<p>I'll try to make this story short but I need words of encouragement about Ithaca and Cornell please. </p>
<p>I am graduating from Columbia this May, I was expecting to have a job by now but the market is rough at the moment and I haven't found anything. As an international student, I needed a backup plan so I applied to Cornell for a MENg in BEE, I got accepted but now realize that I have made a terrible mistake. Let me explain: I transfer to Columbia on my junior year from a very small liberal arts school in FL and I have hated about 80% of my time here. I hate the snobbishness, the intensity, the weather, I even hate the city (it is soo expensive to do anything). Anyway, How is Ithaca compared to NYC? Is the weather really that much worse than NYC's? I don't mind the snow but I hate being cold with a passion. How are the people compare to Columbia? </p>
<p>there will definitely be intensity in the classroom, and people pretty passionate about the subject. I do not know about snobbishness. most of the engineers (including grad students) I have met are very…reasonable and nice? I don’t think that Cornell has an overall snobbish atmosphere anyway. I have never visited Columbia so I cannot compare directly.
the weather…it is pretty cold and snowy here, and you probably will be cold. I think snow/cold in Ithaca is a lot nicer than the same down in NYC because you also get the benefit of nice views and possibly winter activities outside. however, there are many days where you’re freezing walking around, so I can’t reassure you too much.
finally, Ithaca is WAY different than NYC. I get nervous and ready to leave from <1 week in NYC (or Manhattan anyway) but everything is a lot more spread out in Ithaca and I love it here. things are not nearly as expensive. you can get groceries from supermarkets like Wegmans or Topps or shop at the mall. it doesn’t feel like the middle of nowhere to me either.</p>
<p>The weather isn’t that much worse but Cornell/Ithaca is more spread out so you will be walking a lot more outside. Given that you will be in an MEng program, most of your classes will be in the same building.</p>
<p>In general, I would say that Cornell is far less snobby and intense than Columbia. Cornell has a much more ‘laid back’ vibe.</p>
<p>"I hate the snobbishness, the intensity, the weather, I even hate the city (it is soo expensive to do anything). "</p>
<p>Someone who transferred from Barnard to Cornell had the same observation about the expense of the city, for that reason finds she can actually do more in Ithaca! Ithaca is a town optimized for college students, not for investment bankers. </p>
<p>There is probably much greater middle class representation at Cornell due to the economic advantage of the contract colleges. And I’ve detected a tendency to think you are wonderful when you survive a sub-10% acceptance rate that is somewhat less prevalent when you survive “merely” a sub-20% acceptance rate. both these factors suggest you might be happier with your fellow students at Cornell.</p>
<p>D2 initially found the work, or at least grading, tougher at Cornell, she has now adjusted. But that might pertain to her particular courses, and she is not an engineer. Expect that you will need to be quite serious about your coursework, I imagine this is also true at columbia.</p>
<p>In NYC snow does not stay on the ground hardly at all, and the Columbia campus is so compact that you hardly have to deal with it. At Cornell you will have long walks outside every day, so you will experience the weather much more prominenty there. Plus, it is a little colder anyway. You will probably not greatly enjoy the winter weather, the other seasons are beautiful, It rains a lot in the fall, but still.</p>
<p>It would be a new experience for you, very different. If I were you I would find out what they would do to help you integrate socially there. But then, get a good warm coat and do it, it’s just a year.</p>
<p>cornell is very different from columbia. it’s not as intense and it is absoulutely gorgeous! the campus is amazing and it does get cold there, but you’ll get used to it. i say you go to cornell and as monydad said “it’s just a year.” it’s not like you will have to go there for four years or something. go for it!</p>
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<li><p>I agree with spending too much time in the city, I feel like NYC is a nice place for a visit/vacation but not really to live. It always seems like I am missing out on soo much that end up feeling guilty for not enjoying the city to the fullest.</p></li>
<li><p>Cayuga: Yeah, I was hoping the weather wouldn’t be that much different. I am originally from the Dom. Rep. and when I had my first winter in FL, I thought I was going to die (around Tampa it can go below 50’s during the winter) but 50’s in FL is wayy different from 50’s in NYC (maybe because FL is more humid). Also, buildings up north actually have heaters/proper set-up for winter, unlike FL. So I am hoping it will be similar in Ithaca, maybe the wind chill is less upstate than in the city (I hope )</p></li>
<li><p>Monydad and Mandypandy: Thank you, I keep telling myself that it would be a new beginning, in a new place and hopefully with nicer people. It just happens that everyone I talk to about Cornell come to the same conclusion that I will freeze myself there or get depressed. I am a very lively person and sometimes weather determines my mood: rain = bed/movie time while sun = hapiness But I agree that it will be a new experience and who knows, I might end up loving it.</p></li>
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<p>For me, at your age, social circumstances were the biggest influence on my mood.
That’s why I said suggest find out what they will do to integrate you socially. If you have people to do stuff with, that helps a lot. but as a grad student who is there for but one year you may have to work pretty fast to develop much of a network for yourself. If you wind up spending the year essentially all alone then, yeah, you might get depressed. Or at least I might have, under those circumstances. </p>
<p>As for the weather, there’s no sugar coating it, if you go there, it will be there, and you will have to deal with it. It will be cold in winter, there will be snow, and often it isn’t very sunny. I remember fellow students from Africa and the middle east who were dealing wth it, you probably can too, with the right attitude about it. But if you’ve a mindset that it’s going to be such a really big deal then you probably shouldn’t come.</p>
<p>But if you do come, you will learn to deal with it, then for the rest of your life you won’t be so scared of some cold weather that it will necessarily need to drive your decisions anymore. Make sure you have the right clothing for the weather, sounds like maybe you didn’t before.</p>
<p>And besides you are focusing on these negative things but there is much to love at Cornell and Ithaca and hopefully those experiences will far outweigh whatever else there may be. When I think back on my time there I think of a beautiful October day, when all the leaves are changing colors and the air is so fresh you can feel it in your lungs. I barely think about the winters.</p>
<p>Nope. The windchill is definitely worse. But the cold isn’t all that bad. You can do a lot more when it is 20 degrees out than when it is 100 degrees out.</p>
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But I agree that it will be a new experience and who knows, I might end up loving it.</p></li>