<p>^Ikr. The ish has been bugging me since. I love Cornell but why can’t the grades not be deflated. Are people cutthroat because of this or are they generally nice? And how hard is it to get 4.0s?</p>
<p>Fb0mbb:
I’m not on the admissions committee or anything so I really can tell you the trick to getting in to Cornell or any other Ivy but honestly, don’t stress. Essays definitely count as well as all that other number stuff but what will be will be. I didn’t expect to get into Cornell, and looking back on the whole process, it kind of seems like things will happen how they’re gonna happen. Just continue to do your best in school and of course be prepared to discuss your rough freshman year if it comes up in an interview or something.
As for the people with the lower GPAs and such, maybe they had those great essays or maybe they’re legacies. There are many possibilities but don’t stress! :)</p>
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<p>Good questions! As for Human Ecology, the college is really not as secluded as you may think! Some majors may be, and especially for Human Development your intro HD courses (HD 1150 etc.) you will be with all your other freshman HD majors. But for example, I also took HD 1150, simply because I needed Human Ecology credits and the class is really interesting! And you will also have non-human ecology people in there fulfilling science requirements. There will always be people in the larger intro classes from the “outside” for various reasons, maybe even just because the course is interesting. Especially because you’re on the premed track, you are also going to be with lots of other freshman in your bio and chem courses. As you get older and HD classes become smaller, I’m sure you will be more restricted to HumEc/HD people but as a freshman and even a sophmore, you will be with plenty others!</p>
<p>Meeting people is interesting…During O week you basically run around talking to everyone you meet and exchanging numbers so that you have all these random people in your phone weeks later. Some people may make friends that way but I really didn’t. Most of my close friends actually ended up being people in my dorm, which is really lucky. I made a couple friends/acquaintances through classes and study groups. PE is especially good for that cause you can usually talk during it and its mostly all freshman! FWS is also good. I also am in a couple clubs and I have made some acquaintances there although not really close friends. But I know clubs/sports work for a lot of people to make friends. Also, sometimes you can meet people at parties through mutual friends and although they may be just “going out” friends it can turn into more! I think it kind of just happens how it happens but don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! It will be awkward in the beginning but you’ll meet people somehow (maybe even in your major) and hopefully people you like! :)</p>
<p>I’m not on any club sports so I can’t really talk about that but I would assume they take up a good amount of time. Probably varies depending on the sport though! I know a couple guys on club teams and they seem to have practice and couple times a week, but I really don’t know. Other clubs I think it really varies with as well. I think most only meet once a week but they may require out of meeting work! I would say join a couple and narrow down to what you actually like later on (I’m still working on that). Freshman don’t really do research because they’re still trying to get settled and all but probably some do. Can’t really tell you about the time commitment for that either, sorry!</p>
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<p>Okay so I really don’t know if grade deflation is real or not but here have my been experiences. I took 5 classes this semester, all pretty much intro classes and my FWS. I manage to get As in all of them except my intro science which was a bio course. For intro non-science courses, I would definitely say it doesn’t take an extreme amount of effort to get an A. As long as you do your work and study before the prelims (exams) it is not that bad. Maybe thats just me, but I don’t know.
Now for science classes, my prelims were curved with a mean of a B-. In the case of my class, this was a fair adjustment because no way was the mean without the curve a B-. I didn’t take chem, but I know the curve was adjusted accordingly as well. Now, a B- is not a fantastic grade, but for college it is pretty solid. I think the mindset a lot of people who come to Cornell have is that As are the only good grades and that if you get a B or god forbid, a C, you failed. Its going to take some adjustment and you probably at some point will get a C in a class, and some Bs. Its different in college! And you will be okay! I think in the way the science classes are curved, people usually end up with the grade they deserve, in correspondence to how they did to the rest of the class.
Now this definitely sounds like it fosters competition, which it kind of does. The bio class I took was a pretty stacked premed class (although I am not premed) so a lot of people were…intense. But for most people, I would say people will help other people if they ask and friends will study with friends. I really don’t think helping eachother is a problem here, at least in the circles I travel in. 
To get a 4.0, well, you could probably just take a bunch of simple classes. But PLEASE don’t focus on that. As I stated above, Cornell is a wake up call to many. Maybe one semester you will get a 4.0, but don’t stress about it, especially first semester when you’re just trying to learn how college works. Worry about that later! Obviously do your best and study hard. But college is a lot more then just getting a 4.0.
Obviously all this depends on your major.</p>
<p>Wow you spent a semester doing intro courses? How long does it typically take to do them? And with A-levels I can skip them right?</p>
<p>@Lelyke: What you can get credit for depends on what college you’re in and what scores you got. You will probably end up taking some intro classes even if you took a lot of AP/IB/A-level exams and got scores that are high enough. At least in engineering, you will still end up taking at least some intro classes even if you enter with lots of credit because a lot of courses have no equivalent exam you can take in high school.</p>
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<p>Like bigredengr said, sometimes you do still have to take intro courses even if you have credit. But outside engineering, there are a lot of “intro” courses that are considered intro in subjects that are not necessarily offered in high school. Like I said, I took the intro human development class “Infancy and Childhood” which is very possibly not offered in high school. There are intro classes in every type of possible subject, its not necessarily always Calculus I or Gen Chem.
