<p>As someone who wants to go to Med School....... extremely bad..... How hard is it at Cornell to maintain a 3.5 or so? I feel like a 3.5 at Cornell would be a competitive GPA, so it's kind of what I'd like to shoot for. I'm going to be a Chemistry major (although it could change...), so science classes will be in abundance. I don't mind studying, but will getting a 3.5 mean being up until 2-3 every night?</p>
<p>I was up till 2-3 every night but usually not studying. I study maybe 2-3 hours/night here in med school (real studying, not including times spent chatting or emailing) and I know I do way more studying now than I did at Cornell.</p>
<p>Oh wow. 2-3 hours a night of studying? That doesn’t seem bad at all. I was expecting to have to study a whole lot more. Now I understand it’s a case by case thing, but still, it’s nice to know I won’t be a total slave to schoolwork.</p>
<p>Right now I’m debating between Cornell, McGill, and U of New Mexico (where I’ve a full ride), and they’re in that order of preference. Well, McGill is my dream school, but imagine it’ll cost me the same amount whether I go to Cornell or McGill, and I love both schools, but Cornell seems like it might be better for me in terms of the atmosphere and whatnot.</p>
<p>I was just discouraged as my host for DHW who was in CALS as an ag.eng. said that to make above a 3.4 you’ve got to pretty much kill yourself.</p>
<p>^Typical Cornellian exaggeration. </p>
<p>I took the final for my Physics 102 class drunk (on Slope Day) and still got an A+. You’re given unlimited time so the fact my brain was working slower didn’t matter. </p>
<p>I seriously think the students here should lighten up and stop scaring pre-frosh.</p>
<p>Well jeez. This is making me lean more and more towards Cornell.</p>
<p>I do remember seeing his Intro Comp Sci (for engineers) homework, and I understood it. I didn’t understand MatLab, but AP Comp Sci A taught me the concepts that he was learning.</p>
<p>Well if the financial aid is good, I think you may have me convinced on Cornell.</p>
<p>The language is another “intimidating” thing. 5 days a week? That’s pretty crazy.</p>
<p>Language at cornell is pretty intense. Some languages meet more than 5 days a week, too. Chinese, for one, meets 8 times a week! But the intensity will payoff with a good understanding of the language when you are done.</p>
<p>I agree with that. My roommate at Cornell (the smartest person I know) blew through honors orgo but really struggled in his Chinese 109-110 class. I think he got a good grade but he had to work really hard.</p>
<p>How exactly does Chinese meet 8 times a week???</p>
<p>3 lectures a week and then discussions every day (5 times a week). it is 6 credits too…</p>
<p>So it meets twice in a single day, 3 times a week? wow.</p>
<p>Can engineers take language courses? I’ve always wanted to study Japanese or Chinese(Mandarin). (lol I’m probably the only Hispanic in the world interested in that!)</p>
<p>I really hope I get in, this thread is just one more injection of motivation, and I have so many plans before I start ruling the world!</p>
<p>ZFanatic…</p>
<p>it really is on a case by case basis…some come into cornell already knowing a lot of what’s thrown at them by their introductory courses…others are struggling to catch up…</p>
<p>some people can handle partying and studying others party but sleep in and never study…</p>
<p>just figure out what works best for you.</p>
<p>engineers can take languages. It can be used to fulfill elective requirements. Intro Japanese is 6 credits too. both japanese and chinese are a lot of work and time commitment, so you might not be able to take them right away since you have all the engineering requirements to fulfill (although with other languages that aren’t 6 credits, it should be easier). I am an engineer and am considering taking chinese next semester, since my engineering course load will be lighter.</p>
<p>Let me be honest here b/c no one else will dare be so un-PC. </p>
<p>I imagine you’re a URM b/c you attended the DHW. This means it’s likely that your SAT and SAT II scores (more important than GPA) and grades are below average for Cornell admittees. Of course this could very well be false.</p>
<p>But if your scores are not up to standard and you feel it necessary to get a 3.5, think twice before coming to Cornell. Cornell willfully admits underqualified URM’s who do not perform as well as their whites/Asian peers. </p>
<p>I’m not saying you’re one of them, but if you are (and this shouldn’t be hard, just compare your scores to the average) you might have a difficult time succeeding in the academically rigorous environment here. College work, unlike high school work, demands a basic level of intelligence, i.e. physics requires a substantial level of spatial reasoning skills. In high school, usually the hardest working students can succeed due to extra credit, easy exams, homework comprising a large portion of the grade. In college, especially difficult subjects like chemistry or engineering, innate ability becomes the differentiating factor. So make sure you’re scores are up to par before entering into this environment.</p>
<p>My advice: If your scores aren’t good enough, take your full ride, kick ass at UNM which is a less competitive school (just b/c you’re not qualified for Cornell does not mean you can’t perform wonderfully at a less rigorous state school), and use affirmative action to get into any medical school you want.</p>
