<p>When I picked the schools I wanted to apply to, I knew I wanted a smaller school. However, I visited Cornell and fell in love. I was just wondering if the huge campus is unmanageable. Are there people who wanted a small school but ended up at Cornell? If so, how do they feel about the size? Thanks!</p>
<p>What do you mean by unmanageable exactly? I was in the same situation as you last year: I thought I wanted a small school, but loved Cornell too much to say no. And it worked out great for me. You get used to the size very quickly, and once you really get into a routine you wonder how anyone survives at a tiny school.</p>
<p>I was nervous about coming to Cornell because I thought I would get lost among the sea of people…never find my niche…or make it to class on time ;)</p>
<p>However, after my week of orientation I realized that 1.) the campus is big, but not that big (I could make it from Central to the Vet School in 15 minutes) 2.) it wasn’t hard to make friends (in fact, I met most of my best friends during orientation) and 3.) there is a place for everybody at Cornell</p>
<p>Cornell isn’t even that big. There is a 2 year school from my hometown that has over 17,000 students, and a university with about 48,000 (35 of them are ugrads). The size of cornell is often exaggerated. I didn’t feel like it was too big or that I was out of place at all when I arrived. You will get into a routine and it will make the place feel smaller. No one walks around the entire campus everyday; walking to and from you own classes everyday will make the campus feel a lot smaller than when you visit and want to check the whole place out.</p>
<p>I always thought that Cornell’s size creates its own community and sort of ‘makes up’ for being kind of isolated. (Not that I don’t love the Ithaca and Cornell’s location). But you never really need to go far to find something to do. Plus with size brings diversity. Would you have 800 different student organizations and 4000 courses to choose from at a school of 1000 students? And once you find your niche, whether it be with people you live with, people in your major, a club you are in, or a greek house, you will feel much less overwhelmed.</p>
<p>it’s definitely not large…and i’d say most of the classes/activities center around the college you’re in…for example since i’m in ILR the furthest class i’ve had has been in kennedy aud. and most of mine are usually in the arts quad or ives hall (heck even CAS classes have been held in ives) </p>
<p>cornell is definitely not the largest campus. it does have a lot of acreage though but most undergrad students’ lives revolve around one quad or two…</p>
<p>what might take getting a bit used to is the hills here…when people’s friends would come visit during freshman year they would complain about the hills which makes walking to places a bit tedious…</p>
<p>OK, I tend to disagree with some of the previous posters. Cornell is a big school. During orientation, I was SO overwhelmed. However, it is very simple to make it much more manageable. At the very beginning, you’ll have an OL group and your dorm. You can make friends with people in classes, and joining students groups is a GREAT way to meet people who have similar interests. Going Greek is another way to create a community for yourself within Cornell, but even without, you can take initiative and make it as small as you want. I can’t walk for more than one or two minutes without seeing someone I know.</p>
<p>Cornell’s size is awesome.</p>
<p>CTB is a quick walk from the Engineering Quad…which is a quick walk from the Art’s Quad…which isn’t that far from Rand/Sibley…and if you’re there, across the Thurston Bridge is North Campus.</p>
<p>If you’re lazy and don’t want to walk, there are buses (mostly TCAT) that are motoring through main areas all the time. Even having to walk up the slope isn’t so bad (and is actually good for you)</p>
<p>Don’t worry about large classes. Profs and TA’s are extremely easy to get a hold of. Recitations and labs help a ton as well. I thought I would hate 150 person classes, but it wasn’t a big deal at all.</p>
<p>big/small lectures dont really make a difference in my opinion, u just sit and listen… or sleep haha</p>
<p>I came to ILR for this being one reason.</p>
<p>My high school was about 1,200 people. ILR is 800. I feel like I know everyone there. Classes are large but it’s easier to get to know people that way because everyone talks before classes starts and you network like that. </p>
<p>The dorms are designed for networking too. I really have a hard time imagining this school having 13,000 kids. It really does feel like 5k. If you come here, you’ll see.</p>
<p>The school seems to shrink very quickly. If you can make it through the first semester, which can sometimes be very isolating (for a wide variety of factors, though size is one), the school will start to seem small. But even as a senior you won’t recognize 95% of the faces you pass every day, which is refreshing.</p>
<p>even though there are 13,000 undergrads, you still see people you know EVERYWHERE. its seriously not possible to go much of anywhere on campus without running into friends. it’s nice, but sometimes I wish I could just walk or sit somewhere under the radar screen without having to be pulled together all the time.</p>
<p>Somebody once said that Cornell was a loose affiliation of different fiefdoms (e.g. electrical engineers, ILRies, Sunnies, Marching Band kids) united by a common hockey team.</p>
<p>I think the analogy is apt – Cornell will start to feel very small because you are self-selecting the students you want to be around.</p>