<p>Are any other GT's for Cornell having second thoughts about transferring? Cornell's been my dream school for as long as I can remember, and I've been planning to transfer next semester for the past year or so (I even took summer classes to prepare/meet requirements). Now that it's approaching though, I'm getting cold feet, and don't really want to leave my school now. Cornell is by all means a better education, but I've finally gotten comfortable here, and am not looking forward to leaving my friends/way of life here, and starting over. How easy is it to meet people and get into a "routine" at Cornell as a transfer?</p>
<p>Anyone else feeling apprehension about transferring too?</p>
<p>Well if you feel that strongly in your current school, then stay! I'm kind of in the same situation for you but opposite. I'm not comfortable at my current institute and I really don't have any friends. Thats why I want to transfer to Cornell! If you can see yourself with the friends you made at your current institute in 10 years or so, then I think you should stay. That is my opinion.</p>
<p>I totally get where you are coming from....well in a way. Cornell was my dream forever and I always had a huge imagination about what my college experience would be like. At my current school, it is no where near that. I definitely will not come back next year. Then I started getting cold feet about Cornell because since I am from California it is far away to say the least.After all the effort and work I have done for Cornell I can't imagine not going. I am so excited to go now though because I know if I don't I will regret it and wonder what it. If you are loving your current school right now then I would stay. Friends and being comfortable where you are is vital, if you found that then that is amazing.</p>
<p>If you were my kid, I would tell you to transfer, especially if it's the same price. It's normal to get cold feet, but your education is to last you a life time. There is a reason why your current school is ranked top100.</p>
<p>Yeah, I def. feel ya. I'm really excited to transfer but I can't imagine not coming back to the same faces. But the thing is, a lot of my friends here are also transferring or are graduating seniors, so even if I stayed I wouldn't see a lot of them. It's a tough call, but you have to do what's going to end up benefitting you the most. At least Cornell is HUGE, so everyone's bound to find someone they can get along with.</p>
<p>I had a 3.44 first semester, and I'll probably have a similar, if not slightly lower, GPA this semester. There are a few things going through my mind:</p>
<p>1). I scheduled all of my classes based on Cornell's requirements. I've taken classes in biology, psychology, sociology, communications, english, and economics, pretty much all of them 101, so I'm really on no specific major track at my current school. If I were to stay here, I'd almost have to take a summer class to catch up.</p>
<p>2). I took a summer class (statistics) last summer that won't transfer to my current school, but will transfer to Cornell. The class was $2K.</p>
<p>3). Cornell's education is obviously much better, and will likely give me better job opportunities for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>4). It took me until last month to finally like it here, and get my "group." I don't want to have to go through that long process of not being happy all over again. Transferring doesn't necessarily mean that will happen again like that, but I can't see it being easier to make friends as a transfer then it will be as a freshman.</p>
<p>5). Cornell will likely cost my family $10-$15K more per year than my current school (b/c of merit scholarships)</p>
<p>I keep going back and forth...it's going to be a really hard decision to make.</p>
<p>I feel so bad for you since you are so torn. The whole taking classes according to what Cornell wants has been difficult for all of us I bet. While the education may be better....and they do help with jobs after college....a degree is a degree you know. If you truly enjoy your current school and feel like you are meeting a good set of people stay. If you are worried about making friends at Cornell though just remember we will all be right there with you so it might not be very hard.</p>
<p>Same thing. I am on the fence daily. Half the people say go because cornell is CORNELL. The other half say its just cornell and if you like where you are and are doing well why not stay. I think part of the reason I am unsure is because I would be happy either place and so its hard to say what is worth the transition. I cant really go wrong but in some ways I cant really go right.</p>
<p>If you are the kind of person that wants to get ahead in life, you will always be faced with this type of decision. If you are good at your job, you will always be head hunted. You will need to decide is it better to stay where you are, getting 5% raise every year and wait for 10 years for your boss to move on, or do you make the move to double your salary and take on a bigger responsibility. </p>
<p>You have all been given a chance that 20,000+ kids would die for, and you are getting cold feet? A degree is not just a degree. With the economy the way it is, jobs are scarce. Even top firms are cutting back on where they recruit. Most of my daughter's sophmore/junior friends are still getting summer internships at top firms. A good way to look at it is to see how many people at your current schools are getting summer jobs, never mind meaningful internships.</p>
<p>You all need to figure out what's important to you - 4 years of good time or a degree that would serve you well for the rest of your life. I wouldn't advise anyone going into heavy debt to go to Cornell, or any school, but if it's ~50,000 extra, I think it's a worth while investment. You'll get it back in 5 years.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all of you. It sounds like there are many of you in the same boat, maybe you could all help each other out when you come to Cornell next year. Focus on what you want, and everything else is noise.</p>
<p>No offense OldFort But i am at an institution so similar to Cornell that even the ranking in some area exceeds many of the programs cornell has. Look I get that you think Cornell is the best school in the world. Don't lecture me about what I should and shouldn't do. I am trying to relate to other people while getting some advice and thoughts from others. I get where you are coming from; a lot of kids would kill for the GT option. That being said my program at my current school is nearly on par or higher with Cornell's program. Give it a rest and stop lecturing. Real advice is appreciated. Your pretentious attitude is not.</p>
