<p>I am interested in Cornell because the academics are great and I am interested in pursuing a business/finance major. However, I am pretty skeptical about the school because I have heard mixed reviews about the social scene. Are there a lot of parties at Cornell, or is it "boring" in Ithaca as many have stated?</p>
<p>are you going into AEM? aem people have a relatively modest amound of work and a very connected social scene. pretty much, the two people i knew from AEM and their buddies party 3-4 nights a week and maintain very good gpa’s. </p>
<p>if you’re gonna be in CAS, it will be a bit tougher to party, but not much. every cornell student goes out on the weekends, err… maybe not the AEP’s or engineers who want 4.0’s, but as large as the school is, i think i’ve seen all the faces out at night.</p>
<p>it’s not manhattan or chicago, but if you like going out you will be able to do that to some degree</p>
<p>I would be pursuing a degree in business, particularly finance or economics, I’m not sure which school that is. I have heard that collegetown is a lot of fun, but Ithaca is pretty dull. Are there a lot of parties or do people mostly go out in Collegetown? I’m not looking to party every night, but I definitely would like to have fun in college, especially on the weekends.</p>
<p>well the ‘business’ school is CALS, and the ‘econ’ school is CAS. There are people out in collegetown every weekend… the only problem is if you’re trying to have a night involving a couple of drinks you’ll either need to be old enough or do it beforehand. </p>
<p>what freshmen and sophomores do is mainly go to fraternities to party. once you hit 21, however, i’m sure you’ll realize how scuzzy it is to have your shoes stick to the floor b/c of 3 week old beer stains. </p>
<p>i went to 2 frat parties as a freshman but found guitar hero at appel or halo on west campus were more fun. seriously, there are just too many people around here not to be able to figure out something to do during downtime.</p>
<p>you have heard??? from whom??? posts like this make me growl!!!</p>
<p>many have stated??? how many??? which many???</p>
<p>and how likey are you to be admitted ??? the overall accepted rate is 18% </p>
<p>I currently have very nice nat’l merit finalists waiting to hear if they get off waitlist!!!</p>
<p>my general observation of the kids who ask if there is anything to do in ithaca is - they are the kids who have sat in their rooms in high school playing WOW and then think super models are going to fall into their labs because they got into engineering at Cornell.</p>
<p>read Doonesbury this past week - and remember Alex was supposed to go to Cornell!!!</p>
<p>@memphismom: um kind of harsh - OP is just looking for some insight. and it’s not THAT odd to say ithaca may be kind of dull. if you’re from the city and used to city nightlife it will probably be a big shock. the location of the school is a major part of fit-im from seattle and phoenix and i had to make consider the limitations of rural area before i sent my admissions coupon… so may OP is considering cornell and before he/she puts it on the short list would like get some feedback from people their thoughts on cornell. </p>
<p>oh and he/she not trying to take your kid’s spot…geez</p>
<p>don’t you think it’s ironic that you go off on the OP b/c he/she made a somewhat reasonable assumption about ithaca and YOU make a totally unfounded assumption about their personality and interests…hypocritical much?</p>
<p>he/she isn’t going to take my either of my kids’ spots - one graduated 07 and the other is class of '11 - and dh and i gradualted back in the 70’s</p>
<p>sorry - I have meet with enough kids who ask about the club scene when I can tell they are sitting home in high school</p>
<p>yes, harsh - but I also see nice kids on the waitlist ( not my own)</p>
<p>have a nice day hyperlyte</p>
<p>the social scene your first two years will probably revolve around the greek scene, if you’re looking for parties</p>
<p>uh—social scene does not equal the club scene</p>
<p>social scene incorporates activities people do in groups: movies, concerts, bars, etc. some schools offer the majority of their social scene through frats. A LOT of people don’t want to deal with this kind of atmosphere. frats are not clubs. </p>
<p>again, you’ve seen so many kids…what kids? when? where? do you know the OP to make comparisons? i just take issue with you conjuring up this perception of the OP based on their ONE generic question about the social scene and then bash him/her b/c they are concerned after what he’s heard</p>
<p>and if the OP isn’t going to take your kid’s sport - why did you mention him/her in the post? how are they relevant to the OP’s question about the social scene.</p>
<p>and EVEN IF you’re right about the OP sitting at home - that makes him/her not entitled to ask about the social scene in college?</p>
<p>I was not talking about my own kid - but about kids I know who are on waitlist.</p>
<p>since I meet many kids applying to Cornell i do get a bit weary of kids who claim to need a certain level of social life that they imply can’t be found in Ithaca…I found it. my husband found it. my son found it. my daughter found it. and we are all very different people. each born in a different state.</p>
<p>I have friends from NYC who still miss the city like crazy. They love Cornell, but that doesn’t necessarily imply that they love Ithaca. I didn’t have too much trouble adjusting to the new location, but I do miss the city from time to time and I’m excited to be going back for the summer.</p>
<p>memphismom, </p>
<p>everyone, as you state, has different interests. it’s not unreasonable to assume a potential cornell student will desire some sort of a social life. </p>
<p>i think it’s best to offer some substantial information rather than just be harsh. you have graduated from cornell so i’m sure you can agree the ‘social scene’ – which, as another poster has mentioned, is not the same as the club scene-- in ithaca is drastically different from that in LA, NYC, chicago, or even memphis.</p>
<p>kids choose USC over cornell because of being near LA.</p>
<p>you are right - I was harsh. I do always make sure kids I am talking to in real life understand that Ithaca is not in NYC, and that they will not be heading into the City every weekend…</p>
<p>"the social scene your first two years will probably revolve around the greek scene, if you’re looking for parties "</p>
<p>I disagree</p>
<p>ok, where else do freshmen and sophomores party</p>
<p>Are you kidding me? I’ve barely (hyperbole to some extent) been able to talk to my D in the last four yrs because she has been so busy w/ school, activities and fun.</p>
<p>She is moving to NYC next month because she is graduating. She interned there the last two summers. She loves Ithaca and NYC and has very mixed emotions about leaving Ithaca. She loves both.</p>
<p>There’s tons to do in Ithaca.</p>
<p>What is nice about Cornell is its size and it’s a college town. The size is great because you could always find activities that’s interesting to you. The fact it’s a college town is nice because students are not leaving the campus, like Columbia or NYU. Ithaca has some great restaurants, not like Hamilton (Colgate), so students could get together for a nice dinner without having to go to a large city. There are fraternity parties where newbies could go to meet new students. Most upperclassman live in off campus apartments, so there are smaller parties to go to. There are also bars where a lot of students could hang out for few hours. </p>
<p>A school like Georgetown doesn’t have as many school wide parties where you could meet new people. Most parties are small at someone’s apartment, or they go to bars in the city. A school like Haverford is so small that for most weekends there is just one party where most people go. When my daughter visited her friends there, people would say, “so I’ll see you at the party tonight.”. My daughter, coming from Cornell where she usually had multiple invites on any given night, thought it was strange to have one party to go to. </p>
<p>Cornell is affordable for most people to have a social life. Unlike schools in a large city, it doesn’t cost as much to go out. There is a lot less pressure to have money to socialize.</p>