sometimes i wonder if this effing degree is worth it...

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I'm in my second semester of my freshman year...
And really, I'm wondering whether if coming here was a huge mistake.</p>

<p>My parents aren't exactly loaded; yet I turned down full ride scholarships
and other better deals to come to Cornell. And now I'm wondering, was it worth it?</p>

<p>This morning, I got a phone call from a fellow friend, who attends a certain
lower ranked state school, who informed me that
she got a 4.0 GPA by doing even less work than she did in high school.
We're both thinking med school; and from the looks of it so far, she's the one who's
going to make it. I'm not. I'd transfer, but a 3.5 isn't even good enough to transfer
to the places I'd rather attend instead. Well I'm assuming. And no, I don't want
to transfer to any other ivy, stanford, mit, etc. etc. </p>

<p>Anyways, that phone call, and the fact that I just bombed a prelim after studying my a**
off, (and not to mention how ****ty the weather has been throughout...well lets face it,
throughout the school year) is really putting me into...pangs of regret?</p>

<p>I mean, I suppose you could argue for the quality of education.
But, and maybe it's because I've been in intro courses so far, but really, all the education I've been getting is through 200 member lectures, expensive textbooks, and goddamn slides that the profs never put up in time.</p>

<p>I don't mean to sound whiny. I'm burnt, tired, and demoralized, and I'm genuinely wondering if this expensive, hard earned degree (if i make it) will be worth it in the long run.
And now I'm thinking, three more years of this?
Sorry if this offends any diehard Cornellian. Are you guys happy here?</p>

2

<p>Let’s put it this way: you know how hard you’re working at Cornell? You’re going to work 5 times as hard in med school. She’s going to work 10 times as hard. The rigor of college, whether it’s Cornell or a state college, doesn’t really prepare you for medical school.</p>

<p>If you can’t do it, then you can’t do it. Not everyone’s meant to become a physician. Plenty of people switch to another field and live perfectly fulfilling lives. No one is meant to become a physician (I’ll say that again).</p>

<p>That said, with a 3.5 and a 30 (hypothetical) MCAT score from Cornell, you’ll get into med school somewhere. </p>

<p>I found Cornell challenging but I never felt the coursework was impossible or unfair or tedious. If you have a problem doing BS work or if you have trouble becoming a big fish in a big pond, don’t come to med school. What do you think med school is? It’s a collection of hypercompetitive students who blew away their college competition. If you want to go into radiology or neurosurg or whatever, you have to stand out among THIS group. The competition never ends. Some people like it. Some people don’t. If you don’t, then don’t go to med school.</p>

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<p>norcalguy, I heard where you do residency is what matters, not where you go to med school, this true?</p>

<p>@ OP:</p>

<p>Stick around this semester, do your best, and see what happens. If you get GPA below your desired mark, think about transferring to an easy state school, or you will need to adjust your future expectations.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I might not. I do dislike this competition.
But it wasn’t really about med school really. No matter where I end up,
I want a good GPA to back me up.
That, the workload, the $. These are the primary stressors. Med school- well
it kind of nags on the back of my mind, but if I don’t get into med school, well then,
so be it. It means I wasn’t meant for it; and I’m not going to waste my life crying
about it. </p>

<p>But tks for the honest, “tell it like it is” reply. :)</p>

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<p>Where you went to grad school matters more than undergrad. Residency is also important, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s more important than medical school. These types of questions would be better answer by the people in the premed forums though.</p>

<p>To the OP: It’s worth it; keep your head up and good luck!</p>

6

<p>College has its ups and downs. At least it has for my two kids who have been through it so far, and was the case for me as well. </p>

<p>My own freshman year I learned that I was not the science genius that I presumed myself to be. Wherever one may be, the entity delivering such a message will not be looked at with warm feelings, at that time the message is being delivered. For me, it was at Cornell. For my D1, the issue was math, but she got the same message, except from her LAC, not from Cornell.</p>

