<p>Hi everyone, I'm new here, and just had a quick question. I was just accepted Early Decision, and of course was super excited. The thing I was curious about was, do you all think that most people know what Cornell 'is'? I just want to say that it DOES NOT matter to me in any way, I love the fact that I was accepted, and it makes no difference to me whether the name was recognizable. I'm first generation college, and prior to having to choose where to apply, the only college/university I had ever heard of was Harvard. Everytime I tell a member of my family (extended) that I got accepted to Cornell, they give me this blank stare because they don't know what it is (most of them never graduated from high school, and none of them went to college). Would that be the case for most people, or would they know what Cornell is when I tell them I'm going next year? I'm just wondering, because I don't want to sound stupid when I tell people "I just got into Cornell. Have you ever heard of it?" Thanks guys, and I'm sorry for the choppy sounding sentences, I'm having some trouble articulating myself tonight.</p>
<p>Okay, you clearly do clear or else you would not be afraid of "sounding stupid". It is an Ivy League school, as prestigious and prominent as you can get in the country.</p>
<p>i take it you're not from a big city, and certainly not from the east coast.</p>
<p>The only people who care about prestige who will matter to you are future employers, and they will almost definitely know about Cornell.
Anyone else who cares is wasting their time and doesn't matter anyway.</p>
<p>When my parents were living back in the Soviet Union, Cornell was one of the few American schools that they heard of way back then. If that's not name recognition, I don't know what is!</p>
<p>Do most people know what Cornell is? No.</p>
<p>Do most people that matter know what Cornell is? Yes.</p>
<p>sorry, double post.</p>
<p>I would say that people who are even remotely cultured, will know what Cornell is. I will however concede that we are no where on par with the likes of Harvard, Yale or Oxford, where any person on the street will have heard of us. Specifically in the midwest, a lot of people don't know what it is, but they have also never left the midwest. My experiences on the coasts tell me that most people there know it. Also, I have cousins in England and they have heard of it. Also, Cornell is huge in Asia. </p>
<p>Additionally, EVERYONE who matters WILL know what Cornell is (ie. job recruiters, grad schools, etc.)</p>
<p>AND seriously, its Ivy League, THE most prestigious schools in the country and the world. (Along with places like MIT and Stanford).</p>
<p>I think the only reason why Harvard, Yale, and Oxford are so famous is because they're featured in movies a lot. Outside of that, most people don't go around for fun researching what the top universities around the world are.</p>
<p>Haha, I've thought the exact same thing. The only reason I had heard of Harvard was because it was in legally blonde, and Yale was discussed in Boy Meets World (or some show like that). If someone made a movie where the protagonist goes to Cornell, it'd be a big name school in no time (assuming the movie is a good one that people see).</p>
<p>I'm from a somewhat small school in the UAE and what's really annoying is the fact that most of my high school teachers have not heard of any uni other than IIT, some other Indian unis and MIT and Harvard. </p>
<p>So when I tell them that I got into Cornell, they go 'huh' and have this vaguely disappointed expression on their face as if they expected more from the guy who was valedictorian and won all those competitions. And when I tell them, that its really difficult to get into Cornell, especially as an international student, they just kinda nod along. </p>
<p>I know this isn't that important but it still sucks.</p>
<p>^ u can tell them it's in the ivy league, which is the league of schools Harvard is in if u want to give them perspective. Altho I think it's annoying for Americans to be so desperate for recognition and prestige I do understand how ur situation is def sucky.</p>
<p>Cornell is not Harvard or Yale, but on the East Coast and in major cities everywhere, people with college educations have heard of it. More than that, a surprising number of them went to Cornell or have a family member who did. Remember that Cornell is one of the largest of the highly selective Eastern schools; its alumni network is huge.</p>
<p>I'm a parent and a Cornell alum, living in the Washington, DC area. I have never run into anyone in my professional life -- job interviewers, colleagues, etc. -- who hadn't heard of Cornell. In my personal life, I have run into plenty of people without college educations who haven't heard of it. I think that's to be expected.</p>
<p>People from Penn have a lot more trouble with name recognition than we do. Everybody thinks they went to Penn State.</p>
<p>Lol I live in Canada and some teachers don't know what Cornell is. Also, my relatives in China only know Harvard and MIT, im not even sure about yale or princeton. lol</p>
<p>Pretty much anywhere in Asia, people know what cornell is. I don't know, i've lived in the UAE before and people that i've interacted with know Cornell very well. I also have family there now, and they have all heard of it. What emirate in the UAE are you from?</p>
<p>@Figgy - thanks for the advice. Actually, right now, I'm wishing I hadn't told anyone about getting into Cornell. I told one of my classmates and suddenly the whole college-applying group in my school (who know that Cornell is a pretty difficult school to get into) found out. Since then, they have been bombarding me with requests to read their college essays; I don't mind helping out a bit but it gets annoying when you have to read and comment on about 5-6 essays a day.</p>
<p>@cornell2011 - I live in Sharjah. Btw, where are you from and if you went to school here, which school did you go to?</p>
<p>omg that sounds awful lol. It's nice to help someone every now and then but that sounds like it's getting horrible...lol wow.</p>
<p>haha over break i was at the dentist and my hygenist goes "cornell in ithaca huh? why would anyone ever want to go there? i have not heard of anyone who goes there..."
half of me wanted to laugh out loud, half of me wanted to go on a rant about how amazing cornell was and make her realize how much she doesn't know
fortunately i kept my cool and did neither</p>
<p>think of it this way... it's cheesy and a bit materialistic but it parallels</p>
<p>yale, princeton and harvard are like louis vuitton and gucci
cornell is like carolina herrera or john galliano, only the people who truly understand labels will have heard of these designers
and look what happens to louis and gucci, they get counterfeited so much that you can't even tell who's carrying a real bag or a knockoff and they lose their value</p>