<p>If I may…my D is a Junior & she has not found this to be true at all. She loves Cornell’s “social scene” because there is so much to do & be involved in. Academics are tough, but worth it. We come from a middle class rural background & I don’t find the students that I’ve encountered to be arrogant at all. Out of 14,000 undergrads you are bound to find 2 that are negative, my guess is that they would be negative about any college they attended. School pride appears to be very high.</p>
<p>Nice answers, modelgeek. On the Math II prep, Barron’s is good, very thorough, but it has more math errors than the Princeton Review book (which can be frustrating). We used both books. Both of my boys got 800 on that test and the older one is a second year math/philosophy major (younger still in high school).</p>
<p>I plan on visiting in the fall… If I have 1 extra free day to just explore the Ithaca area where would you go… what would you recommend as a cool place to see, hike or explore?</p>
<p>I may be a poor researcher but I came up with:
for just walking around:
starting with a hike around the gorge called “Enfield glen” and then driving up to Taughannock Falls and taking the hike up to the falls.</p>
<p>and maybe if time permits
I’ve been thinking about some flyfishing too and I know this is a great fising area but didn’t know if I should carry the flyrod with me as I hike…or just keep it simple and stay with hiking/walking.</p>
<p>@borasis – I take online reviews of colleges with a grain of salt, since people love to complain online since it gives them an outlet. I think the social scene at Cornell is similar to most other colleges… it has a pretty strong Greek system, but it’s not all inclusive. There are tons of clubs, sports, and other organizations that allow for social activities. I don’t think that there are a significantly higher amount of “social climbers” at Cornell, although I will say that I think the student body can be arrogant at times due to thinking the Ivy label makes Cornell students better than other students (which isn’t true really).</p>
<p>@csdad – Thanks for your input! I agree concerning the school pride being high… not really for sports though, but for the school itself, yes.</p>
<p>@payne – I’ve heard really good things about Buttermilk Falls Park in Ithaca, where you can hike (not sure about fishing). My favorite area in Ithaca would have to be the Commons, where there are some really good restaurants and shops.</p>
<p>Cornell has been good in sports that don’t traditionally lend themselves to big crowds (wrestling & Lacrosse) However Hockey tickets are hard to come by & a few years ago when the basketball team advanced in the NCAA’s there was quite a bit of support. It is quite impressive to me that a non scholarship school can produce the Sports Illustrated college athlete of the year & have a player drafted in the 4th round of the NFL draft in the same class.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply Modelgeek282! very helpful</p>
<p>what was the “coolest” class you’ve heard of? was it a gym class like fencing…or was there something in another department that turned out to be popular and a lot of people enjoyed it. in such a big university I’m sure there were a couple surprises.</p>
<p>PAYNE101–in answer to your question about where to visit if you have an extra day…there are many interesting places to visit on campus that students will not often take the time to see. I haven’t taken a formal Cornell tour but I would guess the tour wouldn’t cover these areas as there is so much else to cover. </p>
<p>Take a long walk over the suspension foot bridge, out in Cayuga Heights, past Carl Sagan’s house, around Beebe Lake, etc. </p>
<p>The Ornithology Lab: [Visit</a> the Lab, Hours, Directions, Sapsucker Woods](<a href=“http://www.birds.cornell.edu/page.aspx?pid=1572]Visit”>Visit Us | Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)</p>
<p>Cornell Plantations: [Cornell</a> Plantations](<a href=“http://www.cornellplantations.org%5DCornell”>http://www.cornellplantations.org)</p>
<p>The view from the top floor of the Johnson Art Museum is beautiful also.</p>
<p>Buttermilk Falls off campus: [Buttermilk</a> Falls State Park - NYS Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation](<a href=“http://nysparks.com/parks/151/]Buttermilk”>http://nysparks.com/parks/151/)</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom.
I’m just getting ready to send my applications out… and there are a lot of amazing schools out there.</p>
<p>I am actually a rising senior as well, in college of Engineering but looking to take some business courses. Do you know any good AEM classes?</p>
<p>@csdad – Good point. Definitely the sports that accrue a good amount of spirit at Cornell are hockey, wrestling and lacrossee (with hockey being #1). Hockey tickets are really tough to get if you don’t have season tickets. All other sports games are free to students by the way.</p>
<p>@payne – There are a lot of interesting classes at Cornell, besides the gym classes! Not sure what you mean by “cool” classes, but there is a really popular class called Wines where you get to drink during class and learn about winemaking. Another class that is popular is Magical Mushrooms & Molds. </p>
<p>@tsay – I took AEM1200 [Intro to Business] & AEM2400 [Intro to Marketing]. I liked the latter better because the topic was more interesting to me. Both were pretty easy as well. I’d recommend them both to someone interested who has little/no background in business.</p>
<p>Yo, modelgeek… Your answers were great and thorough. However, I have one request, which I think a lot of people watching this thread may have. I was wondering if after you’re done with all the college applications and stuff… could you post your stats to this thread? like what colleges you were accepted into, act/sat/sat subject test scores, gpa, extra curriculars, etc. If you could that would be wonderful. Also if you want a clean format try and look at some posts in other ivy league threads on how to post up your stats. Anyway, thanks for all the help man.</p>
<p>@Questioner – Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t modelgeek a Cornell senior?</p>
<p>Also modelgeek, I was wondering what you could tell me about the HBHS major in HumEc because I really want to get into Cornell this fall under that major/college. (Im applying ED).</p>
<p>@questioner – I would prefer not to go through all my stats, but I’ve mentioned before that I got a 34 on the ACT.</p>
<p>@paradisecity – Yes, I am a Cornell senior NOT a high school senior (thanks for clarifying to some)! HBHS is honestly a great major, especially for prospective pre-meds in my opinion. Here’s a link to the HBHS curriculum sheet –> [2013</a> - 2014 Curriculum Sheets](<a href=“http://www.human.cornell.edu/registrar/degree-progress/2013-2014-curriculum-sheets.cfm]2013”>http://www.human.cornell.edu/registrar/degree-progress/2013-2014-curriculum-sheets.cfm). It allows for students to get a strong grounding in not only the natural sciences, but the social sciences as well (which I think is great).</p>
<p>Thanks! I have been intensly researching HumEc and it is definately for me. I plan on going pre-med and HBHS seems perfect based on the curriculum sheet you posted. Two more questions, how manageable is the work there, and how does the whole greek system affect social/party life. I understand its big and im not averse to joining a frat, but i wanted to know if its impossible to go out and party if you dont belong to a fraternity. Thanks for the thread its a huge help!</p>
<p>Anyone know the answer to my question?</p>
<p>I mean, yeah, of course frats require a lot of time and commitment, and it most definitely will impact your grades in some ways.</p>
<p>There’s tons of opportunities for you to go to parties at Cornell though, even if you’re not in a frat. Lower-tiered frats let anyone in, and the higher-tiered ones require you to know one of the brothers in order for you to be granted entrance to their parties. Also, you always can ask an upperclassmen to buy you alcohol if you want it that badly.</p>
<p>here’s another Question.</p>
<p>Cornell is a HUGE school… and this is a question for how you would solve a small personal issue (or if it could be solved at all).</p>
<p>is it easy to change rooms or roommates.
–I’m assuming that cornell is loaded to the brim with students looking for a room.
its your first day & you’re going through the routine of moving in …so what happens if your room just stinks (you got shoehorned into a corner of a room and all your other roomates grabbed all the bureau and closet space and there is no room to move anything else in) … or simply you just don’t get along with your roommate.</p>
<p>is it possible to work a resolution in such a big school or are you just screwed.</p>