<p>In my case, I wound up abandoning the thing that, iniitial indications suggested, evidently I was not so good at as I thought I would be. The other choices would have been: a) to redouble efforts,go all out, figure out ways to work better, work smarter, etc; or b) try transferring someplace easier.</p>

<p>Ultimately if you aren’t happy where you are there is no sin in transferring. D2 did it. Though she transferred to Cornell, not away from it. You may find your GPA, earned in hard courses at Cornell, is not such an obstacle as you imagine. You can try anyway. If you so choose. </p>

<p>FWIW I found sophomore year was a lot better than freshman year, and I did much better. But I was not taking organic chemistry…</p>

<p>But in the end you may be right. If you are not getting the results you need, or feel you should be getting, there, it’s possible you could do better at an easier school. Maybe I would have also, can’t do it over. The worst outcome though would be to go to an easier school that you didn’t like as much otherwise and still not accomplish your objectives.</p>

<p>I’m quite certain I got jobs later on in part because I went to Cornell that I wouldn’t have gotten if I’d gone to a less-reputable school.</p>

<p>Part of the question is, do you like it there otherwise? It seems not so much. My D2 loves it there. I liked it there otherwise too, though much moreso when my social life was going well than when it wasn’t. If you are not liking it in these non-academic ways, and do not really see this changing, that would be another reason to consider a change of scenery. Or changing what you do so the social aspect improves.</p>

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<p>If you are not enjoying the undergrad experience at a college despite paying a ridiculous amounts of money for it, you should consider transferring, seriously. No undergrad degree is worth 200k of money, in my opinion. </p>

<p>Also, when you make it to a med school, at least you are guaranteed to become a doctor with nice career potential. Making a cut at a med school is what really counts.</p>

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<p>At least OP will save up decent chunk of money if chooses to transfer to a cheaper state school. And, chances of getting a high GPA and thus making a cut at a med school is much higher for anyone at an easy state school compared to any Ivies, including Cornell.</p>

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<p>"No undergrad degree is worth 200k of money, in my opinion. "
There are a lot of kids that pay that sum for private schools that are not even close to Cornell quality. IMO kids really need to weigh things out before deciding on stuff like this. If things aren’t to your liking then transfer. The thing is that you always have choices.</p>

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<p>Your GPA could definitely transfer somewhere, so especially if money is an issue I’d look seriously into that. Especially since you’ve taken some tough courses, if you’re pre-med. I did the standard pre-med first semester as well, did great in my writing seminar, and still had a GPA way lower than you. I stuck around here, but I wouldn’t say that everyone should. I don’t really know how that will affect you for med school, but I think that’s already been adequately covered in this thread…</p>

<p>Finally, don’t be rash about it. I had a day already this semester where it seemed like Cornell was at the root of most of the problems bothering me…but I have lots more days where I think Cornell is worth the trouble. One of the biggest things that concerns me is that I have no career direction right now, and when I think about that Cornell is actually a good thing, because I’d rather be direction-less with a Cornell degree than without.</p>

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<p>I also think that med schools look at where you did your undergrad. Cornell has a reputation for being very difficult so a 3.5 there is a really good GPA and I am sure will be reflected in higher MCAT scores. A huge percent of Cornell pre-meds get into med school. Isn’t it 85% or something like that. </p>

<p>Your grades will probably get better as you continue too. And, Cornell prepares you for the competititon and rigor you will face in med school should you decide to pursue it.</p>

<p>Hang in there! Maybe get some sunshine–it might make you feel better.</p>

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<p>Here’s Cornell’s premed acceptance stats.</p>

<p><a href=“Career Services | Student & Campus Life | Cornell University”>Career Services | Student & Campus Life | Cornell University;

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<p>Where you went to med school is essentially meaningless for your future career. Where you trained for residency determines your aptitude as a clinician. Going to a prestigious medical school can help you get into a good residency program though.</p>

