Life at Cornell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hey, I'm a junior in high school and am currently trying to decide between applying early decision to Cornell or Columbia. It seems that every week I keep swaying back and forth between the two. </p>

<p>I love the city. I live in the NY Metro Area, so I'm about 25-30 minutes outside of NYC. I'm there fairly often, and would love to eventually live there in the future and/or go to college there. I feel like I would really miss being around a city environment if I were to go to a really rural place.</p>

<p>But I'm also interested in campus life. I think if I don't go to a college with a big campus life, I might always wonder what it would have been like. Also, I can always apply in the city for grad school. </p>

<p>So I was wondering if anybody here could tell me about the campus life at Cornell? Like for one, how's the friendliness of the people? That's most important to me. What type of people are there also? I'm assuming that there's a huge mix, but is there any predominate type that sticks out? What type of events happen on campus non-party wise? What about party-wise? Is the greek life very typical of what you'd find in movies and such, or are there any sororities where everyone is all "Let's go read Schopenhauer and then discuss his influence on Freudian psychology! Yea!" In general, how would you rate being on this campus? What are some big Cornell traditions, and favorites and hang outs and such? And how's dorming? </p>

<p>Also, is there good employment opportunity on campus? And is there good transportation for getting to NYC? </p>

<p>And, umm, any other way to convince me to apply to Cornell ED rather than Columbia?</p>

2

<p>First off, I don't know too much about campus life at cornell, as I'm not living there yet. But from visiting it appears that there's always something going on. </p>

<p>The beauty of Cornell is that you are in "Cornell World." The campus is so inclusive, it's like it's own small city, complete with hotel. . .lol. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of things to do. . .</p>

<p>Cornell seems like it's in the middle of nowhere. . . .but Ithaca's a pretty cool town. Collegetown offers some cool places to eat off campus (though campus food is fantastic, and you will probably always eat in the dining halls anyway). . . .and I've heard that downtown Ithaca is a cool place too. </p>

<p>It is EXTREMELY easy to get to NYC from cornell. Shortline busses run 8 times a day between Ithaca and NYC. . . you will have no problem.</p>

<p>I looked at Columbia too. . . .I was waitlisted, and decided to go for cornell and not take a spot on the waitlist at Columbia. Cornell seemed like a better environment for me, a lot more campus focused.</p>

<p>However, I live in a small town. . . .so I have very little change in environment. The only way you are going to know where you want to go is if you visit and talk to people on both campuses.</p>

3

<p>I'm in the same boat as StPlayrXtreme, being an incoming froshie, but from my (short) experiences on campus, and all the current students, alumni, and kids from my year, '09, that i've spoken with, I've gathered this.</p>

<p>The people are sooo nice. Yeah, bottom line, really nice people. Competitive but not cutthroat academics--forming study groups instead of stealing papers. In terms of the types of people there, on my visits, it didn't seem like a hyper-preppy school. The kids looked like real college students.</p>

<p>There are lots and lots of clubs, for just about every interst, and campus sponsored activities, as well as the hockey games. (hockey is THE sport at cornell.) As for the parties, there are tons every weekend according to current students, and we'll just say kids from Ithaca College go because they're reputedly very good.</p>

<p>I don't know much about greek life other than it's having a significant presence on campus. PM perro about that.</p>

<p>I know I haven't spent much time there, but I was totally enamored of cornell the first time i stepped on campus. Every other college I had been to went out the window because of the vibrancy, energy, and just plain gorgeousness of the area and views.</p>

<p>Traditions, hmm dragon day, where architecture students and engineers build a giant dragon and phoenix, respectively, and then battle them and burn them to the ground. Slope day, where after classes and before spring finals, the whole campus gets crunk on the slope to the sounds of famous bands (this year snoop dog and the starting line among others)</p>

<p>Traying down libe slope: Theres a giant hill (the slope/libe slope more officially) in the middle of campus. students eat in dining halls. there are trays in said dining halls. are you starting to see how it fits together. once again PM perro he would know better.</p>

<p>If i didn't answer something, its because i dont really know about it</p>

<p>There are job listings online through your "uPortal" which is kind of like a hub of your activitites. you can get email, weather, upcoming events, news, those listings, register for courses, take online software tutorials and alotalotalot of stuff. Word has it that you can find jobs relatively easily even if your not doing financial aid work study. Yeah, there are those busses to NYC, its like 5 hours, or you can drive in less. Lots of kids seem to plan to go to NYC alot, and then just dont because theres so much going on campus that they enjoy more than going to the city.</p>

