Friend ILR Transfer Confusion

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Alright guys, I'm getting to the point where I'm posting a lot of question topics, but here's my last for awhile, haha. My really good friend has had a GT to ILR the past year while he's currently at Siena College. </p>

<p>We both thought it would be amazing to be roommates and students at Cornell University ever since 10th grade. I waited a year at community college, got better grades/substance to my application and got in for fall. He applied senior year, got the GT and told me and our other closer friends he wouldn't get attached to Siena and he would most definitely be going to Big Red next year. Welllll you can guess what happened, haha.</p>

<p>He's been given until June 1st to decide on his GT. He loves Siena for a couple big reasons.</p>

<p>-He feels like he stands out a lot. He's an extremely happy, fun, outgoing kid who always speaks his mind and embraces/gets along with tons of different types of people. Everyone he meets at Siena learns his name quickly and he's a popular commodity at clubs and parties, even though he doesn't drink.</p>

<p>-He likes people knowing him and vice versa: he likes walking into the Science Building (there's only one at Siena) and everyone knows him. He's President of his residence hall and a member of a couple intramural clubs including Karate.</p>

<p>Alright those are both kind of the same thing, but much of his current reasoning for sticking at Siena doesn't make sense to me. He said he's had a meeting with the folks at ILR. When he first applied to Cornell, he was interested in Law. He got the GT, but he's been full on medicine ever since right before the letter from Cornell came in the mail.</p>

<p>He wants to transfer to Biology in CALS, but they're telling him he needs to spend not just a semester, but an entire year in ILR. He's already completed Biology I/II and Chem I/II, yet he still feels like having only one elective slot for a science class his first year at Cornell will put him way behind and he's 'looking at an extra year.'</p>

<p>For one thing, even though this meeting he had established staying an entire year in ILR, isn't it possible if he works a few angles he can get into CALS for spring semester? I guarantee if anyone can verify that or even toss it up as a triable possibility then he would rethink his decision.</p>

<p>I mean yes, he's gotten extremely close to his Siena friends, but so have all the other GTs I've been meeting on Facebook, etc. They know Cornell is Cornell: you can't beat it! You might have to leave some great friendships for the time being and become a new kid again, but especially in an excellent transfer environment like West Campus, I don't see that being a problem for long.</p>

<p>He might like the small school setting because he 'stands out' but I guarantee, if any of you could meet this kid, he stands out EVERYWHERE he goes. He's the in-your-face outgoing (in a good way!) kind of guy, and there's just no way he won't be President of something when he gets to Cornell. He's an excellent kid, I really mean it, and it would mean so much to me if he went along to the place he's always wanted to be.</p>

<p>And after that giant opener, you're probably wondering where the question in this topic is, haha. Well other than what I said about ILR to CALS (which is the most important part of this rant), can you guys help me out by giving me some good arguments for him to go to Cornell? I know it's unfair of me to try and talk him into going to Cornell, but with all the chips on the table so far and everyone saying 'oh he's going to choose Siena', he still gets mad and tells everyone he hasn't decided yet. With that statement, I feel like there's hope for him to pick Cornell.</p>

<p>If it also helps as a side factor, he wants to go to Weill Cornell Med School no matter where he's coming from. Does it help if he's graduating from Cornell as opposed to Siena in that scenario? I'm desperate for feedback and response on this because it's crunch time for him, so thanks for anything you guys can give me!</p>

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<p>Didn’t really help me. I interviewed at at least 6 med schools ranked higher than Weill but wasn’t even offered an interview by Weill despite traveling to NYC on two separate occasions to interview at the 3 other Manhattan med schools. Keep in mind, Weill is a small med school. Cornell is a large college that produces over 100 35+ MCAT scorers a year. This discord in the number of applicants vs. number of spots essentially negates any advantage Cornellians might have had.</p>

<p>Personally, it sounds like he’s doing great at Siena. I don’t see a reason to transfer. I’m also not sure why he’s stuck on Weill specifically for med school.</p>

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<p>the ILR to CALS thing is just not worth the trouble…</p>

<p>why not stay at Siena where he enjoys it and i’m assuming he has an incredible gpa? </p>

<p>if cornell is in his future he can always apply to transfer into CALS…</p>

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<p>So you want to be roommates with him?</p>

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<p>If your friend is still interested at all in the ILR curriculum, I don’t see why he couldn’t finish the med school prereqs from there. There is plenty of room for electives, and with the bio and chem requirements already complete, he should have no trouble taking ochem, physics, and more sciences if he chooses. I don’t think going through the internal transfer process is really worth it though, but he can do premed from ILR if he really wants, otherwise i agree with staying put, and/or applying as a regular transfer to CALS for the spring semester.</p>

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<p>Stay put if you are happy. Keep life simple and lower the stress whenever possible.</p>

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<p>Yeah…eh. I’m pretty sure he’d get in if he applied to spring transfer. I think he’s pretty keen on whichever one he picks in that he isn’t going to bother with more transfer confusion. It’s just too tough…besides, if he stays in the fall at Siena, I just know he’s going to have a great time and get more attached.</p>

<p>He doesn’t really like the ILR curriculum and he likes taking elective science courses in addition to what he needs to take for med school.</p>

<p>It was a hopeful stretch and, although he still says he hasn’t decided, it’s looking more and more like Siena. I do epically want to be roommates with him…but he promised me we could get an apartment for the med/grad school era, so that does make me feel a little better. :stuck_out_tongue: We just have such an awesome amount of things in common from interests to sports to girls to family; of course I know Cornell is going to be awesome either way and I’ll meet tons of people, but there’s a good chance no one can fill his shoes (not that I’ll go in thinking that haha.) I just don’t want him to change much…</p>

<p>As a last question, does anyone know if having been accepted as a GT will help his chances if he thinks about going for CALS in the spring? He’s one of the most ambitious spirits you could ever meet and I know he could write a great essay full of fit-based information.</p>

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<p>you should make college your own experience…it’s good to have a buddy…but you guys will definitely not be going to the same med/grad school…</p>

<p>at least i hope not</p>

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<p>No, we won’t, just in hopefully the same area. I’m interested in doing Biology in grad school, he wants to go to med school. I don’t know what I want to do yet, he wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. </p>

<p>I plan to do just that and make sure I match his achievements at Siena ten-fold :wink: Despite what I’ve said here, I’m definitely not the side-kick kind of friend.</p>

<p>But why would you say you hope not? We would never choose a school or place together just because of wanting to, we’d do it because we’d both have success wherever that ends up being. If it really comes down to it and he’s in Florida and me Texas (…random…states), then so be it. It would suck, for sure, but whatever.</p>