"Nerd" Culture at Cornell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I recently got a LL from Cornell and I've been doing some more research. My prospective major is Physics and Cornell is fantastic in this aspect. However, I've also gotten a LL from Swarthmore and I've been comparing the two.</p>

<p>The "culture" of the schools is what I'm concerned about. One of my top choices was MIT because I absolutely loved the culture there. So my question is, how difficult would it be to find the "nerd" culture at Cornell?</p>

<p>I'm not talking about the stay-in-your-room-and-never-come-out nerds. I'm a guy that prefers to play board games, debate white chocolate vs. dark chocolate, stay inside and watch movies, build neat gadgets with friends, discuss philosophy/astronomy/physics/the meaning of life. I would prefer being around other kids who are slightly "quirky" as well. Of course, I'm not the socially awkward type and can definitely see myself going to a few parties as well - but I don't want a huge focus of my college life to be on parties/dancing/drinking/etc.</p>

<p>I know that Swarthmore offers a culture very similar to this. How hard would it be to find this at Cornell?</p>

2

<p>I’m that type of person too, I suppose.</p>

<p>Eh. You can find anything in a class of 3,000 people, but it’s not really readily available, as least to me. In my dorm at least, where it’s all drinking.</p>

<p>But there’s all sorts of clubs you can join.</p>

3

<p>Good question! I have very similar interests to what you described. I’m also a Cornell applicant and am wondering the same thing.</p>

4

<p>I’m an applicant in a similar situation, really. It’s why I was so attracted to MIT.</p>

5

<p>I’m not talking about the stay-in-your-room-and-never-come-out nerds. I’m a guy that prefers to play board games, debate white chocolate vs. dark chocolate, stay inside and watch movies, build neat gadgets with friends, discuss philosophy/astronomy/physics/the meaning of life. I would prefer being around other kids who are slightly “quirky” as well. Of course, I’m not the socially awkward type and can definitely see myself going to a few parties as well - but I don’t want a huge focus of my college life to be on parties/dancing/drinking/etc.</p>

<p>I totally get where you’re coming from!
Im pretty much exactly the person you described, maybe except for the bit about board games :P</p>

<p>I already got my acceptance, and if both of us end up going, I’d love to meet up…</p>

6

<p>You can absolutely find this at Cornell. If you don’t like the culture of your dorm, you can easily find like-minded friends in your major or in clubs/extracurricular activities that interest you.</p>

7

<p>My son is an astronomy major at Cornell. He has been very involved in physics and math as well. He finds campus a very good fit. He even mentioned a Go club, although he ended up not going because the meetings were too far away! He has been involved in astronomy club, which meets at Fuertes Observatory right on North Campus. He is not much of a partier, but has found a group of like-minded friends. For college, he also considered Caltech and Chicago. (Not MIT, which seemed much too urban–especially to me! I much prefer the natural beauty of the Cornell campus.) He does seem to spend a lot of time working … and I’ve heard the workload in the hard sciences/engineering is similar to MIT, Caltech, etc. But without some of the “perks” they have for first semester, like all classes pass/fail, etc. So you do have to hit the ground running! Unfortunately, my son has not had much time to continue his tinkering. He and a friend built a particle accelerator in our garage in high school and a holographic imaging system in middle school!</p>

8

<p>I think you can definitely find this at Cornell. Honestly, I’m personally don’t fit that sort of mold so I couldn’t tell you exactly where, and it’s definitely not as present/everywhere as MIT, but it’s here. </p>

<p>ou would need to seek it out yourself, like most things at Cornell. I would think the best way to do it would be to look into clubs and organizations on campus that match your interests, there are thousands of them. </p>

<p>But yeah, the fact that we have a Quidditch team makes me think you’ll be fine :P</p>

9

<p>My son has done well finding quirky friends for himself in Risley Residential House. He is a math major. There is certainly still a drinking crowd there, too, but he isn’t a part of it. Not everyone is. He participated in the Putnam and the freshman math prize, math club, etc. There are many clubs and discussion groups. He gets together to watch science fiction with friends. I like the program houses for the fact that they aren’t just freshman dorms. Kids aren’t all on their own for the first time. 3/4 of the building has already found their balance between school and life. And nobody cares that he is only 16.</p>

10

<p>There is such a culture, you just need to find the right people. If you hang out with STEM majors (the majority of whom are in the engineering school) you probably won’t have too much trouble finding people with similar personalities (of course, they don’t necessarily have to be STEM majors).</p>

11

<p>“He and a friend built a particle accelerator in our garage in high school and a holographic imaging system in middle school!”
Wait… a particle accelerator?
Is this what I’m going against?</p>

12

<p>@talwar,</p>

<p>Yeah haha now that I think about it, I’m not THAT interested in board games…not sure why I put it down. Anyways, I PM’ed you (along with a couple others)!</p>