4

<p>Big city vs. rural small town will depend on your personality. If you absolutely MUST have your Starbucks gourmet coffee every 3 feet or MUST go clubbing every weekend, then you're better off at a school like Columbia. Otherwise, I think you'll have a better time at a traditional college campus like Cornell's. You'll have the rest of your life to live in a city, but this is the only chance you'll have to be surrounded by 12000 of your peers all living within a few miles of each other. For example, on a campus like Columbia's, you can't just start a random game of Ultimate on the quad and run into a gazillion people you know. There have been a lot of good times here that I know I wouldn't have been able to experience in a different environment. With that said, the type of person you are will determine what you will enjoy more. I knew a couple of people here that hated Cornell and theyre the ones that would have enjoyed a place like NYU or Columbia. Most of the people here have loved it though. I graduated in May and going to Columbia for grad school and I wouldn't want it any other way. An extra five years here would have been too much for me, but I'm very glad I didn't do my ugrad in the city.</p>

5

<p>if i may ask, what grad program at Columbia are you going into?</p>

6

<p>phd in the sciences</p>

7

<p>Very well said, Shizz. . . .</p>

8

<p>Sparticus is absolutely right. The beauty of cornell is its uniqueness. Our campus has an atmosphere to it that is completely its own. I always tell people that they should only come to cornell if they truly love the school. This makes it better for everyone involved. </p>

<p>I'm also going to say this: there are very few kids who I've met at school who don't love it or at least like it. However, of those kids, literally 100% of them are NYC kids who wish they had gone to Columbia. I don't understand the "city kids" (and by city i mean THE City), since I'm personally from a hick town in FL. However, from my experience, it seems as though Columbia is a better match for people who love New York City more than they love their school. They want to be people who live in The City first and foremost, and just happen to go to school as well. However, if you're able to part with this and willing to become part of the environment and culture that contributes to Cornell's uniqueness, then I'd say that you will be fine.</p>

9

<p>just curious, what kinda industry or job can u get with a PhD in the sciencesss. Your resume is gonna be fabulous, Cornell, then Columbia, can't get much better.</p>

10

<p>with a phd in the sciences you can get any science or business job you want. as long as you've got a good degree from a reputable school, you can be in business.</p>

11

<p>I actually just graduated from Cornell and I miss it terribly already. </p>

<p>The campuses at both Columbia and Cornell are breathtaking but they're both beautiful in different ways. Cornell has a lot of natural beauty to offer at its campus. Big green trees, hundreds of gardens, many walking bridges over gorges, it's a lovely campus. Columbia's campus is similar without the natural geology, Cornell is hilly while Columbia is fairly flat. Cornell's campus is sprawling while Columbia's is much more close together (it's in the middle of NYC, duh;))</p>

<p>As far as getting a campus job at Cornell, I wouldn't worry much about it at all. It's incredibly easy to find a job. If you want just a job for the sake of making money, there's a specific website through Career Services which posts job listings around campus every day. If you want a reserach job, writing letters of interest to faculty members about their research can help get your foot in the door. And I know many friends who have paid positions working in a professor's lab simply because they were interested in the professor's research. There are also tons of summer positions available if you want to stay for a summer (I definitely recommend it- Ithaca is GORGES).</p>

<p>Ithaca is a rural community, but it's really not that rural anymore. Ithaca has definitely been booming lately with the construction of many new hotels and stores. For example, there's now a Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Wal Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Dicks Sporting Goods, Borders, Pet Smart, Bed Bath and Beyond. In the mall there's now an Old Navy, Target, Abercrombie, etc... None of these stores were there when I started Cornell four years ago. So it's not exactly New York City, but it's not middle of Wyoming either.</p>

<p>However, Ithaca is definitely a car culture (as is the rest of our country). If you want to leave campus you will need to take a bus, or a friend who has a car, or your car. You can walk from campus down to the commons if you want, it's actually not that bad of a walk, about half hour or 25 minutes from Central Campus maybe. It's just a steep hill walking back ;)</p>

