<p>I know that Johns Hopkins is hellishly cut-throat, as is Cal-Tech and Berkley. However, I was wondering if Cornell was cut-throat?</p>
<p>I'd say from what I've heard that it's only cut-throat if you choose to view your college experience as just that. It's competitive but not overly so and not as bad as a place like Johns Hopkins in terms of the aspect of being "cut-throat."</p>
<p>I told my friend I'd hand in her assignment for her, but instead I poured gasoline on it, waved it over a gorge, lit it on fire, and dropped it in while laughing maniacally :).</p>
<p>hell yeah. sometimes if someone asks me for notes i give them an "abridged" version if you know what i mean.. can't have them outdo me. </p>
<p>kidding. it's not anything to worry about. you can get good grades if you want.. just like anywhere else, theres no shortage of slackers for you to beat on the curve. it also varies from school to school. there are about .001% cut-throat hotelies, for example. (but man those guys are ruthless)</p>
<p>Caltech is one of the least-cutthroat schools I know. People mistake it for being cutthroat because the work is pretty difficult, but really this difficulty encourages collaboration on everything except tests and quizzes. You are competing against yourself, not against everybody else.</p>
<p>cornell has a reputation for being cut throat, but my experiences don't support it. One of my professors last semester said people used to cut out law cases from books at the library so other people couldn't get to them. Now, we use online LexisNexis. There are some bad apples here and there, but the majority of people are not cut throat and would much rather work as a group to get a high grade on something rather than keeping everything to themselves. I did a TON of groupwork this past semester, and we ended up doing much better when working as a team.</p>
<p>I haven't encountered a single shred of evidence to suggest that people are cutthroat at Cornell. Everybody wants to help.</p>
<p>what does cut-throat mean</p>
<p>dictionary.com says:
"Relentless or merciless in competition"
"readiness to take advantage without pity"</p>
<p>Basically, if a school is cutthroat, people will do anything to sabotage your work or refuse to help you, etc, to selfishly get ahead.</p>
<p>Cornell is nowhere near cutthroat.</p>
<p>would that fit under say...telling a friend you'd hand in her assignment for her, but instead pouring gasoline on it, waving it over a gorge, and lighting it on fire, and dropping it while laughing maniacally?...just wondering :p</p>
<p>How competitive is ILR?</p>
<p>Definitely not cut-throat. I have met some of the most helpful and friendly people at Cornell. </p>
<p>That said, it's not a place known for watching over you and they definately don't force feed you class material. If you don't put in effort, there isn't really anyone there to tell you to get your act together. You have to be motivated, and if you need help, there's tons available, but you have to ask for it.</p>
<p>So, in some aspects Cornell's not a "gentle" nurturing place....not like Brown, where you can take many classes pass/fail and failing grades are completely dropped off transcripts. Classes are difficult but manageable. However, if you're driven enough to take advantage of what's here, it can make for an awesome experience.</p>
<p>But cut-throat? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>is Brown really a gentle nurturing place? Or is that a myth too? College is not summer camp.</p>
<p>I heard that at Brown if you get anything below a C, they just drop it off your transcript, and you can take as many classes as you want pass/fail, even in your major.</p>
<p>Oh, and I believe they don't calculate GPA either.</p>
<p>Sounds kind of gentle to me.</p>
<p>it means competitive</p>
<p>also at brown, they dont give plus or minus grades. That A- would be bumped to an A.</p>
<p>Wow. Brown seems great. Too bad I don't have a chance at getting in there. I'm also interested in ILR.</p>
<p>It seems great from the standpoint of an entering student.</p>
<p>But how do employers/grad schools/professional schools treat the lack of grades? </p>
<p>I know if I was an employer and someone handed me a transcript that just said "Satisfactory" next to all the classes, I'd be a little skeptical.</p>
<p>the philosophy is that you take most classes with a letter grade, and then classes you think you might be interested, fun classes, in you take pass/fail.</p>
<p>so if you were concentrating in math, you'd take your INTRO to Buddhism Pass fail just for fun. that's what Brown is all about anyway</p>
<p>Cornell has an S/U system (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) but you can only take that option in select courses and I don't think you can take more than one in a semester.</p>