<p>Im pretty sure that if you go to Cornell, even if its the contract colleges, you're as smart as any corneillian (except for for engineering physics people ... they have to be uber geniuses to get a major in that)</p>
<p>Seriously, the only reason Cornell keeps them contract is because it helps increase their endowment. To tell you the truth I'm glad Cornell has the contract schools without them we'd be just like every other ivy league, instead we have colleges that are better at what they do than any other university.</p>
<p>The only thing that Cornell needs to drastically change is its money managing group, we need the people who managed harvard's money (they returned 16%+ gains every year from 1990 to 2000). Other than that, I think Cornell is slowly but surely regaining its rankings, improving its campus, definately improving its housing and all around it's getting a lot better.</p>