@quadaces,
Like others said Cornell is very diverse. There are all kinds of students and personalities there. I hope your daughter would not be discouraged just from talking to one stressed out Cornell student.
My D is a freshman. She loves the academic challeges as well as the college social life at Cornell. She does not join any sorority. She has found a group of good friends (male and female) from her dorms, 80% of her friends study engineering (she does not). They all work hard but are supportive to one another. They hang out, go to dances and parties together when possible. Most take their studies seriously. A few that do not manage their time well ( procrastinators) often get stressed out.
Students that manage their time well are successful academically while having time for fun, too. It looks like your daughter will be able to do that.
For New Englanders, Ithaca’s winter is not much different from what we have in New England. For those from warmer zones, it is cold. Cornell is not usually closed for snow days. Get ready to walk or take a bus to classes on snow days. However, Cornell long Winter break (mid Dec - late Jan) about 5 weeks really helps.
Depressing time is when students are back from winter break until the end of Feb. Day light saving time starts the first Sun of March. Longer days should help lift winter blues by then.
My kid were in the Greek life. At the same time they did a lot outside of their sorority. They were in a dance group that performed twice a year. They were part of student council and were active on various campus clubs. They went out to dinners with friends. There were games, lectures, concerts, plays…on campus. There were more things for them to do than they had time for… It think it is one of the benefits of going to a large school, it offers more activities on campus.
Whether the whether is depressing or not, it is up to individuals. Ithaca does get more snow than other places due to the lake effect. My kids didn’t mind it. I think they were too busy to be affected by the weather.
I applied to CALS for neuroscience. But, looking at some other CC posts, I may be wrong, but it it seems that CALS students are considered below rank students. Is there any truth in that? My ACT score is 34 and GPA is 99% ( I don’t know what that is 4.00 scale). I also know the perception is rather subjective. Thanks anyway.
First time posting here in a long time. Have some time to kill, so feel free to ask questions
About me:
Graduated with a BA in Econ back in 2011-2012 Yes, I am old… Did JD / MBA at a top 10 school. Worked as a corp lawyer at a biglaw firm, and recently switched into a business consultant role at a consulting firm.
Oh, some advice I would give to any young student: make sure to keep educational debt as low as possible, for college, grad schools, whatever. And, try to form meaningful relationships / friendships while in college and school. School is the best time to shape your best buddies / friends for a long time to come.
That I experienced Cornell winter weather was one reason I moved to CA and one reason my kid did not apply to any East coast schools. Weather was a big factor for us. Shorts and t-shirts every day for me.
DD trying to decide between Cornell, VT, RPI, Case Western for engineering. Cornell will cost more than $100K more than the other schools, which all have her merit money except for VT, which is just lower cost even at full price.
She is stuck in a pro-con list. She didn’t even WANT to apply to Cornell, but her Dad made her - and now keeps saying “don’t expect us to help you with grad school if you pick Cornell! We will be effing broke!”
So really- is it worth paying that much more???
It depends a lot on the type of engineering. It is definitely more likely that for certain types of engineering (CS, ECE, ORIE) Cornell engineers have higher starting salaries than other school’s engineers.
You are also paying for the once in a lifetime experience to be an apprentice under world-class researchers. If I had the choice, I would pick Cornell because of this–you never know, maybe later in life something she picks up here will lead to the next Facebook.
Cornell’s curriculum and atmosphere is also significantly more difficult than those schools listed. You will probably be more challenged here than elsewhere.
I don’t think 100k is worth going to Cornell if money matters for you, especially considering that RPI is a top-notch institution. Better to use that money for grad school.
I am a Cornell freshman struggling to get through finals lol. To procrastinate my studying, I figured I’d write a post and let anybody interested in Cornell ask me any questions or about college applications in general. I applied to 13 schools, got into 8 of those schools, where I chose Cornell. Feel free to send me any questions!!
Congrats to the new Cornell ED admits and good luck to the RD folks! I just finished my first semester as freshman at Cornell (Bio major, CALS) and I would be happy to help answer questions about pretty much anything Cornell related (advising, workload, choosing classes, dorm life, application process, etc.)
Also a current Cornell freshman! I’m an Operations Research major in the College of Engineering. I applied to ~18 schools and was admitted to ~7 of them.
@sunnyschool To my knowledge, the main difference between CS in CAS and CS in Engineering is the set of requirements you need to complete in order to graduate (CAS is more broad in terms of subjects, Engineering is more STEM). Also, CS in CAS gives you a B.A. whereas CS in engineering gives you a B.S. So, I guess it really depends on what you want to do in the future to decide which school you want to complete CS in.
@24daffodils First semester was definitely a challenge. Classes in engineering are not a piece of cake, so I really had to change my mindset given that I came from a super competitive school. Overall, transitioning to college was not easy, but I think I would have the same problems if I had gone to any other school.
CAS 2022 here. taking a break from March madness. So first semester I had 18 credits with the FWS requirement is tough. Along with trying to meet new people, studying, laundry etc. Second semester is lighter and having more fun, bowling, ice skating concerts etc. Biggest advice I can give for incoming 2023, is to manage your time.