<p>I've read a lot about the ILR program through CC, Cornell.edu, their pamphlet, and various other sources ( I have a friend that is going).</p>
<p>I've looked at campus pictures and it seems like a school no one can be miserable at since theres a little bit of everything. Is it wise to ED without visiting?</p>
<p>edit: yes from what i've read, i love the campus and the program suits my interests.</p>
<p>I'd always suggest going to see it with your own eyes. Where do you live?</p>
<p>Hello, I am in a bit of a unique yet similiar situation.
So, about 3 weeks ago I visited Cornell, toured the campus, and attended a college of arts and sciences information session as I was pretty much undecided and felt CAS would be the best place for me. On the tour, and since then I have become very interested in ILR to the point of wanting to apply ED (I have done a lot of research on it since). ILR places a large emphasis on "interest shown", so I was wondering if anybody knew of anyway I could show interest without visiting (my parents do not want to fly back out since we just got back), and do you think I should explain this situation in the application, and how much do you think this will hurt my ED chances?</p>
<p>show you clearly know the ILR program and aren't applying just because it's an ivy. Don't worry about visiting again.</p>
<p>okay, and show this through the essays right? or should I email the admissions office (I have been told this is useless, though)?</p>
<p>emailing admissions isn't entirely useless. Still, essays are the MOST important part you need to work on in the application.</p>
<p>I did it. I wasn't gonna visit most of the schools I was interested in anyways so it didn't matter to me.</p>
<p>i was disappointed when i visited, but im still giogn to cornell haha ... -_-</p>
<p>i thought georgetown sounded PERFECT in print yet i visited and it wasnt so much that i didnt not like the campus or location or aesthetics, because i did, i just had a really bad feeling about the student body that totally turned me off...</p>
<p>so you never know. visiting is good though to reaffirm your faith.</p>
<p>Well applying ED obviously shows that you are interested and committed, but still it would be nicer if you could visit (and specifically ILR). If you absolutely can't then I would e-mail questions to people in admissions and maybe make phone calls expressing your interest and more information about the program.</p>
<p>I would be very careful about applying ED without visiting, especially Cornell. Yes, the campus is lovely, but it is huge and extremely hilly. (It's bigger than our suburban town!) No website can give a real feel for the campus, the distance between buildings and areas of the campus (never mind the student body). We really had no clue until my d did their summer program - and after 2 days, she knew she didn't want to deal with the campus, particularly in the winter.</p>
<p>Would you marry someone you'd never met, but only corresponded with, whose picture you saw? Would you buy a car you didn't test drive? That's almost what you're doing by applying ED without visiting.</p>
<p>I applied ED without ever visiting the campus. I love Cornell. I underestimated it. The arranged marriage worked well. I win.</p>
<p>the pictures of the campus are taken during the summer months...they tend to de-emphesize the winter months which usually last november-april...</p>
<p>your best bet is either to visit the campus (if you're within reasonable distance) or maybe you'll get invited for Diversity Hosting Weekend if you are from out of state or whatnot...</p>
<p>I would not apply ED without visiting. It just isn't a smart idea, even though it might have worked out for some people. Cornell is expensive, so you would probably want to put some time and thought into your decision. For a while I thought that I wanted to apply ED to Brown, until I visited and realized that I liked Cornell's atmosphere a lot more.</p>
<p>well you can always transfer out after one year so its not much of a big deal in my opinion. how good can school get?</p>
<p>The idea of buying something without test-driving it first, so to speak, is always bad and usually ill-fated. I say don't do it. I remember I visited a couple of colleges I was really enthusiastic about only to come back disinterested.</p>
<p>another issue for many is that cornell is the best school (academic wise) they got into, though another school they got into has a better social scene...</p>
<p>sometimes you just have to make that choice, and unless you're miserable...</p>
<p>How good can school get? The better analogy in the form of a question would be the following: would you not test out electric chair X before using it?</p>
<p>Furthermore, college is only 4 years of your life out of an optimistic 87, and everyone will die anyway. So why not just apply ED?</p>
<p>(I'm just kidding everyone (or am I?). Although, my first post was serious.)</p>
<p>Applying ED without visiting is risky. You need to see the (as Chedva said) HUGE campus and get a feel for the surrounding community. (Since Cornell only guarantees housing for two years, you're going to be living in that community eventually if you enroll at Cornell.) You may also want to get a feel for the size of the town and the degree of isolation from other places. For some people, seeing just how far Cornell is from anything that could reasonably be described as a major city is a dealbreaker. Others, on the other hand, are reassured when they visit Ithaca -- to them, it seems that the things they might want from a community are all available, just on a smaller scale than in the major metropolitan areas that they're used to.</p>
<p>I actually did exactly what you are describing (I applied ED to ILR without ever visiting). When I got accepted and went to visit in April, I loved it, so I definitely don't have any regrets (not yet anyways). I guess in hindsight it would have been a little smarter to visit first, but it was a time and money issue since I live in CA, and I knew I wanted to go to Cornell. If you have the resources to visit first, do so by all means. But if you were like me and are confident that Cornell is for you and are a bit impulsive, go for it.</p>