<p>Have confidence. Go to Cornell University, they would not except you if they felt you could not succeed, the name alone signifies greatness. In terms of being prepared thats up to you, just make sure you have the material needed to accomplish your goals, and find a major that suits you, for example I have a genius friend at University of Toronto that dropped out because she took an engineering major, instead of a life science major, just don’t take a million courses, don’t be a superhero, your at Cornell, you have nothing to prove. Like maybe the super Asian might take 20 credits and advanced courses, so? just chill with your 15 and keep it moving.</p>
<p>Very honest, I’m from an inner city school and I have excellent grades, AP’s, SAT II’s but I have not been exposed to the multitude of classes, like IB’s e.t.c. so I will have to work, but it will pay off. keep it real</p>
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<p>I have felt like one of these people at times. I can hold my own in most courses but do struggle with quantitative courses (econ, statistics, calculus). I think the problem here is that URM with weak backgrounds (in some or all areas) need to work even harder to catch up and keep up with their peers. BUT URMs are human too and sometimes we stray just like every other student. The problem is that where a white/asian peer might suffer from straying by going from an A to a B an URM student might go from a C to D/F…</p>
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<p>Is Cornell being irresponsible when it admits URM students who will more than likely struggle? Is Cornell trying to play the URM-numbers-game without concern for the URM student who might have done better at his state university? This assumes that Cornell is a lot tougher than the state university and that the URM student will do loads better at his state university. </p>
<p>Your argument for choosing the state university and Cornell ignores the social/culture shock impact of college. Is Cornell so different from what the student is comfortable with that it begins to affect performance(homesickness, depression, self-consciousness)?</p>
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<p>He doesn’t need to perform as well as his white/Asian peers because med schools practice as much affirmative action, if not more, as colleges. </p>
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<p>You can make this argument for anyone. Why would anyone choose to go to Harvard or Cornell when they can just go to their state school and get high GPA’s? And, yet, most of the top med schools are filled with students from top colleges (see my discussion of getting into top med schools on a post further down).</p>
<p>No Cornell is not being irresponsible in regards to URM admittance, to think such is naive and capricious. Okay I’m just being a jerk 
, I respect your opinion, but let me clarify some things for you. URM are individuals that have the sheer aptitude and drive to succeed, but lack the opportunities to do so. For instance, some of you majorities have experienced research, gone to summer programs at various Ivies, maybe even visited most of the ancient eight. Some have been able to afford the best education possible, enriched with tutoring and advanced classes. That is what separates the majority from URM’s. Take me for instance, I’m a top ten student, 4.5 GPA, 4 AP classes taken, and a honors organic course. I’m one of the best in my school, but because it is an inner city school, my education won’t be as solid as the IB champion next door, BUT that does not mean I cannot perform well under those conditions. Listen, have you ever seen the wire? imagine living in a neighborhood where people are running crack and murdering each other on a weekly basis, imagine having a mother that went from drugs, to explaining to me the process of the sodium potassium pump, my household makes $0.00!!! a year, imagine getting 5’s on AP exams and 710’s on subject tests with no lights, no cable, no electricity! sometimes things get rough, my mommy won’t be a RN for a while so we are struggling, but if I were placed in a comfortable environment in know I could hang with the best of them. That is the reason some programs exist to help individuals such as myself, and this is the reason I applied to the college of human ecology because I am a study of how people interact with their environment, as well as other URM’s. Also notes URM’s span all races, black, white, chinese, whomever is at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>I find it slightly insulting you assume I have below par test scores just because I am a Native American. As someone who will be a chemistry or mathematics major, and with 34 and 36 subsection scores on the ACT, respectively in those areas, I feel my scores are more than adequate. Just because URMs have it slightly easier to get in doesn’t mean they’re “underqualified.” I honestly feel as though Id do better at Cornell. And Heck, if I decide I don’t want to go to medical or graduate school, coming from Cornell will still serve me better. </p>
<p>I just find it a little unnerving that you think the vast majority of URMs are really that underqualified to the point of failing all their classes when they made C’s in high school. I don’t know anyone who got into a school anywhere near as good as Cornell with a 2.5 GPA. It’s just absurd to make those sweeping generalizations, especially in such a condescending manner.</p>