I didn’t have dad for a long time so I’ll to try your trick myself LOL. </p>
<p>If I end up going, I’d like to have visited Cornell’s four corners. Thanks again to everyone that posted. The information was extremely useful.</p>
<p>I like how big campus is because you can really settle into your niche. I happened to head up to north campus today and it felt weird, like a trip back to freshman year. on my way back to central I reached a certain point where I was back in “my zone” which is where I walk to go to classes. some people at Cornell probably spend very little time in those areas, though.
I saw lots of bikes and skateboards today, but I think walking is totally feasible all year round. if you do like biking, though, I personally find that the campus is reasonably well-marked bike lanes and pedestrian-bike shared paths. I don’t have much to compare it with but I can plan a convenient, legal, and safe route from one place to another pretty easily.</p>
<p>upon further recollection efforts, I don’t think I ripped after all. I think I crossed them out with a pen or a marker. It was a while ago.</p>
<p>Rip sounds better though.</p>
<p>^faustarp,</p>
<p>How long is the walk from the West Campus housing to Ives? From the map it looks like you have to go around Libe Slope.</p>
<p>^It would probably be around 10-15mins, depending on how fast you walk. And you can’t really go “around” the slope lol</p>
<p>TskDbx has it right both on timing and trajectory. there are numerous paved footpaths crossing the slope so you can walk right up. many of them are strategically maintained during the winter and they receive heavy use.</p>
<p>eyethink, I don’t know what the guys wear on their feet when its raining or is snowing, but you may want some warm footwear for winter. Maybe some sort of waterproof hiking style boot? I’ll let the guys weigh in here. Maybe they just wear sneakers all year long…</p>
<p>This brings to mind another question, which came up recently but also comes up from time to time:</p>
<p>Who rides the buses, and for what??</p>
<p>The only times I remember riding them is when I had to get to some further reaches of the ag quad. Which was like one semester, when I had an independent study with an ag professor. And maybe a couple times when I was going to the Dairy Barn and got lazy. Do the buses have any other practical utility?</p>
<p>D rides the bus to get to the barn where the horses are for her PE class. And to get around when it is raining hard AND windy. But not very often according to her.</p>
<p>^There’s horses for a PE class? You’ve gotta be kidding me that’s awesome. I should ride those to class ;-)</p>