I’m a well educated student with a high SAT score but a lower GPA. My dream school is Cornell, but my chances of attending are slim. Is the College of Human Ecology a good school? I have a friend who is applying to Columbia and she said that the college of Human ecology “might be a school where all of the not so smart kids go just to say they received a Cornell education.” Is this true? Or is she mistaken and its just as good a school as the Arts and Sciences campus? Do you graduate at Cornell with all of the regular students? Do you socialize with the main campus students? Is the college of Human Ecology its own little world? Im just confused about the whole thing. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
She’s mistaken – Human Ecology is just the same as all the other colleges at Cornell. Cornell is divided into 7 colleges, and all the students in each of the colleges graduate together and live together and socialize together. I have friends in all 7 colleges. Human ecology offers majors that the other colleges don’t, so if your intended major is in human ecology, that’s the school you would apply to. In some senses each college is “its own little world,” especially the smaller colleges, because you’ll probably take most of your classes with the same set of people and in the same area of campus. And while the acceptance rates of each of the colleges differ, they’re all prestigious and all of the students at Cornell are smart.
By the way, this is coming from an Arts & Sciences student who thinks the Human Ecology kids are just as smart as she is. 
Hi! Cornell engineering student here; I’ll be a sophomore in the fall. Here’s my two cents on your issue.
I don’t think your friend has an informed opinion on the College of Human Ecology. Many students from CHE qualify for medical school / graduate school and have great research opportunities as undergrads. Also, due to Cornell’s rigorous admissions process, you can expect the student body to be intellectually diverse.
As for your other questions:
“Do you graduate at Cornell with all of the regular students?”
-Regardless of what college you go to at Cornell, you’ll graduate after 4 years (provided you aren’t going for 5 year program or something of the sort)
“Do you graduate at Cornell with all of the regular students? Do you socialize with the main campus students? Is the college of Human Ecology its own little world?”
-I think you’re confused about colleges vs campus life. Colleges aren’t separated by location; it just describes the field you’re pursuing. All freshmen usually live on North Campus dorms, regardless of major. Students aren’t separated based on major.
I loved my first year at Cornell; the people are great and the campus is beautiful. Good luck!
My D was a Human Development major in the CHE. There is a track in that major for students eying med school, and another track for those who are not. The CHE does more research than any of the other 6 Cornell colleges. I think that really helped my D in her application to grad schools for Psychology. She was accepted to nearly every school she applied with good funding.