<p>I'm a prospective transfer to Cornell CAS from Colgate as a Classics major. I have excellent essays and recommendations, including from my dean. My ECs are VERY strong, with leadership and involvement on the collegiate and national levels, and have a great resume.</p>
<p>The problem is I have a 3.06 GPA, and it really is not indicative of my academic abilities, as I didn't really know what I was cut out for until last semester, and was seriously depressed for basically all of that time. By the time I send my midterm report, however, I will have all A's.</p>
<p>I've read that it takes about a 3.5 to be competitive for CAS, but also that Cornell does really well to look at the candidate as a whole. My real concern is that I have no idea how everything will stack up in comparison to other applicants. Either way it's a roll of the dice.</p>
<p>I won't bog you down with details, since they're totally subjective. What I want to know is: assuming I'm correct on the quality I present on subjective matters, does Colgate's reputation, the fact that I'm a Classics major, and getting straight A's this semester put me into the realm of competition, or is applying a waste of my time and money?</p>
<p>comming from Colgate, i'm sure you have excellent high school stats and SATs. this will give you an advantage. </p>
<p>How many semesters have you been at Colgate? This could play an important role. </p>
<p>Give the application a shot. If you're unsure about your grades and can be patient for a while, stay another two or so semesters at colgate to bring your GPA up. Cornell does take into account which school you're comming from and the academic reputation of the school.</p>
<p>Bongoboy, Colgate is great if you're into sports or join a fraternity, but otherwise it's a very lonely place for a lot of students. Outside the classroom the social climate is almost anti-intellectual, which I believe is probably a result of our lack of diversity in the student body; most people are here to get two things: A) Drunk, and B) Job credentials, in that order. There is no culture here, and I think part of the reason I haven't done nearly as well as I should have is because there's almost no intellectual stimulation outside of class, maybe a few guest speakers or film series, but nothing consistent or engaging, leaving students with few productive things to do. Also, while I love the Classics Department here, it's small and a lot of the professors are not tenured. I'm looking for a much bigger place, that is more intellectual, more diverse, and has a bigger Classics department.</p>
<p>Cornell has basically all the features I still love about Colgate, and everything I wish would be different.</p>
<p>Gomestar, I've been at Colgate three semesters now and I'd definitely wait if I could, but my parents wouldn't be willing to cough up another $40k+/year for my not graduating on time. I don't actually remember my high school stats because I did my senior year full-time at SUNY Albany. I had a 3.68 at SUNY Albany and 32 ACT.</p>
<p>are't there any clubs u could join at Colgate??? or u could talk to the professors to tae u on in some of their research work...</p>
<p>Remember, in life nothin's sertved on a golden platter...by creating an intelectual atmosphere at Colgate, u could revolutionise their campus...be a hero...say that in ur pg app to Harvard...and join the rat race....</p>
<p>Like I said, I have really good ECs but the problem is really in its size and homogeneity. I could conceivably take almost any group and make it the largest and best-funded on campus with enough students to actually use the social dynamics to my advantage. What's small here stays small, because small groups can't effectively market themselves without a core group of people and an impressionable audience. Most people here quickly find their niche and are happy in their own little sphere and don't move far from it. "Leadership" isn't very fulfilling when there are too few interested people to even try and fight apathy.</p>
<p>I'm not qualified for research in Classics, as I haven't finished yet with either Latin or Greek.</p>
<p>If I didn't assess the situation here and see what I could do to change it, I wouldn't be trying to transfer. If I could make Colgate Cornell I'd be all for staying, but the smallness of this place really limits my opportunities across the board. I need something to work with if I'm going to get involved, and there's basically nothing here.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call Colgate one of the top schools in the U.S. but that's just me. Btw kingsley, the fact that you're a classics major might help you out. Classics dept.'s are always small and on the look-out for fresh meat.</p>
<p>I think you have a shot because of your high school stats/ ACT. Get mid-semester reports from your professors showing all A's. If you don't get in, keep getting a good GPA and next year you'll be pretty set for Cornell (also apply to Brown - might be another atmosphere you might like -very intellectual).</p>
<p>the colgate representative i met with last *week, said that among colgate applicants, more apply to cornell as well as Colgate than to any other school... so im assuming admission is fairly similar in general. acceptance rates/stats dont seem to deviate significantly between the two, so odds are you have a good shot. are the academics difficult at colgate. did that contribute to ur 3.06 gpa or were u just depressed?</p>
<p>It was depression more than anything else, and I get the impression I have a much easier time here academically than most people I know, although the academics here are difficult.</p>
<p>I also prefer Crest(r) and I didn't see the hockey game, couldn't find tickets for the Cornell side.</p>
<p>bongoboy, colgate and cornell share many similarities -- matter of fact, colgate is known to reject applicants that cornell takes -- also, while cornell is known as the 8th Ivy (of the 8 Ivy colleges), colgate is known at the 9th Ivy -- FWIW</p>
<p>colgate is the 9th ivy according to whom? Maybe Colgate alum, parents, and students. </p>
<p>I think that Colgate and Cornell are more different than similar. </p>
<p>Although Colgate is a fantastic school, it's a liberal arts college. All of the ivy league schools are large universities with big grad and professional schools on top of the undergrad programs. Colgate has a very small student body, Cornell has a very big one. If a liberal arts college were to become an ivy league school, why just Colgate and not Amherst, Williams, or Swarthmore?</p>
<p>Cornell is in the ivy league.
Colgate is in the patriot league. </p>
<p>Since the schools are close by, students who dont want to travel far from home may pick the two schools as their top choices ... not because they're very similar but because they're very close together. This is what it was like at my high school which isn't far from either school. Also, FWIW 8 people got in to Colgate and 5 enrolled; only 1 person got into Cornell. If people wanted to stay close to home, they would hope for Cornell and lay back on getting into either Colgate or Hamilton. This may not be true in all cases, but it certainly was in my high school. </p>
<p>IMO, Colgate is a fantastic school, but the "9th ivy" spot should be taken by a school like MIT, Caltech, or Stanford. More importantly, I guess it would come down to which ever school had the available sports programs to play in the ivy league.</p>