<p>"As for your well-rounded, all-American, strong-B-plus student at a good suburban public school who plays three sports fairly well, serves as class vice president, and helps out at a local soup kitchen? He should get ready to enjoy four frigid winters in Ithaca. "</p>
<p>Well, that's very nice to hear....</p>
<p>somebody's son/daughter was rejected from Cornell. Jealous!!</p>
<p>What a snooty way to describe a college...</p>
<p>The article sounds accurate only insofar as admissions at Harvard are concerned. Cornell, being such a large school, probably has its share of the strong, well-rounded, B+ student described. What is wrong with that? And Harvard must have such students as well -- the article said that only 15% of Harvard students are accepted for purely academic reasons. </p>
<p>And why does anyone think the weather in Ithaca is worse than the weather in Cambridge, MA?</p>
<p>you guys didn't quite read the article. It's saying you need exceptional gifts or talents to get in, not just to do very well in your classes, volunteer, have EC's, and all the other stuff that colleges like to see.</p>
<p>Well, that description of Cornell isn't very "glowing" to say the least...</p>
<p>also, Boston gets more snow than Ithaca. Seems like the author isn't very well educated on the topic. </p>
<p>Also, for what it's worth - the majority of students at Cornell are not "B+" students. They only become B+ students after spending time in Cornell's non grade-inflated environment as opposed to our buddy Harvard's.</p>
<p>soccer 0407 is correct, the description of cornell is used to contrast to the perfection of harvard, just some friendly sarcasm for the writer's biased audience.</p>
<p>Roughly 85% of Cornell's most recent cohort graduated in the top 10% of high school classes nationwide. I wouldn't call that a group of 'well-rounded, B+ students.'</p>
<p>whose to say they aren't talking about Ithaca College?</p>
<p>As a mom (and Cornell alum), I want my kids at college with those I consider "smart-normal." That would describe most Cornellians. Some other schools are full of kids that are intensely scary-smart. Fine for them; I think it makes for a weird college environment.</p>
<p>And I don't think it is an insult to Cornell that I view it in much the same way I view Northwestern University.</p>
<p>One of my friends purposely did not apply to harvard because of the cut-throat kids that were over-achieving beyond all boundaries. Instead, he chose another great school (Princeton) where the students were different and seems to be enjoying it a lot there.</p>
<p>I seem to like the atmosphere I'm going to</p>
<p>I'm a mom and Cornell alum too, and Northwestern was one of the other schools I seriously considered (although in the end I did not apply to Northwestern because it was farther away from home than my parents were comfortable with). They are two very fine universities with a lot of similarities (and no, I'm not just talking about snow).</p>