Hello everyone,
I am a rising senior who recently visited Cornell, and fell in love with the beauty of the campus and the diversity of study. I do have a question about the intellectual nature of the school, however. I’m not a huge partyer, and I enjoy taking part in intellectual conversation outside of the classroom (prospective religion/philosophy major). I’m not looking for a UChicago (personally it’s too far on one end), but would like a school community where there is more than just working like dogs during the week and getting hammered on the weekend. Can any Cornell students or alums comment?
I think you will find whatever you want at Cornell. It is a large school with all types of people. Years ago, I was a serious student who also liked parties. My son, who just started at Cornell, is more intellectual. You will find your niche amongst many intelligent kids with diverse interests and personalities. I turned down several other Ivy League schools because, like you, I fell in love with the beauty of the Cornell campus. It captivated me, and I enjoyed my time there, even in the snow!
I was part of the Living Learning Center at North Campus’s Clara Dickson Hall. I think it’s now called Multicultural Living Learning Unit. Either way, we had fireside sherries where we invited nobel prize winners, the University President and other notables in their field over to have “intellectual” discussions. As stated in #1, you can find whatever you are looking for there. I also had an opportunity to study with a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and do research at the Vet School, sing in a chorus, and do lots of other things.
My son just started at Cornell and he is very happy because he has met so many likeminded peers to have “intellectual” discussions with.
He said everyone there so far that he has met is so smart even if they appear not to be.
And yes the beauty and diversity of study at Cornell is what drew him in as well.
My D is a student at Cornell who has transferred from one school to another, and has friends in several of the different schools (CAS, Engineering, Humam Ecology, Hotel and CALS). They all have different majors across a range of disciplines.
Overall, D found that she tended to have more intellectual conversations with her friends in the College of Arts and Sciences, and fewest with her friends at the Hotel School. I imagine this is due to the differing degree of specialization that is required of students in each school, and my daughter’s interests. Of course, this is just one person’s experience and opinion, but that’s the beauty of Cornell-- you can find a huge variety of subjects to study and people to meet.
I would agree with @xanthippe. CAS (Arts & Sciences) or maybe ILR (Industrial& Labor Relations) are the schools at Cornell where I would most likely expect to find people who want to discuss the issues of the world over coffee. Although, of course this a generalization, as no individuals within any school are all alike . The engineers are usually quite smart/intellectual, but may not all will be talkative, if I take my son as an example. He writes great papers, knows a lot about STEM subjects, and makes witty comments, but he doesn’t have the gift of gab and won’t be a lawyer or a salesman. The architects can be interesting, if you can find them away from their drafting tables!
My D is a soph at Cornell this year and she is not a party gal at all, which is OK. She has found like minded friends and is living in the French Language House in Alice Cook on West Campus this year with a bunch of highly intellectual students from all disciplines. However, their intellectual discussions are all in French! When she was home over the summer, DH and I were amazed at how even more well spoken she has become on many diverse topics. It made me yearn for the college days again!
She is in CAS, not a French major, but maybe a minor, and she had a french class last year in which all they studied were the great French philosophers (in French, of course). I’d say that is highly intellectual.
This made me go back to find a message my DD sent a while back. "There’s a group of really buff jocks at the next table as I eat lunch. And they’re having the most fascinating discussion about myelin sheath regeneration.
I love Cornell "
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