<p>i think the experience depends on the student…</p>
<p>obviously if a student is better at math he would HOPEFULLY be in hard science/math majors and not something like hotel or government…</p>
<p>I think Cornell is intense. But I think most of the students at Cornell are already used to intense or are willing to embrace intense.</p>
<p>In other words, I think that most of the students accepted at Cornell are probably able to handle its difficulty. </p>
<p>If you do not find it at all challenging or difficult, you are wasting your or your parents money. Try taking some more challenging classes. If you are finding it challenging–good, isn’t that what you should be getting from a college education?</p>
<p>You should understand that it is not just about gpa or getting a degree. Once you are hired or accepted (grad school), if you cannot preform, you’re out! So you better hope your undergrad college prepared you. Easy teachers and courses most likely didn’t do a thing for you. </p>
<p>Thank goodness Cornell is intense. My D1 got a great job upon graduation in a major recession!</p>
<p>^morrismom…I couldn’t agree more. My son will graduate in May and has a job with an oil company starting this summer. I think he is happy about just how intense Cornell has been.</p>
<p>Yes, its very competitive and intense. Work hard, play hard is a VERY true reality. Kids don’t value sleep, they value long library hours and late nights in collegetown. </p>
<p>As for grade deflation, I saw a lot of grade inflation, because the economics tests produced averages in the 50-60 percents on the regs. Deflation…maybe in AEM lol because its easier.</p>
<p>is it true that Cornell has an abnormally high suicide rate? i haven’t seen any official statistics anywhere. also, what types of people are they? are they mostly (just a guess here) engineers? since it seems that people are commenting on the intensity of the engineering school.</p>
<p>No, the suicide rate is not abnormally high. The deaths last year were just that, an abnormality. There were no suicides for a couple of years before that.</p>
<p>My sons are graduating this year, and last year was, I think, the first year that there were any suicides. Cornell is a huge school and unfortunately last year was a difficult year but it is not the usual by no means. I also do not believe there is a correlation between engineers and suicide.</p>
<p>there have been a couple mysterious/unexplained and freak accidents the past few years…</p>
<p>…the one I read about may have been unexplained but pretty explainable.</p>
<p>Those of that type are not just recent, even during my time there were the occasional “freak accidents”. For example, it was demonstrated that it is best not to attempt to do handstands on the bridge railings on the way home from the Chapter House, while intoxicated.</p>
<p>Alcohol and long steep drops into a gorge are not always the optimal combination.<br>
Not to give the wrong impression though, only on these few rare occasions has there been a problem.</p>
<p>[Depression</a> among Adults Employed Full-Time, by Occupational Category, SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies](<a href=“http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/depression/occupation.htm]Depression”>http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/depression/occupation.htm)
Probably different in college though. :(</p>
<p>Cornell really isn’t <em>that</em> intense, IMO. Granted, I’m in one of the so-called “easier” majors, but still. I’m in a sorority, involved on campus, and still maintain a 3.5+ GPA with a full course load while going out 4 nights a week. I really think it’s not so much that Cornell is extremely difficult in terms of the actual material, but rather, the amount of work you receive. Also, it seems like all your assignments from different classes fall into one another at once, so it’s very important that you learn how to manage your time here. I would say that’s really the key to success here–time management. Get your **** done during the day so you can go out at night…I knew so many people from freshman year who would complain about never having free time to go out, yet these were the same people who would come home from class and watch 3+ hours of TV or whatever and then at night, realized they had a ton of work to do.</p>
<p>So…learn how to prioritize your time and you will be fine.</p>
<p>thanks for the comment, beeb26. just curious, what is your major?</p>
<p>It depends on how you manage your time. Also, there is a fluctuation of the amount of work. Some weeks I find that I have little to no work, and this when I can really take the chance to explore. Other weeks, especially those leading up to major tests, can be a little hectic and even overwhelming, but as long as you manage time efficiently, the work is really not that bad. I mean I hang out with friends a lot, watch movies, play games, and I still have enough time to study and do work.</p>
<p>So true, time-management is the key to an amazing social life and relatively stress free academic life. Don’t take too much on your plate before you’re confident in your time-management skills.</p>
<p>Sciences, engineering, architecture are the most intense. </p>
<p>Norcalguy: Just curious, did you ever take genetics and orgo at the same time? I am right now and I can tell you it’s the worst thing ever.</p>
<p>Wow…why would you ever ever do that???</p>
<p>Genetics itself is the worst thing ever…</p>
<p>The class is terrible.</p>
<p>Sounds like I have a lot of improvement to do on time management before going to college… I’m currently working on homework assigned last Tuesday that is due tomorrow and I didn’t start it until around 3 hours ago…</p>
<p>@ mickjagger: Comm, Nutritional Sciences minor</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. </p>
<p>I did take biochem and genetics at the same time.</p>
<p>And orgo, physics, and biochem at the same time.</p>
<p>And honors gen chem, intro bio, and multivar calc at the same time.</p>
<p>And a semester where I took 4 science courses. </p>
<p>My point being, everyone thinks their schedule or their major or their college is the hardest. Very few people are genuinely smart and work genuinely hard and still can’t get decent grades. It’s usually a deficiency in intelligence or work ethic, not some mythical grade deflation, that causes someone to have a low GPA.</p>