<p>Campus culture at Cornell is also pretty cool. I usually ran into one or two people I knew on my way to and from classes, especially when the weather gets nice. On the last day of class, Cornell celebrates Slope Day- where bands come and play on a stage constructed on the road in front of West Campus, and thousands of students fairly drunkenly gather on the slope, and listen. This year we had Snoop Dog and The Game perform for Slope Day. There are always activities on campus to get involved in, or seminars on interesting topics. </p>

<p>Personally, I think Cornell has become much more political the past couple years. A lot of speakers have been recruited to give speeches throughout the semesters. For election last year, they had a politician giving a lecture every day I think. Howard Dean, Alan Keyes, etc. </p>

<p>Through Cornell, I've had the opportunity to listen to speeches from Jane Goodall, Janet Reno, Bill Nye, Roe (from Roe v Wade), Jon Stewart, Bill Cosby, Margaret Cho, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark, John Cleese, and Bill Gates. There are many activities to keep students involved or interested while at Cornell aside from their studies. </p>

<p>Also, because so many students complained, as I did throughout my Cornell career, that we felt we lived under a rock while at school (nobody had any idea what was going on in the news), Cornell now offers free newspapers every day in the dining halls, and about campus. New York Times, USA Today and The Cornell Daily Sun. It's really nice to read the newspaper for free every day. I think it's helped make Cornell students more political.</p>

<p>I went to Cornell undergrad for four years and loved it loved it loved it. Now I'm off to Columbia for graduate school and I'm sure I'll love it there too, but in a different way :)</p>

12

<p>I just finished freshman year at Cornell. What I love about Cornell is its size. It's big enough that there are always new people to meet and one can truly find an organization for just about any area of interest. At the same time, it's small enough that everyone I know has found his or her niche. Whatever kind of social life you are looking for, you can find it at Cornell. </p>

<p>Non-party wise, there are all kinds of social events constantly going on around campus. There are always performances, programs for individual groups (ex: for Jewish students, there are Hillel/Jewish Student Union social programs and events all the time), and there are all kinds of festivals and traditions. In Collegetown, there are lots of restaurants and bars, and downtown there are more restaurants and various shops. But students also have a good time just hanging out with friends around the dorm. </p>

<p>Party-wise, there are plenty of fraternities and sororities. I'm not involved in Greek Life, but my understanding is that there are lots of different kinds of frats/sororities. Whle the big party frats do seem a lot like Animal House, there are many that are not like that at all. And sororities are generally not permitted to host parties in their houses, so sorority life is considerably calmer than fraternity life. There are also community service frats and sororities. </p>

<p>Shortline makes runs into NYC several times each day. That said, the city is far (around 5 hours by bus). I don't know anyone who goes to the city for day trips. People typically only go to the city to see family over breaks. </p>

<p>Employment on campus is easy to find.</p>

13

<p>do the big name companies come to recruit at Cornell????? Also, is it easy to switch schooooools at cornell??</p>

14

<p>bball87 - yes. My mom is the HR manager at Carrier Corp. (one of the worlds largest air conditioning makers), and Cornell was the first school she visited to hire interns for the summer. She ended up hiring several people at $500 per week plus a $2500 sign on bonus. My mom also commented on how nicely Cornell prepared the applicants for the interview. She could clearly tell who had a little practice, and how much of a better impression they made on her. I highly recommend checking out the career services thing if you want an internship, and big companies do indeed visit campus.</p>

15

<p>bball87- Yes, switching schools is easy. A know a lot of people doing it. Cornell understands that a lot of students apply for very specific programs in the contract schools that they may not like once actually taking classes.</p>

16

<p>Haha, it makes sense that Carrier Corp. recruits at Cornell first. . . .since Carrier himself was a Cornellian. You have to love those alumni connections.</p>

17

<p>Ok, so this is an original question. I love to grill out with my friends and at parties, etc. (Instead of drinking parties!). Are there place to do this? How tough is it to get to the grocery store and come back and find a grill.</p>

<p>Maybe a dumb question, but it is something I would like to know.</p>

18

<p>well once you're a sophomore you're allowed to live off campus, so you and a bunch of your friends would rent a house in collegetown and you could grill in your backyard everynight. </p>

<p>You could call or email housing with the question regarding grilling opportunities freshman year. If you lived in the low-rise dorms, i'm sure nobody would object to a weber charcoal grill sitting out behind your dorm.</p>

19

<p>spart, just curious, since you are from Princeton, do a lot of kids in ur hs get into Princeton??</p>

20

<p>yes.......</p>