I was just wondering, in what areas is Cornell sub par to other schools? They are great in engineering, in research, etc. but what do other universities beat them at (aka what are they NOT known for?).
Thanks!
Location. Location. Location. Prestige vs Usnews top 10. Some majors can be a grind in terms of effort and competition to get good grades
My acquaintances who are Cornell grads inject that fact into conversation on average about once every 20-40 minutes utterly without provocation.
Do not do that, even if so instructed by the university.
Otherwise there isn’t anything really wrong with it.
@VeryLuckyParent @50N40W thanks for the info!
Location, weather (for those who cannot handle cold) , perception
Weather and location are in the eye of the beholder.
In terms of quality, Cornell is top-notch.
If you compare them to other elites, the acceptance rate may seem a bit high and the test scores might seems a bit low. I think Cornell’s admit-by-college might have something to do with that, as not every college/program will attract enough interest/apps to keep selectivity and scores high. Having general admissions allows schools to just pick the cream of the crop and be done with it; Cornell has to fill slots in each college, even if there aren’t a lot of apps with high test scores vying for each particular program.
But looking at output, it’s pretty clear the academics are first-rate and it seems the students are made to have to try/work hard, which I view as a positive: working hard in school helps to prepare kids for the real world, because life is work. They don’t just hand out A’s, which is another thing I view as a positive: the real world (in a capitalism/liberty-based system
anyway) does not hand out participation trophies.
Finally, I think it’s pretty sweet, pretty cool, that the school was founded on the hope that anyone who attended Cornell could study anything:
“I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.”
If you cut through the swag and find the heart of what quality in a school really is, Cornell is really among the best, IMO.
What I like about Cornell:
-Interesting classes
-Diverse and sociable/fun classmates
-Beautiful campus
-TAs are mighty helpful
-Depending on your tastes, you can have a quaint or lively college experience. Campus life is somewhat tame, while the party scene in collegetown can get pretty intense.
What I don’t like:
-Some classes have weird curve schemes.
-Some dorms suck and can be 20 minutes away from the buildings your classes are in (i.e. North Campus + Engineering student life = 40 minutes walking to and from classes)
-Engineers tend to have really low GPAs (like I wouldn’t be surprised if the mean for an engineer is a high 2/low 3. It comes back to bite them when applying for gradschool etc; however, Cornell is a great research school, so you’ll have ample opportunity to get involved in some great projects that other schools might not offer.
Cornell’s weakness is not being ranked #1 or maybe #2 as it should be. Weather and location should have nothing to do with it if you are the best.
IDK about idea of engineering majors having low GPAs which would hurt in grad school, etc .Every recent engineering grad I know had their choice of top grad programs or had their choice of very good jobs. Now my antidotal pool is only around 10, so perhaps they all happen to be top students in that major, but they got into grad programs such as Stanford, U Chicago, Penn., etc.
@VeryLuckyParent Regarding location. One very mature junior boy who had applied ED to Cornell said this when I asked him about going to college in Ithaca. His answer, as I generally recall it: “Most of us will likely end up in jobs or grad schools in or near big cities after college. I like the idea of spending these four years surrounded by beautiful scenery and architecture. I wanted this experience, because it’s different from where I grew up and where I will likely be in the future. We are so busy with activities on campus at Cornell that we don’t need a big city to keep us stimulated. Cornell is its own town full of fun people within a small city.”"
One son went to Los Angeles for college. The other is headed to Ithaca. Both locations are desirable (or undesirable, depending on the person) for completely different reasons.
Both son’s colleges, on two different coasts, have low mean engineering GPAs - like 2.7 or 2.8. Maybe that’s a thing with engineers? Most of their engineering courses seem to be graded on a curve, and my older son always got his best grades in his liberal arts electives. Maybe that’s because the means in liberal arts tend to be at least a 3.0, from what I have seen.
When I was at Cornell, it was pretty easy to get a B or B plus in liberal arts by exerting a minimal level of effort, but my close friends in engineering all worked really hard and had GPAs below a 3.0. Most of those friends, though, still got into Ivy League MBA programs a few years later with those lowish GPAs (although that was in the late 80s, so dated information…).
@neophite I can’t think of anything in particular that Cornell is NOT known for. It is a university that offers almost every major a student could want, so some majors may be less well-known around the world than others. Outside of NY state residents or alums, I have not met too many people who talk about the Hum Ec or ILR schools at Cornell. But that is probably because people generally just don’t know about those schools and they are small nd fairly narrow in focus. Engineering, Hotel, and Architecture are all highly regarded in their fields. CALS is a state-supported schools that incorporates sciences and business, so that is often popular, especially with NY residents because of the lower price. Kids at Cornell usually take courses in a variety of the schools, so the plethora of offerings at Cornell is a huge plus.
@DaedricSaiyan Your summary was great.
At least all freshman live together in the North Campus dorms, so you usually had engineering friends walking the same direction and taking the buses, right? After freshman year, you can live on West Campus (quite close to the eng quad, and supposedly the best food on campus) or or in Collegetown (very close) or anywhere else that you want. I told my son that those walks from North Campus to engineering will be good exercise, especially when cold weather doesn’t usually entice people to go outside much unless they have to.
@MOMANDBOYSTWO , that’s exactly what DS said too about location. I was so proud of him!
@cd2015 I didn’t really didn’t want to use this phrase, but I told son that misery loves company. When they are all grandparents, they can tell their stories about how they walked miles to and from school in the freezing snow and ice every day - and they won’t even be exaggerating! My Cornell friends and I still do laugh about those freezing hikes up and down the hill to class. It is a shared joke that all Cornellians can appreciate - especially after they graduate!!!
Lol…doesn’t the saying go that at Cornell you walk up a 45 degree hill in 45 degree weather on your way to getting a 45 on your exams?
@Renomamma Very funny. I actually had not heard that one but am going to share it with my son. It is sooooo true. I got around 39s on my physics exams both semesters. And gratefully got Cs both semesters! Needless to say, I was not an engineer or a physics major!
On second thought, the 45 degree weather sounds a little high to me…More like 15 degrees??? Or am I exaggerating like a grandparent now?
@MOMANDBOYSTWO Very true, I made alot of good freshmen friends in and around my dorm. It was also great meeting up for group projects/study groups or go to the gym together because we all lived within 2 minutes of each other. You’re definitely correct when you say West has the best food on campus (although, how good can dining hall food really be? ^_^). And your son won’t have to worry about getting exercise lol, he’ll probably be walking 5 miles every day.
@Renomamma Only if you live on west! The slope to get to class is horrendous and long. The saying at Cornell is “Netflix and hills”.
@DaedricSaiyan I never heard of Netflix and Hills before. I’m definitely stealing that one from you 
The weather from 2015-2016 was pretty tame, although the temp. did drop below 0F a few times in the early mornings. However, I visited in May of 2014 and it was snowing when I got there. I actually really like the cold/snow, so it works for me.
True that about all the walking up hill and that really keeps them in shape IMO. Also, I think food in Cornell is great! DS raves about it and he is a foodie. I do like their food too! Good thing they walk so much - or they will surely pack 20 lbs by year end
Oh I forgot this thread was about what is weak in Cornell! 
@cd2015 yes, my daughter has never been in better shape after walking and running the hills of Cornell. When I saw her for the first time last year at Thanksgiving, I was amazed to see how in shape she was. She said it was from all the walking and the awesome jogging trails on campus.