If you’re interested in upper level courses in any particular subject you often have to take the general intro class first…such as psych, soc, etc.</p>
<p>Wow I got in College of Engineering, guess I’m not skipping a lot of intro classes.</p>
<p>What grades did you earn in high school? Also, how did you score on your SAT/ACT, if you don’t mind me asking? How would you describe the general atmosphere among the students(competitive? friendly?)?</p>
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<p>I got a 4.0 this semester taking a relatively tougher courseload. You just have to spend your time wisely.</p>
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<p>In high school I got pretty much straight As and I believe I got a 2180 on my SAT after taking it 3 times. I would say most students are pretty friendly. Of course in certain majors and areas some students are going to be more competitive and depending on who you hang out with the feeling may be different. But I find that most people are willing to study together and help each other out!</p>
<p>Hi rubies,</p>
<p>How do you meet most of your friends? also, is there a lot of interaction with students who are in other colleges within Cornell?</p>
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<p>I mostly met most of my friends in my dorm! But that doesn’t happen for everyone. Here is a reply I wrote before:
Meeting people is interesting…During O week you basically run around talking to everyone you meet and exchanging numbers so that you have all these random people in your phone weeks later. Some people may make friends that way but I really didn’t. Most of my close friends actually ended up being people in my dorm, which is really lucky. I made a couple friends/acquaintances through classes and study groups. PE is especially good for that cause you can usually talk during it and its mostly all freshman! FWS is also good. I also am in a couple clubs and I have made some acquaintances there although not really close friends. But I know clubs/sports work for a lot of people to make friends. Also, sometimes you can meet people at parties through mutual friends and although they may be just “going out” friends it can turn into more! I think it kind of just happens how it happens but don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! It will be awkward in the beginning but you’ll meet people somehow and hopefully people you like!
Also I should mention that a lot of the smaller majors or ones that have the same intro core classes (like ILR) you’re often meet the same people and spend a lot of time with them so they can become your friends too! </p>
<p>And the colleges definitely mix. Its not nearly as segregated as you may think. Especially because the dorms have all majors and colleges in them, you’re bound to meet people from almost any school. Some colleges are more kind of “cliquey” than others but thats more for the reasons stated above, a lot of the same classes etc. (Hotel school, ILR) But everyone definitely does mix and my friends are in all different colleges!</p>
<p>To add to that I would say organizations and dorm are by far the best way to meet people. Joining greek life was the best way for me as the vast majority of my friend group is in my house. And I am still good friends with a number of people on my freshmen floor who either joined different houses or didn’t rush. Same also applies for females with sororities.</p>
<p>If greek life isn’t your scene then there are plenty of other options also. Acapella groups tend to be very close, sports (both varsity and club sports) teams too. People on the Cornell Sun also seem to be a close knit bunch. There are tons of other examples too. Though some of the bigger clubs tend to be less personal, those tend to be the ones where the exec board does everything and members just show up to monthly general body meetings.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m wondering if it’s possible to double major in two different schools? For example, between human ecology and CALS? Thank you!</p>
<p>^^
I’m kind of having the same problem in that most of my friends are just people from my dorm or classes. Or occasionally, random people I meet in the dining halls. I wish I’d been more outgoing during O-Week.</p>
<p>How many clubs are you in? I tried to do four this semester and felt bad because I thought that was too few, but now I’ve realized that I need to cut it to two active + one occasional one.</p>
<p>Also, how do you go to parties and what do you do once you get there? I just tag along with friends or have some random person whom I know invite me.</p>
<p>But once I get there, all I wind up doing is standing around and talking to random people because I don’t drink. It seems terribly boring.</p>
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<p>I think it depends on what major your are? I vaguely remember hearing that you can’t double major in human ecology or that may just be my major. Sorry, you’re going to have to look into that! But you can definitely minor across colleges in human ecology!</p>
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Yeah, I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I want to do clubwise. I think I am narrowing it down to 3ish and then I am also rushing. That may be too much and I may have to cut down but I guess I’ll see! I think it really depends on what level of involvement the club requires.</p>
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<p>Most of the time my friends and I just ask around until we hear of some frat having something unless we’re not already invited to/know about something. But I’m sure a lot of this next semester is going to change as people join frats and sororities! Once I get to the party I usually just hang around or dance. If you don’t drink, I could see why going to parties may seem kind of boring. But when theres a dance floor, that usually makes the party more inviting and even if you’re not drinking you can still dance! Parties really are a lot of standing around anyway whether you’re chatting or watching pong or whatever. You can always talk to people, drinking or not, and sometimes talking to those random people can make you new friends!!</p>
<p>Rubies47, did you rush, and do most girls rush? Is it true that for girls who are not in a sorority, but are still very social, it is pretty difficult to meet new people?</p>