My 11th grade daughter is thinking about applying to Human Ecology to study social sciences. We are from NY. She hasn’t visited. But i visited due to staying in the hotel on campus while visiting Ithaca friends. We have heard how Cornell is high pressure and not necessarily the happiest place to put it honestly. She likes the courses offered in the Ecology program, and there is the name recognition of Cornell, but the bad rep of being high pressure and kids feeling lonely is offputting. Do kids in the Ecology program feel the same pressure? If you have kids there, can you tell me what they love about it? Are professors top notch in their field? Does it feel like a small school within a big university? The other colleges she is considering are the women’s colleges and a couple of LACs and SUNY Binghamton. Her SAT is 1540 and 99 unweighted.
FWiW "I don;t really think of Hum Ec as necessarily identically “social sciences”. I guess some of the concentrations are, but to various degrees? Is Fiber Science a social science? Nutrition? It’s a hodge-podge, really.
Most people at Cornell work hard, but the extent varies.
I would imagine the extent would vary greatly within Hum Ec itself. A Policy Studies major might have a different workload than a Fiber Science major or a premed majoring in Biology and Society. Particularly after factoring in the various particular out-of-college elective choices individual students might select. Choosing Organic Chemistry might be different than choosing Wine Tasting.
“Feeling lonely” depends on what kind of friend group you make there, and activities you engage in. That’s on you. Like in real life.
Socially it is more about the university as a whole not just Hum Ec. Most initial cohort groups are formed in the freshman dorms. But there can be a sorting out period, of various lengths, till one finds and forms their group.
In general, yes, the professors are top-notch in their field. Regarding Hum Ec the only one I recall from my day was Uri Bronfenbrenner who was a giant in Human Development (google him). But of course that was long ago.
The key feature of Cornell is its diversity. the variety in fields of study, resulting in the various types of students. My D2 wound up taking courses in four of its colleges, if memory serves.
Another key feature is the natural beauty of the campus and its surroundings, and the “mellow, hip” feel of Ithaca. Binghamton couldn’t be more different, in this regard.