<p>I noticed a lot of questions about dorm items, housing, move-in day from some new parents lately. I thought I would start a thread where parents could come to ask some questions about Cornell. Any concerns you may have about your kid starting new life at Cornell - social life, course load, spending money, transportation, parents weekend, clubs, sports...- ask away here. </p>
<p>I am hoping current parents and seasoned student contributors will come on to answer some newbies' questions. As this will be mostly for parents, lets try to keep it civil and informative. I will help out if I can, but as Cornell is so big, other people's perspective may be helpful.</p>
<p>Be prepared for ongoing fees &costs not covered by tuition; departmental fees, phys. ed. fees, music fees. Depending on the major there may be costs for required computer software and $100-$200 a month for consumable supplies. Many weeks you may have time for 3-5 meals. Also, don’t count on being roomed with a pre selected mate in a choice dorm. You may be the one on the top bunk of a forced triple in your 10th choice. Be resilient, resourceful and open minded and learn to advocate for yourself. Leave the rose colored RayBans in the glovebox. Just sayin.</p>
<p>My daughter is in CAS, she has taken required phys ed, belongs to a dance club, our out of pocket expense has been very little. Every once in a while I would notice a concert or sports ticket on her bill, but nothing outrageous. I just came back from her dance performance, it was $5/ticket. At home her dance recital usually ran $20 range. Our daughter was waitlisted then admitted early May, I able to get her a single in a nice dorm. People in housing were very good to deal with, they let our daughter change her room a few times before orientation. Cornell is a big red machine, so you do have to speak up.</p>
<p>Cornell is an incredible place. I’m a current junior parent (and also the former employer of a current senior in CALS ) and would be happy to answer any questions.</p>
<p>D and I are up here now for Cornell Days - what an unbelievably beautiful campus! Can anyone recommend a nice spot for dinner??
PS I’ll have other questions later, I’m sure!</p>
<p>I’m trying to think of the number of times in my Cornell career when I didn’t have time for two meals, let alone one. And I think I could count them on one hand.</p>
<p>Depends how much you are willing to spend – for cheap fare close to Collegetown I would go to Souvlaki House or ABC Cafe. For a little bit nicer food I would suggest Just A Taste (tapas) or the Boatyard Grille.</p>
<p>I second the Boatyard. I miss the calamari…so delicious. </p>
<p>Depending on your budget, I also recommend Thai Cuisine on Route 13</p>
<p>If you’ve rented a car and don’t feel like spending much for dinner, there’s The Pines. Fantastic view of the lake and the best burger in Ithaca.</p>
<p>Boatyard is our younger daughter’s favorite - steamed clams and the bread. I like Zsa Zsa (sp?) - great lasagna. We were at Maxie’s over the weekend (1/2 price for oysters before 6). We were also introduced to the Tea House pearl tea.</p>
<p>I am curious how classes are chosen. Is it difficult for Freshmen to get the classes they want? When does it happen, at orientation? Is it done on the computer and do the kids get a chance to talk to an advisor first?</p>
<p>My in-coming freshman son will be working at camp all summer with very limited internet access. Can anyone estimate how much time he’ll need to be on the internet to choose and select the classes? Is freshman course selection first come/first serve? Does he wait til orientation to pick the first-year writing course?</p>
<p>I think it pretty much depends on specific colleges and programs. The Hotel School pre-enrolls the freshmen so there’s not much selection available to them. Freshman Writing Seminars are selected during orientation, with the students filling out a ballot of choices.</p>
<p>My daughter is in CAS. She did research on what classes she wanted/needed during the summer, but she wasn’t able to sign up for any classes until the orientation week. My daughter used scheduler to help her optimize her class schedule. If I remember correctly, she may have met with her adviser to go over her class selections.</p>
<p>I think most freshman have their courses picked for them and are pre-enrolled in them automatically during the summer. That was my experience and I haven’t heard of anyone who had a different one. They essentially chose basic requirements for my major/college and put me in those. </p>
<p>For HumEc, there were separate meetings for different majors during orientation where you got to meet your advisor and discuss courses and requirements before add/drop began. I would guess that other colleges probably have something similar. This lets you figure out what you want to take and should be taking first semester so that you can adjust your classes during the add/drop period. The only classes no freshman will automatically be enrolled in are gym and a writing seminar. Gym classes are added during add/drop, and writing seminars are assigned after you submit a ballot with your top choices during orientation.
Also, I think this is what oldfort is referring to: [Schedulizer:</a> Login](<a href=“http://www.schedulizer.com/]Schedulizer:”>http://www.schedulizer.com/)
It’s invaluable for trying to make a schedule that works.</p>
<p>My son is in Arts and Science. As of now, he’s planning to be a Chem major and probably said that in his application, but I don’t think he’s locked into any particular major.</p>
<p>A&S is different because most people are undecided when they enter, so other than required writing seminar you could select classes you want to take. My daughter had a lot of math and econ AP credits, so she was able to take higher level courses first semester.</p>