<p>wow all of you are funny...no offense of course.
i wear contacts and any goggles really should do. (don't waste your money if it's just a 150! if you can't get goggles, just close your eyes and swim -- the lane lines will make sure you don't get too out of control)
i love how most people are worrying whether they will get in (i applied RD, so i won't find out for a few months) while all of you are worried whether you can swim or not..</p>
<p>The test is not really a big deal at all. It's pretty tiring if you're not used to swimming but that is mainly because everyone gets really competitive b/c no one wants to be the last one to finish. If you can't swim at all, take the class b/c it will be good for you. If you know how to at least doggy paddle then you'll be fine, just take your time and don't worry about it.</p>
<h1>I didn't believe this and searched for it in Cornell site. Here are a couple of results I found:</h1>
<p>Cornell</a> University - Search Cornell</p>
<p>Swim Test
The University's mandatory swim test is a graduation requirement only a few other institutions maintain. According to Al Gantert, who has been Cornell's director of physical education for nearly thirty years, the most popular tale of the test's origins--that it was created to satisfy a wealthy donor who lost a child to drowing in Cayuga Lake--isn't true. </p>
<p>The first Cornell swim test was administered in 1919 by Dorothy Bateman, director of women's physical education. "She believed that knowing how to swim was a necessary skill for proper and educated young ladies," says Gantert. Male students didn't take a swim test until the late 1930s, when it became part of Cornell's pre-World War II military training program. Even then, it was still tougher for women: proper young Cornell ladies had to complete 100 yards, demonstrating specific strokes, while the gentlemen only had to make it through fifty yards (though they did have to do it naked, since wimsuits weren't standard at the men's pool until the early 1970s).</p>
<h1>--Cornell Alumni Magazine, July/August 2007 </h1>
<p>When I search in Admissions (admissions.cornell.edu)
I don't get any!</p>
<p>=====
Is it mandatory?
When is it required?</p>
<p>yea mandatory. if you dont take it you have to take swim gym and pass. trust me, if your a guy PASS THE TEST DONT TAKE SWIM GYM. swim gym = torture = many laps a day.</p>
<p>omg! this is great
so 150M total?</p>
<p>75m. only need to 3 times. btw i took it FOUR TIMES before passing</p>
<p>you dont have to take your contacts out in the water</p>
<p>I think the only way I'll make it is if I manage to float and use the currents created by the other swimmers to inch me forward. </p>
<p>That said.... I really can't swim.</p>
<p>What a great way to start the year, "Oh hey, that's my roomate!" "which one?" "the drowning one!" </p>
<p>My mother said she's going to videotape me and send it to America's Funniest Home Videos</p>
<p>Whatever it takes, helenrez. They don't grade you on your strokes, just on your ability to get from one side to the other without touching the sides or the bottom.</p>
<p>omg, isn't cornell supposed to be a UNIVERSITY? swimming test at the start of term makes it more like a summer sports camp or so..
well Cornell really does it: "any person, ANY study";)</p>
<p>"I was browsing online and just saw that Cornell freshmen or rather or the ivy freshmen need to take the swimming tesst in the beginning of the year. I know the question sounds kinda silly? "</p>
<p>Hey, a bit off topic, but when you say ivy freshmen, do you mean all freshmen in ivy league schools or does this have something to do with the fact that 4 colleges at Cornell are land-grant? Are those students not considered Ivy leaguers?</p>
<p>aye.... If only cornell's swim test was 1000m in 20 minutes... It would be by far the best school in the world.</p>
<p>It seems pretty fun. I hope I will be taking it this summer/fall! =]</p>
<p>lol dont take the test in one the side lanes!! i did that first time and when i was on my back my hand slapped teh wall... i successfully did 3 laps and she told me i failed cause my hand touched the wall lol hahahaha.</p>
<p>@wmmk - I don't know about all Ivy leaguers having to pass a swimming test but ALL the students at Cornell, regardless of which college they attend, are considered Ivy Leaguers. Read the tagged post at the top of this forum.</p>
<p>hee hee i read this in the app and i think its hilarious how we have to pass a swim test to graduate....lmao</p>
<p>Ivy schools with swim test: Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia</p>
<p>Haha oh gosh... this is unbelievably tragic for me. Funny and tragic at the same time. @_@ Damn. Now if I end up going to either Cornell/Dartmouth/Columbia I'll have to start swimming after April 1st.</p>
<p>Ahhhhhh Yale please say yes. lol.</p>
<p>Bump.
There is a new "swim test" thread on this board but this might answer a lot of questions. It certainly comes up every year, and causes a lot of pre-anxiety for incoming students, but it's really not a big deal. If you think you cannot do it, just sign up for beginner swimming. In fact, this particular thread is bookmarked under "Featured Discussions" because it is such a common question.</p>
<p>I too was really shocked by the swimming test policy</p>
<p>thougth Cornell was a relatively liberal Ivy school with impressive motto(i'm not sarcastic) but the policy seems to literally force every single student to learn a particular skill</p>
<p>Now I've learned the basic swimming and am feeling grateful to the policy</p>
<p>Cost and benefit. also applied to this i guess</p>