Ok, it’s a year in advance for graduation 2018, and I’d love to hear options/suggestions for lodging for the family. We will be coming from the west. I have heard it is competitive and expensive to find hotels for graduation. Does anyone know how it works to rent out dorm rooms for that? tia
This may help: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1993965-cornel-u-graduation-weekend-advice.html
If coming with a larger family, it may be worth it to rent a lake house or house in Cayuga Heights on Airbnb as the hotel situation can be a bit difficult. My parents booked a year in advance but ended up staying half an hour away. It’s also pretty easy to park in Collegetown/close to campus and then walk or take a shuttle bus to graduation events.
Ahhh airbnb, I didn’t think of that! Thank you, lichte94. There will just be 3 family members, so I thought the dorm might be an easier/less pricey option and I don’t know when and how that is done. But, checking into airbnb sounds like another good idea!
The dorm truly is easy and convenient (if you don’t mind dorms). Three of us booked the dorms and my parents and in-laws were supposed to stay in a B&B. It closed without notifying them. They were scrambling for last minute options. I asked the person handling our dorm stay if they could be added, and they got the room type they wanted (they were placed at Ithaca College in suites with their own bathrooms while we were in dorms with shared bathrooms down the hall). We were all happy. My son graduated last year, but this is the most recent link. We went through accommodations housing, for asthma issues (guaranteed AC for my younger child). We also got handicapped parking/seating for my father. All of that happens well ahead of time.
http://living.sas.cornell.edu/live/wheretolive/commencement_housing.cfm
@NJCornellMom that is very useful information and I appreciate the link as well! Thank you very much!
Good luck!! If I was unclear, my husband, younger son, and I stayed in Cornell dorms. Only our parents stayed at Ithaca College. Although the graduation housing says it’s a lottery, they have had enough rooms to offer in recent years (especially when they added Ithaca College). Make sure you book your restaurants as far ahead as allowed. Demand is very high.
For graduation two weeks ago we ended up booking several rooms at the Binghamton Doubletree. Very nice hotel and was exactly an hour to Cornell. Rate was very reasonable, about 150/night including taxes. Certainly it would have been nice to be a little closer, but for the quality of the hotel and price, we found it to be a good option. We ended up booking it several months ago, but I would not recommend waiting that long. 
@NJCornellMom I didn’t even think of the restaurants! Yikes. @InfoSec thank you so much for the recommendation. Good to know! Now I’m wondering about parking on campus for graduation…
It’s all on the graduation pages that Cornell provides. You can look at 2017. Parking is provided. You take the shuttle buses around campus and/or walk. As for restaurants, we booked Moosewood for Friday night and a wonderful tapas bar/restaurant (Mia) for after commencement. We walked in for the rest (casual Mexican, etc.). With vegans and other special food needs, we had some challenges. It all works out, but it’s good to plan for a big group.
I will put in a plug for Statler’s restaurant. We went there for my nephew’s graduation dinner. Overall I have never been very impressed by their food, but I was pleasantly surprised by their graduation dinner. The food was better than any other restaurants I have been to in Ithaca (this was our 4th Cornell graduation).
Thank you, @NJCornellMom and @oldfort! How far in advance do they take dinner reservations? This seems so crazy to be talking about it now, but as far as I know, I could be too late. Haha. Of course would love to try the Statler, but I would think it would be reserved for “hotelies”? No?
Not quite this early (at least ours didn’t) but many months ahead. Our dinner after graduation was reserved at the beginning of February. We had to pay 50% up front and it was a price fixed limited option meal (still very good). Also, Moosewood took their reservations for the entire weekend on March 1 that year. I had it on my calendar. They, too, served a more limited menu at the time. I think they also had a minimum.
Great. Thank you, @NJCornellMom .
We stayed in a suite on West Campus … awesome. This was 2014. Definitely book your dinner reservations early. I had my son do it.