Location of Cornell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
21

“Easy” and “cheap” are different issues.When I think “easy” I think get the bus right on campus, then do homework for five hours on a comfortable bus with WIFI, when you stop you are right in midtown. Don’t have to go out of your way at either end of the trip.

It is not cheap though, going that way, that’s true. (Except it was for D2, because I was paying! ) Going someplace least expensively is an entirely different topic.

A weekend trip is something one undertakes infequently, because people are busy in Ithaca and don’t want to be away. Expenses asociated with same are not routine expenses. Whether someone can afford to take a non-routine trip to New York City is an individual matter.

I’m guessing there are over 3,000 undergrads who live in the NYC metro, and a decent number of upperclassmen have cars. .Not to mention grad students, IC students. and other people… I knew people who lived in metro and had cars when I attended, and got rides with them,. So did D2 when she attended. I also got rides with people I didn’t know, via rideboard (now rideshare).

The best way to go is with a friend who lives in the metro and is driving there, Because if you aren’t with someone who lives there, you would then have to pay for lodging in NYC, which might dwarf your transportation cost. Assuming you don’t live there yourself, of course.

When I wasn’t paying, D2 had part-time jobs there, entertainment expenses like this are what she used the money for.
She more often took the Short Lines buses, which were cheaper, and also got her closer to where we live. She preferred the Cornell bus though, except then she had to get to us from midtown. But mostly she got rides with friends, which cost her about $15 round-trip in shared gas costs IIRC. Rides with strangers would probably cost more, but still less than the bus.

Then she got a car. Which as I said before is the best way for most people anyplace to get anyplace else, including people who live in Ithaca. Taking a bus is actually “easier” than driving though, in a sense,because you can just sit and read and do homework and not worry about driving.

22

Another thing you brought up is that once you’re around a month into the semester, you will have some sort of prelim/essay due at least every other week. Taking a weekend trip is pretty much impractical any time other than Spring Break because of that.

I don’t know. Schools like Princeton or Northwestern really get the best of both worlds-- a nice, quaint town which is within an hour of Chicago/NYC. I think even then you’d probably still only take a day trip maybe once a month, though.

They should just build a weather machine. Then nobody would complain about Ithaca. It’s such a nice place when the weather is warm.

23

Just for the record, Princeton is way more than an hour to NYC. It’s not four hours, like Cornell, but it’s closer to two hours than an hour.

24

You covet Chicago/NYC more than I do.
And I’ve actually lived in Chicago and in NYC.
I found enough to do in ithaca when I lived there. and did not encounter people bemoaning not being able to go someplace else.

When I was there I did not require a weather machine. I required an intelligence machine.
For some reason Cornell felt obligated to inform me that i was not as smart as I previously believed myself to be.
I blamed Cornell for this at the time. However subesquently, over the years, various others have enthusiastically confirmed its findings.

25

@Saugus
The shortline bus to NYC is $40 with pennies one way, and there are 11 shortline buses a day to NYC (as far as I remember). I’d never pay $80 for the campus-to-campus (if thats what you were talking about) but whatever floats your boat.

edit: Oh and the buses stop in front of both east and north campus. But as Saugus noticed, this 5 hour trip to NYC is a wasted time, time that you’re not gonna have 2 months into the semester.

26

@monydad 15 dollars? didn’t they have to pay for tolls? How much in tolls would you have to pay to drive round trip from nyc to cornell, and back?

27

We live in NYC, but my younger daughter never complains she is bored at Cornell. She usually has multiple events (parties) to go to every weekend night. I am sure there are parties or bars she could go to on weeknights too if she didn’t have so much work to do.

My daughter has a lot of friends at NYU, most of them are very wealthy foreigners she met when we lived abroad. Whenever she is home she would party with them. She said not all of her friends at NYU are having a good time because everything is so expensive in NYC. What is very nice about a school like Cornell is almost every event is affordable to students. You don’t have students who spend hundreds or even thousands $$ for bottle service (no such bar in Ithaca) and some who could barely afford a beer. There are so many events at Cornell, from top concerts/speakers to student plays/dance recitals/sports events, and all of those events are very affordable to students.

