<p>What are the people like at Cornell? I know its hard to describe an entire group of people, but any sort of description will help! Also, I like the intellectualism at uchicago, but the party culture and social life at cornell really appeals to me. I mean, after all Cornell is ivy league so I assume almost everyone there is very intelligent. But will I find people who I can sit down with and discuss philosophy politics and transcendentalism (joking...but not really) with and still party hard with on the weekends?</p>
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But will I find people who I can sit down with and discuss philosophy politics and transcendentalism (joking...but not really) with and still party hard with on the weekends?
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<p>You will find people on both ends...they just won't be the same people lol Beer fries a certain amount of our brain cells.</p>
<p>Most students at Cornell are intelligent (but not genius-category), hardworking, and career-minded (pre-professional). Heavy concentration of pre-law, premed, and i-banking types (you will find this at most top schools). However, in every class you will always find students who go above and beyond the assigned work. They bring in articles to share and stay after class to talk with the professor. I don't think the atmosphere is as intellectual as Chicago but I think you can always find intellectual peepz (the beauty of attending a large, diverse school).</p>
<p>i think as far as the intellectualism vs. party scene goes, youre going to have to make some sacrifices no matter which school you go with. honestly, people at cornell are smart, but as a lot of people have said, they come off as more practical than intellectual. i have to say i haven't heard much talk outside of classes of the sort youre referring to. so i wouldn't come to cornell expecting to find an overwhelming amount of intellectualism (though I'm sure you could seek those kinds of people out). </p>
<p>basically though, i think you should probably see it as a choice between intellectualism (uchi) vs. party scene with intelligent people (cornell). because obviously you'll find parties at uchi and intellectualism at cornell, but each school has a pretty clear character as far as those characteristics go.</p>
<p>hahha elgguj you described my predicament pretty well. i was hoping this thread could help me out a little but i guess i'll have to visit cornell to see if my decision gets any easier.</p>
<p>If you want to find intellectualism at Cornell, it's not very hard to find it. When you consider a school like Swarthmore, which has less than 2,000 kids known for their intellectualism, it wouldn't be hard to fill the same school with 2,000 kids from Cornell and not notice any difference in school culture. In hindsight, I spent way too many nights my freshman year talking about religion, culture, and politics until five in the morning.</p>
<p>And if the parties I frequented when I was an upperclassmen are any indication, there is a fair amount of overlap between the intellectual types and the party goers. I think all one has to do is look at the types of bands that are routinely playing in Ithaca to confirm this fact -- when I was at Cornell I had the pleasure of seeing Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Interpol, Of Montreal, and The Flaming Lips, all before they made it big.</p>
<p>Candidly, I'll come right out and say that I don't think the opinions and viewpoints presented on this board are indicative of the breadth of student culture at Cornell. There are a lot of intellectually minded architects, humanities majors, and pretty intense physical science majors at Cornell who would never be on this board. But you will find them at Cornell at a lot of the different parties hosted by the various co-ops, Risley, Telluride, or off-campus houses.</p>
<p>That being said, the pervading culture at Cornell is down to earth, pragmatic, and a little bit bourgoise. It doesn't take much understanding of Cornell's history and founding principles to appreciate why this is the case.</p>
<p>I think CayugaRed hit it on the nose. I also had endless late-night conversations about the profound questions of existence. </p>
<p>As a matter of fact, I attribute my time at Cornell to my awakening as an intellectual. I'm not saying everybody there is like that, but it's definitely a place where intellectualism is respected.</p>
<p>I'll second that. When I started as a freshman at Cornell, I was still listening to the Dave Matthews Band and considered Tom Clancy to be good literature. </p>
<p>By winter break I was listening to Portishead and the Boards of Canada, trying to find foreign language films at Blockbuster, and devouring Virginia Woolf and Faulkner.</p>
<p>Also, I'll just add that Harold Bloom, Francis ***uyama, and Philip Gourevitch are all Cornell alums. If that's not intellectual enough for you, I don't know what is.</p>
<p>Or Francis F u k u y a m a. As the case may be.</p>
<p>And I'll just add one more thing before I shut up -- if you want to get a good snapshot at the different types of experiences at Cornell, I would suggest reading through some of the entries of the Cornell Muse. The</a> Muse - Reflections, Memoirs, and Vignettes from Cornell University. It was around when I graduated, but it wasn't published last year for some reason.</p>
<p>Another thing to read would be The Public Journal, which was founded at Cornell but has since spread to other campuses. </p>
<p>The</a> Public Journal</p>
<p>thanks cayuga you've been very helpful!</p>