@aihcxx
disclaimer: i early decision-ed Brown and that remains my top school in the applicant process (and truthfully i think the only school i’d transfer too if admitted). I personally think I would be better off at more of a liberal-arts-college with closer proximity to a city of some kind.
Academically, I could not love Cornell more. I have had some incredible and personable professors (all four of my professors from last semester wrote my recs for my applied schools). I am a double major in Arts and Sciences, and I have been doing very well here and have grown significantly.
Socially, Cornell progressively got worse for me. I am a very outgoing person who loves (at times, a little too much!) to party. I made a bunch of friends first semester and was pretty comfortable with my surroundings.
Come second semester, I found myself rushing a fraternity without even wanting to. I dropped because I did not like the vibe. I did not think this would be a big deal, but now I could maybe name one of the MANY close friends I have who are not greek-affiliated (and that person has had a much rougher time than i did). It is very hard to do anything out of the greek system. Cornell has 36 (!!!) fraternities- you cannot take the TCAT to central campus without hearing someone talking about frats or the greek hierarchy here.
I am not one to let something keep bothering me, but it truly is exhausting. If you are into greek life, you’ll have a good experience here, though many friends of mine (who are in top frats + sororities) will complain to me about how superficial they think it all is. The excessive greek life, in my opinion, really curtails the academic experience. Outside of my classes, I do not find myself having particularly engaging conversations.
Besides that, I have not met a single person here who LOVES Cornell. That college experience does not exist in any capacity here, and I have heard a similar anecdote from my professors. Upon telling my one professor i’m transferring, she asked me, “What?!! The undergrads are supposed to be the happy ones!” This is not a generalization but overwhelmingly true, and it’s is pretty sad at times. A lot of it has to do with the weather and being in the middle of no where. **** Ithaca itself is gorgeous though, and i frequently have eyegasms walking around on campus.
I am also trying to leave because of a particular extra curricular that is not present here and again because I think I would grow more at a smaller school w/ a stronger emphasis on the humanities + w/ a city not too far away. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about anything here.
So many decisions being released for the college, I almost wished I applied to it instead of SFS hahaha. I’m a little frightened that they’ll make a decision based on the current transcript they have of me. Currently they’re looking at a 3.66 but I’ve gone up to a 3.7, but I won’t get my official transcript for another week maybe more… Ugh
No problem @IvyLeague2 I was actually filling this out for the “Transfer Results” thread right when I got your notification lol so I’ll just put it here too.
College: Top 40 private
Transferring as: Sophomore
Major: Political Science and Economics (varies slightly by school)
First generation: No
Ethnicity/Race: White
Gender: Female
Letters of Rec: Just one, from a TA who graded all of my work and led discussion sections.
High School Stats + Awards:
4.1 weighted GPA (school didn’t do unweighted but it’s probably like a 3.7)
AP Scholar with Distinction (2016), AP Scholar (2015)
National Merit Commended Student
National Honor Society Member
College Stats + Awards:
Overall GPA 3.82, Major GPA 4.0 (but this is only 3 classes so…)
Dean’s List Fall 2016 and Spring 2017
Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society
High School EC’s:
Varsity tennis (state champion team, individual state quarterfinalist, all-league award)
Destination Imagination (team placed 3rd internationally, multiple state and regional level awards over the course of 11 years)
Tri-M Music Honor Society
Girl Scouts (bronze and silver award)
Concert band (section leader)
GSA
Theatre ensemble cast/crew
Yearbook (section editor)
Church mission trip volunteer
State house tour guide
Girl Scout camp counselor
After-school tennis camp assistant coach
Part time job at a local restaurant
College EC’s
Political Science Student Association
Council for University Programs (subcommittee member)
Essays: I think they were pretty solid. I was hesitant about them when I submitted my applications but I recently re-read them in the context of recent acceptances and they’re better than I remembered ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Wow, I ask Mai L. Hinton (Assistant Director of AO) and he says I’ll get my decision by Jun 1
:-/
But it seems it has already started rolling. How did those accepted get there decision, through e-mail?
@aihcxx i’ve tried posting why i’m trying to transfer like 3 times but CC won’t keep it up for some reason. check your PM. i’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
I got an email today saying that I was accepted as a Philosophy major to the College. I have a friend who also got in as an English major. Stats are not important, it is desire and character that set applicants apart from one another. Admissions will be rolling for the rest of the month. Good luck to you all!
@Mycatsnameispups Are you as nervous as me that they will base their decisions on the lower GPA they have no? I’m not going to receive my final transcripts for another month most likely, not sure what to do so that GU knows of my 3.7. I’ve thought about email an unofficial transcript via email but I don’t think that’s viable at all.
I’m a bit nervous but I also know I have a very different life story then most people that fits in perfectly with the culture politics major. I expressed that heavily in both essays and in the interview so hopefully it works out. I’m also doing the bulk of my applications for fall 2018 GU was my first and only app for fall 2017, kinda like dipping my feet in the university waters to see what the application process is like.
@EconDon23 For prerequisites since the school is private I have not seen a set class list that they do want so I have been going off an ED plan for UC Berkeley global studies. I have taken lots of sociology, honors anthropology, ECON, poli sci, philosophy, honors English critical thinking and writing, then also a few random classes in other fields like communication, honors statistics, bio, and rock n roll history.
Good luck to both of you guys and hopefully we all find out our discussions soon. Walsh School of foreign service is a competitive program but won’t be the end all be all in life.
@Gonzalo0927 do you really think a 3.66 vs a 3.7 will make a difference in your admissions decision, c’mon guy. not trying to be rude but one’s below average and the other is slightly less below average for what they accept on average.