Saugus - not to be harsh, but if you think $80 one way to NYC is too much, what would you do once you got to the City? How would you be able afford to eat or party?

Both of kids feel they were lucky to go to a school like Cornell - great college town and beautiful campus. They rather live in a big city when they have a job so they could enjoy what a city has to offer. As a parent, I appreciate the fact I don’t have to worry as much about their safety when they are out at night.

28

@oreoboob – I may be wrong, but I think you could travel R/T Cornell-NYC paying very little in tolls. I think the Tappan Zee bridge is only $5 one way and you can come into NYC via the Third Ave bridge and avoid a toll entirely. I don’t think there are tolls on Rt 17.

Agree with @oldfort, as usual!

I found plenty to do at Cornell and only left for school breaks and a random concert in Syracuse or a trip to a nearby lake or winery. I think I found rides after first semester freshman year.

29

As someone who’s lived in both a rural setting and NYC, I’d say each has pros and cons. A rural setting like Cornell - it can be wonderful if you have a tight group of friends to hang with… you will have very tight social bond, do fun activities, parties, do trips, do dinners, watch movies, play sports, etc with your friends so often that your social life will not be boring in the least.

On the other hand, if you fail to make good group of buddies to hang with within first year on campus, things can get very tough. You will feel like you are stuck in a frozen tundra in the middle of nowhere, and nobody to distract you from feeling bored and isolated.

NYC obviously has more parties, clubs, things to check out, etc but it’s all way more expensive and thus more suitable for people making serious dough, not for cheap broke college students barely scraping by. I am glad I didn’t do NYU for undergrad.

If I could do it all over - I would attend a community college in SoCal, save up tuition money, establish residency in CA, then transfer to a UC and then graduate and get a job in that region. I have many friends now working in SoCal, and the cost of living there is way cheaper than NYC and the weather is amazing, not to mention the vibrant social life there. Now that I have degrees from 2 east coast schools, getting a job out in the West is almost impossible…

30

I’d like to add. From my experience interacting with a variety of students from all over, one thing is clear - no matter what school or what city you end up at, it’s all what you make of it. People who aren’t likely to have a vibrant, active social life at Cornell isn’t likely to do much better living in NYC.

31

^Couldn’t agree more with the above comment. It’s all what you make of it no matter where you go.

32

Agree, I always told me daughter “things turn out the best for those who make the best of the way things turn out”

33

@nyulawyer, I don’t mean to sound naive, but why is it nearly impossible to get a job in the west?

34

I don’t know if it is nearly impossible to get a job outside of NE. My nephew will be working in Chicago. One of d2’s friend is now working in CA, even though he wanted to work in NYC. I don’t think as many firms outside of NE do on campus interview, but one can always apply online.

According to the 2013 post graduate survey, 13.4% of graduates obtained employment on the west coast:
http://www.career.cornell.edu/resources/surveys/upload/Cornell_PostGraduateSurvey_2013.pdf

35

Thanks, oldfort. I think that 13% is close to the number of Californian students there, so that makes some sense.

36

most post-school entry level jobs are attained via on-campus recruiting, both at undergrad & grad school levels. from Cornell, the vast majority of employers recruiting on campus were based out of north east.

for grad school, it gets worse. particularly in my industry, employers care a lot about your demonstrated geographical ‘tie’. you can’t just apply on-line to a selective employer in SF or LA just because you went to a top school and have top credentials, and expect to land an interview. even if you get the interview, they always ask ‘why SF’, ‘Why LA’, etc. They’d rather hire a top 20% of class kid from UCLA rather than a kid from NYU or Columbia, unless the latter candidate is from the region or has demonstrated evidence of geographical tie to the region.

37

.Re #25, that’s the amount I recall D2 asking to be paid back, the one occasion I recall an amount.
I don’t recall if she was the only passenger, and she did not go all the way into NYC.
I was not privy to their financial negotiations. Maybe the driver (a friend of hers) gave her a bargain, or she gave me one! But the point is, it is probably a lot cheaper than the Campus bus.