I visited the campus yesterday (CoE) and it seemed really nice with the natural environment and all.
But since it’s as far from urban life as possible, I’m wondering if there are a lot of parties around the campus and the college town. Not that I’m a party person but DJing at college parties is on my list of non-academic things to do in college, if there are any current students/alums here please answer, thanks!
Cornell’s social life is fantastic. Sports, arts, concerts, parties, over 1000+ clubs. There is honestly too much to do. That was my biggest challenge as a freshman - not going out every single night!
A parent here. Both of my girls usually had more parties to go to than they had time for. When my older one was there I think the parties at fraternities were better, but were toned down a bit by the time my younger arrived on campus. I think they tried to crack down on drinking and such on campus. Both of my kids were in the Greek life, but I heard there were a lot of parties off campus. Aside from the parties, there were always events on campus - music/dance recitals, sports, lectures, volunteer work, etc. I don’t think my kids were ever bored or wished they were in a city. A nice thing about going to a school like Cornell is almost everything is affordable to students, whereas schools in a city, like NYU/Columbia/Georgetown, can be expensive to socialize. It is better to be in a big city when you are working and have money to spend. Cornell campus is so beautiful, you could do a lot of outdoor stuff. If you are a city person, it is probably an experience you wouldn’t have again. Both of my girls are working/living in NYC now. They do miss their time at Cornell.
My daughter is a current sophomore in CoE and had never had a dull moment. She doesn’t have much free time at all between her project team and her heavy class load, but, each free moment is filled with hanging out with friends in the dorms, parties at fraternities and in Collegetown, trips into Ithaca, etc. There is way more social life at Cornell than she can take advantage of.She didn’t rush a sorority and has no regrets. She already has a lease on a house for junior year with a nice co-ed group of friends (all engineers), and they are already planning their social events for next year. I am also a Cornell alum, and remember having a very active social life as well.
Current student: There is too much to do (in a good way) - it can very difficult to balance social and academic life as an engineer 