<p>Guys, I heard that Cornell is easy to get into, but it's an extreme to graduate from it.</p>
<p>I know I've heard people dicussing about the College of Engineering and Hotel Administration. Not easy to get A's.</p>
<p>I was wondering what would it take to graduate from the College of Arts and Science with an A, A- , or B+ .</p>
<p>If you’re willing to accept the advice of an old CAS alum (who graduated with an A- average), who is also the parent of a current CAS student (with an A average), consider the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Actually do the work for all your courses. This takes more time than you think.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t overload yourself. It is better to take four or five courses and do well, rather than trying to struggle through six or seven. Also, be careful not to commit yourself to too many extracurricular activities (or a too-extensive social life) until you know how much time you will need to commit to your studies.</p></li>
<li><p>Choose a major that’s well suited for you. If you struggle with chemistry, you will have difficulty with the biology major. If math is hard for you, you are not likely to be happy in computer science or economics. If you struggle with writing, the English major will be hell on earth for you. You get the idea. </p></li>
<li><p>When you’re having trouble, seek help. That’s what office hours are for. Some departments also have tutoring available, especially for introductory courses or core courses in the major. There’s also writing help available for those who need it.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t try to skip prerequisites. They exist for a reason. And if a department recommends that you should take their introductory course even if you got a 5 on the AP course in the same subject, do so. Also, don’t try to argue your way into a higher-level foreign language course than the one you tested into. You will regret it.</p></li>
<li><p>Understand that the difficulty of the transition from high school work to Cornell work depends to a great extent on the quality of your high school preparation. If you came from an academic magnet school or a highly rated suburban public high school or private school, you will probably have no difficulty adjusting to the rigor of Cornell work. (Some such people even say that Cornell is easier than high school.) If you came from a less rigorous high school, adjusting to Cornell will require more effort. In that case, try to take only four courses per semester your freshman year, seek all the help you can get from every available source, and try to postpone courses that you know will be hard for you until sophomore year, at least.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t automatically take the hardest course available when several options are offered. Consider your personal academic goals, and choose the course that’s best for you. This is not high school, where you were expected to take honors or AP everything. For example, if you’re considering majoring in biology, you should take the very rigorous introductory biology sequence that is a prerequisite for the biology major. But if you’re planning to major in government, and you’re only taking biology to fulfill the PBS distribution requirement, take the course sequence that’s intended for non-majors. It’s less difficult and less time-consuming, thereby allowing you to devote more of your attention to your courses in government and related fields – the ones that matter to you the most.</p></li>
<li><p>Go easy on the drinking. The time spent partying and recovering from partying can really eat into your study time.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>wow!! nice to know that. thanks marian</p>
<p>OP, Cornell is not easy to get into. 4 out of 5 applicants are rejected. Yes, there are harder schools to get into, but 80% rejection certainly does not make it easy to gain acceptance. And thanks for the great advice Marian.</p>
<p>Well, I wouldn’t say it’s an extreme to graduate from Cornell. In fact, about 92% of entering freshmen graduate within six years. (<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000403.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000403.pdf</a>)</p>
<p>If that figure is lower than it is at some of Cornell’s peer institutions, it’s more likely because of economic differences in the student bodies than because of the objective difficulty of the classes.</p>
<p>Actually, I think Marian’s point #6 explains a lot about the perceived difficulty of Cornell. I went to a terrible high school that offered no honors or AP classes and found my first few years at Cornell to be extremely difficult. Eventually, I figured out how to study and even managed to graduate in four years. This was years ago, but I think Cornell still takes a lot of students in that situation. I’m glad they do – not everyone has the resources to excel right out of the gate, and it’s good to give people a fighting chance.</p>
<p>To the OP: it’s not even remotely difficult to get an A in the hotel school.</p>
<p>What do you wish to study in CAS? The difficulty of majors varies vastly across the college. More difficult majors include Physics, Math, Computer Science, Chemistry, etc. Easier majors include Economics, Anthropology, English, History, etc.</p>
<p>If you’re intelligent and you work hard, you should be fine here. People blow the difficulty of Cornell out of proportion. Yes, you might not get a 4.3 like you did in high school, but it’s not THAT difficult to get at least a 3.4 or a 3.5</p>
<p>i’ve discovered that it’s actually not that hard to get good grades in science/math classes. yes, you might get 50s on prelims/finals, but keep in mind that those tests and classes are all curved.</p>