<p>@FastNeutrino,
Don’t worry haha! I didn’t build any kind of fancy gadget/gizmo/accelerator and I ended up getting a LL to Cornell - you’ll be fine!</p>

<p>Thank you to everyone else who responded! I think I’ll have to visit the campus before I can make any sort of judgement though. </p>

<p>If anyone else is interested in this type of “nerd life” at Cornell, PM me! We (along with a few others) can keep in touch so if we do end up going to Cornell, we’ll already have some friends with similar interests!</p>

13

<p>Cornell is surprisingly fratty! The social life is oriented around greek life. There are however artsy enclaves at Risley, the fine arts residence hall! Cornell overall = great academics and depressing weather consider the tradeoff</p>

14

<p>There is definitely a nerd culture at cornell. A lot of quirky kids. For the first year most of them reside in risley, then West campus. West campus aka Weird campus. Weekend nights at cornell when its cold is pretty much staying in watching movies/board games/ nerd culture for those who want</p>

<p>You can also hit the bars or wander into collegetown, but this gets old quickly especially in the cold.</p>

15

<p>Is it fratty like Dartmouth? T_T</p>

16

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<p>I’m definitely looking for this type of atmosphere-would you recommend putting down risley as my first choice, then, even if I have no interest in art/performing stuff? Or am I better off just going with standard housing? (Cornell needs a STEM program house dorm, that would be awesome).</p>

17

<p>We toured Risley before choosing it. If you have the opportunity, it is better to visit and decide for yourself. Check out your options and talk to students on campus. Just got home from a visit to campus (after driving my son back from spring break). Really enjoyed meeting more of the Risley kids who came to Super Seder and sat at the table with us. Our younger son went to an admissions session and sat in on a few classes with his brother. It was his first visit. He loved Ithaca.</p>

18

<p>This sounds cliche - but there is really something for everyone at Cornell. The beauty of a big school is that everyone can find their place. My son is in a fraternity, is an engineer, and doesn’t really like to party all that much. He’s busy with school. His fraternity brothers are very supportive and he’s learned a lot about opportunities and jobs from his older brothers. There are 40 fraternities, so saying it’s like Dartmouth isn’t a good assessment. There are the typical and non-typical fraternities. Again, something for everyone.</p>

19

<p>Exactly! That is what I love about Cornell! It has amazing diversity in the student population. There are groups/clubs for everything. You can study just about anything. Beyond that, I love the beauty of the campus and the town in general. I wish more students would take the time to grab the campus bus to the Cornell Ornithology Lab and Sapsucker Woods Trails, the various gorges, etc. We really enjoy visiting.</p>

20

<p>I’m a first-year student here and all the things you have listed are TOTALLY here. I fully agree with everyone who says that there is something for everybody here. :slight_smile: However, you do have to go looking for it yourself - if you stay in your dorm the entire time and only talk to people in your hall, chances are you won’t meet many ‘nerdy’ types. But while there are a good share of partiers/drinkers/sorority girls and frat boys, but there are definitely a ton of quirky awesome nerds everywhere who enjoy board/video games, philosophical discussions, tinkering with things (though schoolwork is a big timesuck so you probably won’t have as much time as you did in high school…) When I first got here, yeah I was nervous like everyone else that I wouldn’t find “my people” but I have found tons of wonderful friends who I play D&D with, have deep discussions with, have ridiculous discussions with, people who play all sorts of video games, LARPers, bronies, lovers of GATTACA, Dr. Horrible, Good Will Hunting etc etc etc.
Definitely make sure you go to Club Fest during orientation - joining clubs really helps with meeting people! If you see something a club of event that interests you, GO! And don’t be scared to talk to people - I made some very good friends early in the year by overhearing them talking about watching Legend of Korra on Friday afternoons, and simply walking over, introducing myself, and sharing my love for LoK as well. ;)</p>

<p>Risley is a WONDERFUL place, and you will often find people chilling, playing games, etc. in the lounges downstairs, but in my opinion it is a bit removed from the rest of the freshmen. However, it’ll definitely have more of the ‘quirky’ sort there. =) You definitely don’t have to be into arts/performing to be in Risley, it’s very nerd-friendly as well. I think like half of the anime club is living there next year :stuck_out_tongue: I think there is currently also a (board) Games Night there that’s hosted there every Monday evening, the date might change next year though. </p>

<p>There are tons of small, fun quirks everywhere, though. For example: The quiet hours sign in my dorm has a picture of Jigglypuff from Pokemon sleeping, and says, “If Jigglypuff can be quiet, so can you; Quiet Hours — to —” Also, this Friday, Risley is hosting a Harry Potter night, and there’s also a Yule Ball happening sometime soon, too. Oh and I believe the next Humans vs Zombies game is starting sometime in the next few weeks as well. </p>

<p>tldr; Cornell definitely has lots of nerdy culture! :)</p>