I’m possibly going to be touring Cornell later in the summer and since it’s near Rochester I’ll be touring URochester as well. But since it’s out of state and a long drive I want to make the most out of my trip so I was wondering, what are some really good colleges you’d recommend visiting that are good for sciences?
Btw, my parents are completely against schools in NYC so don’t suggest any in the city!
Thanks!
Not sure as I do not have a map, but check to see if Colgate University or Hamilton College are close to where you will be traveling.
Colgate and Hamilton are in the area- also Syracuse University. While not as selective as the others, it’s a very good school with many strong programs.
Colgate and Hamilton are about a half hour apart, and each about an hour east of Syracuse. Cornell is an hour southwest of Syracuse. U of Rochester is farther west.
Not sure how long you have or how you feel about driving, but actually Case Western in Cleveland might triangulate nicely with Ithaca, Rochester, and Cleveland as destination points. People often don’t think of schools in Ohio and NY as being geographically clustered, but we make that drive a lot and it’s not as crazy as it sounds. And Case is a school that is often in the same consideration set as Cornell and Rochester.
@EllieMom Actually I’m from Ohio (central part). I’ve toured Case already and loved it! It’s definitely in my list. I get what you’re saying- I’ve driven to the Niagara Falls area before, it’s not a bad drive but we don’t get up there often.
As long as you’re in the area, I would make the time investment and add Rennselear Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
If you were willing to make it a big circle, I’d add Lehigh.
I say that based on the fact that you liked Case. They are in the same wheelhouse. Also, as long as you’re in Rochester, you might as well look at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
Make sure, especially at RPI, that it’s an official visit, where you sing in and take the tour. Some schools use demonstrated interested in portioning out merit money. That’s very important to RPI.
We’ve been to all of them (including Case), except Cornell (son was turned off by large class sizes and grind reputation). They are all great options. My son ended up applying to RPI, WPI, and Case after the visits and got good money from all of them.
Lastly, when you say “sciences,” if there’s ANY inkling that engineering is a possibility, start in engineering. It’s difficult to switch into engineering, but creates a good foundation if you elect to switch out. The downside, it eliminates schools without engineering.
Have fun!
For core sciences – physics, chemistry, biology, geosciences – as well as math, Hamilton and Colgate would seem to be must-see schools in this iternary, both for their undergraduate-focused programs and top-notch facilities. Each of these colleges has produced an Apker recipients, btw (regarded as the highest recognition for undergraduate research in physics). As to whether these are “really good” colleges, Forbes, through some degree of chance, recognizes them together in this articke, “10 Expensive Colleges Worth Every Penny”: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2017/04/26/10-expensive-colleges-worth-every-penny-2017/.
St. Lawrence offers excellent science facilities as well as a somewhat lower selectivity threshold than that of most of the other suggestions.
You have gotten some good suggestions. I second or third RIT the day before or after Rochester, then Cornell, Hamilton and Colgate.
If, instead, you head north to St. Lawrence (which is a hidden gem) I don’t think it’s that much further to Clarkson, a small tech school in Potsdam, NY.
RPI is about 3 1/2 hours east of Rochester - a very easy drive. It’s also about 3 1/2 hours from Cornell to RPI. It doesn’t look like it on a map, but it is. Union College, in the vicinity of RPI, is a very good LAC, strong in the sciences. WPI (middle of Massachusetts) is another 2 hours east of RPI. That puts you quite a ways from Ohio. But, might be worth the drive if you are interested in STEM focused schools. Depending on how you return to Ohio, a detour south to Pittsburgh would take you to both Carnegie Mellon and Pitt.
If you are interested in eastern PA, you could hit Lehigh, Lafayette, Franklin and Marshall, and probably others. But that circuit is long and might be worthy of a separate trip.
Great suggestions. I definitely echo looking into Colgate and RPI depending on intended major.
With respect to science buildings, it would be challenging to find a more impressive group anywhere than Taylor at Hamilton, Ho at Colgate and Johnson at St. Lawrence. I’d recommend you spend some time in all three if possible.
Hobart & William Smith is also in the area, very pretty school, top 100 in terms of USNWR.
Maybe on the way back to Ohio you could hit Bucknell and/or Carnegie Mellon ?
You would practically be driving past Hobart and William Smith on the way from Ithaca to Rochester. As long as you aren’t looking for engineering, it would be a nice one to look at.
You might suggest to your parents to make some stops along the way on the Finger Lakes Wine Trails and pick up some rieslings.
What is the cuttoff for an international student to enter cornell
For sat I mean, sat score
@Jaycorn - Admissions are holistic, so there are no cut offs. Holistic means admissions are not based purely on grades and scores, but also on extracurricular activities, essays, teacher recommendations, athletic talent, background, geography, and a variety of other intangible factors. So a student with lower grades and scores could be admitted when a student with higher grades and scores is rejected.
Parent here who toured some of the above schools with my kids, and they attended 2 of them. One is almost done at Cornell, other at RPI, and taking similar courses. While both are great schools, I am much happier with the details I hear back from my kids, about RPI compared to Cornell. Much more personal, organized, better academic experience at RPI. That said, Cornell campus is so much more impressive, you will definitely be swayed to go there if you visit, one of the most incredible campuses I have ever seen.
@blevine I toured Cornell and Rochester back in August now. I loved Rochester so much more than Cornell. Cornell didn’t seem as personal, and I felt a little… intimidated, lol. Loved checking out the campus though. Waterfalls on a college campus! It was beautiful. But I’m not planning on applying to Cornell. I will apply to Rochester, but only if I don’t get accepted into my ED 1 college 
Thanks for your input! I haven’t really looked into RPI other than just a basic websearch, I will have to look at it again! Upstate NY is an incredible place to go to college. I loved travelling through there.