<p>loupre - why do you take offense to what I say, you are not the OP, not the one that said your current school is ranked top 100. My friend's son is at CMU with a GT to Cornell. Am I advising him to go to Cornell(even if the cost would be lower because he is in state)? No. Why would you transfer from your current school to Cornell if it's at par with Cornell? That's a stupid question, and a waste time as far as I am concern. You should have declined Cornell's GT, so they could have given it to someone else.</p>
<p>loupre - you are the one that is pretentious, worrying about whether you should transfer to Cornell becasue it is CORNELL. The fact you are even sitting on the fence when you know your school's program is just as good as Cornell is because Cornell is an Ivy. Don't gvie me your holier than thou attitude. </p>
<p>I was addressing the students that are sitting on the fence because they are afraid to make the move even though they know it's the right move (that may be because of Cornell's better program or even costs). Never did I imply to make the move at all costs. Cornell is not THE school.</p>
<p>Whenever I see thread like this I think of the guy I had to share a suite with one year at Cornell. He transferred to ILR after earning a 3.9+ at Hofstra, or something along those lines. When I knew him he was getting his butt kicked at ILR, barely passing. He was looking into unaccredited law schools to apply to; his dream of entering law flittering away. Don't know what became of him.</p>
<p>Whenever you go someplace new there is a risk. Which has to be balanced against the rewards. If you think a degree from ILR will somehow magically transport you to some place that you couldn't otherwise get to, then you can evaluate that. Personally, for many I doubt that's the case. But maybe it is, these days, what do I know. The people I recall who went to ILR: some did great, some didn't. And it seemed to me they got exactly what they each deserved, based on their own personal merit. Whether their ILR stint specifically helped them, beyond what their capabilities dictated, to get where they got to is kind of hard to say. For me, anyway. But certainly many law school aspirations died there, maybe appropriately so. Then again, many others did great.</p>
<p>Transferring anyplace has its own challenges, in terms of integration into a social scene that's already been established by those who started out there. If things are going great where you are in that regard, that's something else to consider, because there's no guarantee that they will be as great trying to fit in mid-stream.</p>
<p>If you
- really want the educational program of studies offered at ILR, and it is not available at your current school;
-have reasonable basis to believe that you can achieve at least middle of the class at ILR, (based on BOTH stats out of HS and subsequent performance);
-Have sound reason to believe your opportunities out of ILR will be better than at current;
- Are not outstandingly happy, socially, at your current school
- Or most but maybe not all of the above apply, plus you really need the reduced tuition</p>
<p>Then go for it.</p>
<p>Otherwise, you really need to weigh the pluses and minuses. The risks that things will not work out storybook great for a transfer student are not zero. Trust me, I've seen it. On the other hand, it obviously works for others.</p>
<p>"If you are the kind of person that wants to get ahead in life, you will always be faced with this type of decision. If you are good at your job, you will always be head hunted. You will need to decide is it better to stay where you are, getting 5% raise every year and wait for 10 years for your boss to move on, or do you make the move to double your salary and take on a bigger responsibility."
This is what I am talking about. And you have no idea why I am on the fence. I said that everyone tells me this.
I play devil's advocate daily. I personally would be happy at either place. Which I will be at, we will have to wait and find out.</p>
<p>loupre - I think you were taking your own frustration out on me, you are upset at people (maybe your parents) on pushing the transfer on you. At some point if you really believe where you are is the right place for you then you have to be mature enough to make the decision and live by it. It is your life. There are people sitting on the fence because they are reluctant to change their comfort zone, for those people I think they should focus on what's important (I think it's to go to Cornell) and not let other issues get in the way.</p>
<p>
[quote]
cornell really sucks with all these cutbacks lately...</p>
<p>if the OP goes to a state school it might be better off to stay there...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Resurgam Bell, please don't talk about things that you don't know anything about and hide behind your illiterate ellipses. Start writing in complete sentences and backing up your assertions.</p>
<p>Cornell is a lot better insulated from the economic mess than your average state school, as well as your average private school due to the multitude of funding sources that Cornell can depend on. </p>
<p>A lot of the "down market" private schools (e.g. Northeastern) are going to be facing a much more severe tuition crunch than a school like Cornell because they tend to depend overwhelmingly on tuition revenue. Similarly, your average state school is going to see a more severe revenue crunch from state funds than Cornell because they depend a lot more on state funds Cornell's diversified source of revenue streams is a very good thing right now. </p>
<p>As for the OP...</p>
<p>
[quote]
4). It took me until last month to finally like it here, and get my "group." I don't want to have to go through that long process of not being happy all over again. Transferring doesn't necessarily mean that will happen again like that, but I can't see it being easier to make friends as a transfer then it will be as a freshman.</p>
<p>5). Cornell will likely cost my family $10-$15K more per year than my current school (b/c of merit scholarships)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>These two facts give me pause. Tell me. When you think about the prospect of studying at Cornell, does it excite/enthrall you, or does it intimidate you? If the former, what in particular excites you? </p>
<p>I obviously agree with oldfort that Cornell is an opportunity that shouldn't be passed up lightly. But you need to make certain its where you really would like to be. The vast majority of transfers I knew at Cornell absolutely loved the opportunities they were given, but there is always the risk that you would slip between the cracks, per monydad's story.</p>