<p>Hey guys, I went to Notre Dame this past year and decided it wasn't for me. I've been accepted to Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences and Brown for transfer next year, planning to major in either Chemistry (with a Pre-med focus) or Math/Economics (with a finance and econometrics focus).</p>
<p>I visited Cornell over the past week and thought it was incredible, but I didn't get to meet many current students, so I don't know all that much about student life there. Brown seems terrific as well, but I don't really know much about it except that it seems academically less rigorous than Cornell (this makes it less appealing to me). Socially though, I don't know much about either of these schools, so I'd be interested to hear thoughts from current students.</p>
<p>I plan on playing club tennis and maybe joining a cycling club. I am looking for a dynamic, well-rounded student body with lots of interests outside of class and an ability to let loose and party (in moderation). I am an athletic and sociable guy, though I see intellectual pursuits as my foremost passion.</p>
<p>Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t expect Brown to be that much less academically rigorous than Cornell, if at all. Brown will probably have a stronger student body, based on my experiences with people I know and on Brown’s selectivity. My impression is that Cornell is the more reputable in the physical sciences, but I can’t say anything about math or Economics. </p>
<p>One of Cornell’s greatest advantages, I think, is its size and diversity of its student body. Most people don’t have much trouble finding people with similar interests. A lot of Cornellians play tennis, and a lot of them party to some extent. If you haven’t looked already, Cornell does have a cycling club: [cu</a> cycling - Home](<a href=“http://www.cornellcycling.org/cucycle/]cu”>http://www.cornellcycling.org/cucycle/)</p>
<p>Here’s the most intuitive line-up, assuming you’ve been accepted to all of these:</p>
<p>Cornell v. Harvard: Harvard.
Cornell v. Yale: Yale.
Cornell v. Princeton: Princeton
Cornell v. Columbia: Leaning towards Columbia, but it still depends on which one you like more (city campus or rural campus?)
Cornell v. Dartmouth: Cornell
Cornell v. Penn CAS: Cornell
Cornell v. Penn Wharton: Wharton (BUT, given the fact that whartonites have no job prospects, go with Cornell on this one)
Cornell v. Brown: Cornell </p>
<p>if anyone ever needs anything, please consult this list. I’m actually going to make a new thread about it.</p>
<p>I have read on this board that it is really not that hard or intense at Cornell. I think my daughter would disagree. Today is her first day back from her second year at Cornell. We just had a 3 hour dinner at home. She is double major in math and econ. According to her what makes it hard is the curve. It doesn’t matter if you get a 68 on a math test, as long as there are a lot of people get below 68. It’s harder in majors like math because they tend to attract students that study more than others. It’s been hard for her to try to have a social life and ECs to get top grades in math. It’s not as hard for her in econ or other humanities courses. </p>
<p>On the other hand, math is a tough major at any school. It’s the reason why employers are often impressed with math majors.</p>
<p>I don’t think she enjoyed Intro to Analysis. She is better with applied math.</p>
<p>For her to double major in math and econ, she has to take econ courses with more focus in math in order to get credit in both math and econ(double dipping).</p>
<p>Depends on how you would define applied math. Cornell has a crap load of math-oriented classes in a host of disciplines, which are usually math classes tailored to their particular discipline. If you’re interested in such math classes outside of the math department, Cornell has more than enough for you. </p>
<p>And applied math classes are mostly concentrated in the upper level offerings, so don’t expect to take many early in your academic career.</p>
<p>cayuga, is there any way to get priority in terms of getting housing on west campus, or is it really as random as they say it is? also, what’s the deal with having to pay to use the gym?</p>
<p>also, how hard is it to get into classes like intro bio or macroecon? do they fill up quickly?</p>
<p>^ the gym fee - they could either charge just the people who want to use the gym 145/yr, or charge everyone (I’m guessing here) $50/year in higher student fees, and then the gyms would be “free”. Its still far cheaper than the other fitness centers in ithaca (such as island health and fitness) though, to be fair, far less plush</p>
<p>West campus is totally random. It’s not really that great anyways, IMO. West campus food is pretty bad.</p>
<p>It should be easy to sign up for most large intro courses. They’re usually capped around like 600 students, and they don’t get that many people. The problem is signing up for labs. The “good” spots are taken fairly fast.</p>
<p>living on west campus will allow you to be less tempted when it comes to food…especially since they are now trayless…</p>
<p>west campus is good depending on the menu…so it’s hit or miss…north campus dining usually has enough variety to satisfy you…but with this recession even it has sucked sometimes…</p>
<p>i’m also interested in the math program at cornell. I can’t seem to get any definite ideas about it besides the rankings, which put it around 12. I was accepted to CAS as a math major and was thinking of doubling with physics, but i am now thinking that perhaps physics engineering would be more difficult/fun.</p>
<p>you can check it out for yourself. I watched about half of it before losing interest…thought it wasn’t too substantive, though there were some good nuggets in there, especially the part about reasonable doubt tempering faith-based self-righteousness.</p>
<p>But my most vivid memory of leaving school this year was seeing protesters holding a 10 foot sign with an aborted fetus on it right outside Notre Dame Avenue as I drove away. A beautiful way to end the school year!</p>