<p>I'm thinking of majoring in the sciences (thinking of Chem at the moment) but wondered how the student environment amongst undergrads (particularly science majors) is at Cornell? I really appreciate an easy-going, friendly environment for a college. But obviously not one where most kids are demure most of the time. One of my best teachers in H.S. told me that the most important things he learned in college were all OUTSIDE the classroom; I want to know if Cornell fits my personality (listed above). thanks.</p>
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Easy like the “lets hold each other’s hands” LAC’s, or easy like chill people who are fun to be around but hard working and know when to turn the afterburners on for midterms?
I would agree with this, I had an incredible experience with my non-classroom Cornell friends. Heck, even just hall mates, I look back astounded at some of the stuff I learned at some of the random late night conversations we had. And frankly I miss it a lot. Never before have I been in an environment where a physics major completely floored me with details behind the Big Bang, and then 40 minutes later horticulture major explained the reasoning behind some of Burgundy’s canopy management proceedures (I have continued with intensive wine study to this day because of stuff like this)</p>
<p>The chemistry major is a small major at Cornell and everyone in that major seems to be friendly and close. However, science majors in general don’t lend themselves to being “easy going.” Whether you end up in med school or as a post-doc there is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform. Students are cooperative and will help each other. No one’s giving each other bad notes or stealing each other’s books. But, the courses will be intense, make no mistake about it.</p>
<p>gomestar, I mean “easy going” as in the 2nd definition you gave. </p>
<p>To be honest, I’m worried I won’t get A’s without having to study to my death in Cornell. Or maybe I should consider some other major.</p>
<p>there’s a good chance you will have to study very hard indeed for As, and you might even earn Bs or the occasional C. it’s definitely possible, because everyone here performed pretty well in high school, and lots of courses are graded on a curve. if you mean easy-going as in “it will be easy-going getting through these courses” you will not be in luck. however, if you want people who like to hang out and have fun, they abound.</p>
<p>It’s easy enough to get As without working overly hard your first two years. Junior and senior year are a different story.</p>
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<p>Chemistry, engineering, physics, math, etc. are hard majors at any school, not just Cornell. I applaud people who major in these subjects but they should know what they’re getting themselves into. The grading differences b/w schools are much less than the grading differences b/w majors. This means that if you want to avoid grade deflation, the smart idea is not to change schools but rather to change majors. Sometimes that’s possible. Sometimes that’s not.</p>
<p>i agree more with faustarp than i do with swuster…</p>
<p>It depends on the major. Some majors try to weed people out early. Other majors prefer to do it senior year and laugh maniacally all the way to the bank.</p>
<p>Well, not really, but some majors do get substantially harder junior/senior year. This year (junior year) CS raped my mind.</p>