<p>It seems half the students at Cornell have the “the grass is greener on the other side” mentality. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “if I had gone to Harvard, my GPA would be a lot higher” or “if I had gone to state school, my GPA would be a lot higher.” Please. If you are a mediocre student with mediocre intelligence and mediocre study skills, you will be a mediocre student at a state school. It’s amazing the arrogance of some people to think they would have a 4.0 instead of a 3.5 if they simply changed schools. 70% of my med school class comes from a top 20 university but the 30% who came from state schools hold up just fine and are as good as everyone else. My 3.95 from Cornell doesn’t make me smarter than their 3.9 from a state school. In fact, their accomplishments are even more impressive considering they didn’t have all the resources I had at Cornell. The best of the best from state schools match up with the best from Cornell just fine. </p>

<p>Medicine is a profession that challenges you to be the best you can be. It’s a macho profession that attracts a lot of perfectionists and Type A personalities. I’m only so-so in my med school class (somewhere in the top 25-50%) but I know that I’ve done the best I can and I’m satisfied with that. In our second week of med school (a 4 day week because of Labor Day), we covered 1/2 of BioBM 331 (biochem) and 4 weeks of bioGD 281 (genetics). In 4 days. That was the last formal biochem and genetics training I ever got in med school. And it only gets harder from there. If you don’t like Cornell’s rigor, then med school might not be for you.</p>

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<p>Sheesh, Norcalguy. Just a little too much “holier than thou” attitude, don’t ya think?
Not exactly asking for hugs and sympathies or anything, but was that whole
spiel about the arrogance of people in transferring and how difficult med school is really necessary? </p>

<p>I’m not having the grass is greener on the other side mentality; I’m just wondering
if I could have a better undergrad experience, because i’m ****ing miserable here.
Grades, money, people, workload, etc. The root of my problem is not med school.</p>

<p>Sorry I mentioned it. Those two words always seem to set a fire of threads going.</p>

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<p>rlaehgund, hang in there. For many, sophomore year is the turning point where things come around, and a negative experience turns into a positive one, through a combination of familiarity, getting used to professors and classes, knowing more people, and just generally feeling more comfortable with the surroundings.</p>

<p>Also bear in mind that it’s February right now. No matter how much anybody loves Cornell, February in Ithaca will always be rough. Things will seem better once you hit March and the days get longer.</p>

<p>To answer your original question - from my experience - yes, it (the pain) is absolutely worth it. I had an ok but not amazing freshman year, sophomore year was better, and my junior and senior years were great. But I did not truly begin to love and appreciate Cornell until years after I graduated. Now I bleed big red in the worst way.</p>

<p>If you can survive February of your freshman year in Ithaca, you can survive the rest of the way.</p>

<p>Trust me - it gets warmer. =)</p>

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<p>I disagree with this statement. A ‘mediocre’ student is the one who may be at a disadvantage by being at a top school.</p>

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<p>somebody correct me if i am wrong, but doesn’t your undergraduate degree only matter if you’re plan on going into the business world? i mean, med schools and law schools don’t even care about which school you go to. </p>

<p>so, why do pre-med and pre-law students think they gain an advantage by paying more money for a highly ranked private university? i am actually confused by this and would appreciate an answer.</p>

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<p>I’ll give you my experience. I work at a local hospital and I’m always talking to doctors. They said to me go to an easy undergraduate school and get your GPA up. Focus your time on studying for the MCAT then go to a big school like an ivy. Many people in my area went to state schools and later on attended med school at some big college.</p>

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<p>This is correct. Yet, not everyone knows for sure if they will pursue med or law school before they go to college. Advantage of going to a top school is that the employment prospects are better fresh out of college. </p>

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<p>Many attend top schools for better intellectual environment, prestige, smarter peers, and supposedly ‘better’ education. But, if someone attends a top UG thinking that the prestigious UG will help him in med or law school admissions, he is delusional.</p>

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<p>So, why aren’t students told of this? i can imagine an applicant hell bent on going into consulting or whatever taking out a bunch of loans to go to a prestigious private school to give themselves an advantage, but doing so just for pre-med or pre-law studies is just idiotic. school counselors really need to start better advising their students.</p>