So I’ve heard a lot of rumors about how Cornell tends to focus on more math/science fields and so I’m wondering if anyone who goes there or when there can enlighten me about if this is true? Also if anyone has specific experience with their government department and could tell me a little bit about it that would be great.
Government is one of “harder” majors in A&S. It has a very good reputation. My younger daughter is pre-law and was going to major in government, but decided on philosophy and an independent study instead. She did look into the major and got very good feedback from other students (her older sister’s friends at Cornell).
You should email or meet with some professors to get their prospective. The professors are usually very responsive.
I haven’t declared my major yet (waiting until the last possible second), but I am considering majoring in government. So far I’ve only taken one class in the department, but it’s my favorite/most interesting class I’ve taken here (over the course of three semesters). I’ll be taking two more government classes (and one American Studies class, which is often cross-listed with government) next semester and I’m super excited. The government professors here are wonderful and are really experts in their fields (though that’s true for really every department at Cornell).
As far as Cornell focusing on more math/science fields, it depends what college you’re in. If you’re in CALS, or engineering, or HumEc, then yeah everyone around you is going to be very math/science/tech oriented. Most of my friends happen to be in those fields, so sometimes it does feel like they sort of dominate the university. But in Arts & Sciences, there are so many humanities majors and humanities students and each of the departments is very strong. So while overall Cornell may be marketed as more of a math/science/tech university, its humanities departments are amazing as well.