<p>JA12- we were at Lehigh for Engineering admitted student’s day last Saturday and at Cornell for Cornell Days, Engineering Open House last Monday and I, too, would be glad to hear MD Mom’s impression of the two programs. My D thought that, academically, both programs would be fabulous but that the students in Cornell’s seemed much more intense and geeky than the students at Lehigh. (My husband and I think my daughter shares these qualities, but she herself would be interested in being around people who were not so inclined). She attends an academically rigorous program in a public high school with a very diverse population (mostly professor’s kids) in the south and I am concerned that she will not feel comfortable at a school like Lehigh where the student are mostly from the middle Atlantic region. I realize that Cornell draws the largest percentage of it student body from New York, but my gut feeling is that students in the College of Engineering might be a little more geographically diverse.</p>
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<p>So, what do you mean? Are you implying that it is generally not such a good thing to be in a diverse community of exceedingly gifted students-- students with a wide array of exceptional talents? Or what? And I still maintain that the distinct engineering college at Cornell facilitates a great camaraderie in its student population of 2800.</p>
<p>@Spud17- Cornell’s regional breakdown was the following for the incoming class of 2007:
43% NY state and mid-atlantic
08% Midwest
12% New England
11% Southeast
03% Southwest
16% Westcoast
07% International</p>
<p>"so its not just these 2,800 undergraduate students…its is 2,800 PLUS another 11,000 undergraduate students… "</p>
<p>For the writing seminars and free electives, yes. Well, not quite, there are lots of courses where students from various individual colleges there will rarely or never be seen. But lots more than 2,800, anyway.</p>
<p>For physics & math, those are in sections pretty much only engineers (& some few physical science majors) take. so their population is pretty much the same as the engineering distribution courses sophomore year. But that’s still a lot of people.</p>
<p>"…the distinct engineering college at Cornell facilitates a great camaraderie in its student population of 2800. "</p>
<p>It may facilitate it, but its still pretty big, to be honest. You really only start seeing the same people in your classes most of time time when you get into your major, junior year, and the bigger majors still have a lot of students in them. Breadth and depth of offerings are a strong point, intimacy well not so much.</p>
<p>At least that’s based on my expereince there, a long time ago.</p>
<p>“…she herself would be interested in being around people who were not so inclined.”</p>
<p>This is where those other 11,000 students come in handy. Included among them are all sorts of people, she can find her niche socially and hang out with whoever she wants.
Classes are one thing, but friendships and relationships are generally formed in the dorms, which include students from all the university’s diverse colleges.</p>
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<p>So, are you implying that the undergraduate population of 4,800 at Lehigh is “intimate,” Monydad?</p>
<p>I suspect not. However, in fairness I did not attend Lehigh.</p>
<p>[Lehigh</a> University: Undergraduate Admissions: Lehigh at a Glance: Students](<a href=“http://www4.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/glance/students.aspx#Geography]Lehigh”>http://www4.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/glance/students.aspx#Geography)
[Cornell</a> Engineering : Class Profile](<a href=“http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/prospective/undergraduate/about-engineering/facts/class-profile.cfm]Cornell”>http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/prospective/undergraduate/about-engineering/facts/class-profile.cfm)</p>
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<p>Alright you didn’t attend Lehigh, nevertheless, 4,800 students is in no way, shape, or form “intimate,” by any reasonable take on the common definition of the word. My only experience was playing basketball there a few times many years ago. It seemed like a very nice medium sized collegiate population, but not quite intimate.</p>
<p>JohnAdams12–Our visit was nearly two years ago and it was the last day of finals at Cornell–students were jubilant. I went on the Cornell tour, but only attended the information session at Lehigh. I am afraid I can’t give you much insight. </p>
<p>The campus and surrounding area at Cornell seemed a bit nicer than Lehigh, which we had a difficult time finding. It seems as though Cornell draws kids who are very interested in specific programs–and it offers some very specialized ones.</p>
<p>Something else that might not be widely known is that Cornell has a state component to it. The majors that would be offered by land grant colleges fall under the state supported part of the school, which may be why people think it draws mostly from New York.</p>
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<p>MD Mom, I’d just like to note that those contract colleges are only partially state supported, while still maintaining their private status. Cornell contracts certain agreements with NY State regarding those schools, but is still the final arbiter in terms of their administration.</p>
<p>Colm, we were discussing the size of undergraduate classes and how Cornell is 3 times larger in the amount of students than Lehigh:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064644782-post10.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064644782-post10.html</a></p>
<p>If you want to look at only Cornell’s 2,800 undergraduate Engineers then you should compare this to Lehigh’s 1,400 undergraduate Engineers, resulting in Cornell still being 2 times larger than Lehigh.</p>
<p>The purpose of the first post was to discuss the significant size difference in student populations at both schools. Either way you look at it, Cornell has 2 to 3 times more students than Lehigh - and that is just looking at the undergraduates…</p>
<p>John, my stance is that in the case of Cornell its larger size, depth, and diversity would not necessarily be a negative for most students, but actually a positive. Why? Because most of all those various physics, chemistry, economics, architecture, math, and pre-med students, et cetera, are stellar at Cornell.</p>
<p>For those that prefer a medium sized school, rather than a semi-large one, Lehigh is a great way to go-- particularly for engineering. (Cornell is semi-large in comparison to many state schools that are literally more than double its size in terms of student population.)</p>
<p>monydad: thanks for the links to the college demographics. I had found the one for Cornell engineering previously, but was unable to find it again. I assume that “Asian and Pacific Islander” is not included in the under-represented minorities category at Cornell?</p>
<p>I haven’t the foggiest, I just found the link is all.</p>
<p>Colm, how very true</p>
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<p>Yes, it is true, though I should have said that some of those state schools are three times as large. This is also still valid:</p>
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<p>There is a big difference between a school with a more-or-less “large” student base whose student population excels, and large school where they don’t. Also, even where schools are to some extent peers-- is Stanford worse than Dartmouth because its student population is much bigger in comparison?</p>
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<p>You’re right, Spud17, they are not considered to be URMs. They often feel a bit aggrieved since they are over represented, and thus often need stats above the mean of a school to which they’re applying in order to get in.</p>
<p>Colm: As a matter of interest to my d.: do you know what percentage of the engineering student body that they (A&PI) make up?</p>
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<p>Yes: Asian-Americans made up very close to 24% of Cornell’s engineering graduating class of 2009. So, the current Asian-American demographic for engineering undergrads at Cornell is likely very close to this figure. Note that the total percentage for Asians inclusive of international matriculates would be a good bit higher. </p>
<p>Reference:
[Demographic</a> Data for Cornell 2009 Engineering Graduates](<a href=“http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/student-services/engineering-coop-career-services/employers/statistics/upload/Fall-2009-GRADUATING-SENIORS-and-all-UG-diversity-enrollment-3.pdf]Demographic”>http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/student-services/engineering-coop-career-services/employers/statistics/upload/Fall-2009-GRADUATING-SENIORS-and-all-UG-diversity-enrollment-3.pdf)</p>