<p>This is one of those middle school lessons - who cares if someone makes fun of you for something? It's usually their insecurities that cause them to make fun. If someone is SO insecure that they feel the need to make fun of someone else - they you should walk away. It is idiotic to think that someone is rightfully making fun of Cornell as a less than stellar school. Its rankings, alumni, programs, application rates etc. speak for themselves. The way to handle it is ....ignore them and they will go away. If you are proud of Cornell then wear the gear with pride. There will always be people who have different opinions with regard to the "status" of a school. Just accept it as that - they have a different opinion and it really doesn't matter.</p>
<p>I had to stop reading at roughly page 4 and just drop my two cents. I've lived on Berkeley's doorstep my entire life. I've known more grads from Berkeley than any other school. I've got to say, as highly ranked as Berkeley is, I would not want to step foot into their Engineering departments. A good friend who is doing EECS at Berkeley had a graduate student instructor say to his class "I don't care if any of you understand this, I am just here to get paid."</p>
<p>When dealing with Berkeley as a student it feels like they think of you more as a number and something to deal with rather than a student whose life needs enrichment. UCB seems to put forth this attitude that "Our engineering departments are so good we don't even have to teach our students." Now this doesn't apply universally but every Berkeley (Engineering) student I've spoken with has had to deal with that attitude at more than one point in their time with Berkeley.</p>
<p>My point with all this is, up until 9 months ago I would have said UCB was a better school than Cornell simply because I was largely ignorant of Cornell and it doesn't get much press on the west coast. People often think that the prestigious schools they are familiar with are better than schools that they are not, I am guilty of this also. Now I understand that Cornell is a better fit for me, it's a better environment for me, and really, ultimately, no school is "better" than another.</p>
<p>Were I to encounter a situation where Cornell is getting bashed by someone else from a "better" school I would say: "That's funny, I thought higher education was about expanding your horizons. I didn't realize it was solely about inflating pitiful self-esteem levels by bashing other peoples colleges. Now that I know, man I wish I had went to [insert uni here]."</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help. I suppose I have overreacted to the Cornell disrespect quite a bit. I'm amazed by all that our school has to offer and I'm extremely proud to be an incoming freshman at Cornell, which is why I reacted so strongly to the anti-Cornell attitudes. You seem to deal with this with incredible maturity. I thank you for helping me to do the same.</p>
<p>I have thought about this issue a fair amount over the last eight years of my life, so if you will, let me offer a few comments.</p>
<p>I'll start by claiming that there seems to be three reasons why these types of opinions persist about Cornell.</p>
<p>1) First, is the issue of students from elite, high-pressure Eastern Seaboard schools, primarily in the NYC area, that send scores of students off to the Ivy League every year. These students assume that because more students are accepted to Cornell than at other schools, this must mean that Cornell is a notch below on the Ivy pecking order. Even though the academics and the opportunities are the same (if not better in many instances), the sheer number of students accepted to Cornell because it is so large dilutes the brand in their eyes.</p>
<p>At Cornell, the students with the biggest chip on their shoulder will have come from these schools, and it sometimes shows, in their lamenting about how much Cornell/Ithaca sucks. As somebody who didn't attend one of these schools (and in fact, only half of my high school went on to college), I could never understand this attitude. Ezra founded an institution to educate a LOT of kids. So live it up.</p>
<p>2) Second is a particularly Upstate New York problem, where people know Cornell for its Cooperative Extension programs, but nothing else. When I turned down Notre Dame for Cornell, all of my family and neighbors were incredulous, wondering how I could turn down the "best school in the country" for a "farm school". This is pretty much simple, benign ignorance, and it doesn't matter much at the end of the day. But to this end, I think Cornell needs to do more to position itself as the Berkeley or UVa of New York State.</p>
<p>3) Most generally, some prestige mongers look at Cornell's slightly higher acceptance rate and slightly lower SAT scores and think that this somehow equates into a lower quality academic experience. This is despite any reasonable person would agree that there is much more variation in academic within any top school than there is across top schools. Cornell is among a handful of top 10-15 private universities in the country, and any further distinction really becomes an exercise in splitting hairs, as any properly educated person would opine.</p>
<hr>
<p>Moving forward, in my view, the biggest problem with Cornell is not in these opinions, but in certain Cornellian's response to these opinions. A lot of students tense up and get defensive, as opposed to merely saying that Cornell is a great school, as are many others. The most defensive students tend to be the ones who have an over-inflated sense of self worth and think that by trying to prove by why Cornell is just as good as any other school, they are proving their own self worth.</p>
<p>In my mind, the most important thing that you can do to dispel these types of myths and half-truths is to continue to strive to be the best person you can be. Cornell can be a complicated, confusing place, certainly moreso than a lot of other schools, but if you can assert your own self-confidence and belief in your Alma Mater, you won't find a need to be constantly defending it to the naysayers. Cornell can more than rest on its own laurels, while striving to be better, and you can too. Cornellians have won Olympic medals, founded some of the largest companies in the world, won Nobel prizes, and started such unique programs as Engineers for a Sustainable World and SETI.</p>
<p>Make Ezra proud and only concern yourself about your studies and your life.</p>
<p>^very well said</p>
<p>Daps......</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>I totally just had to Wikipedia that, DaFunk.</p>
<p>hahaha, i had to urbandictionary it.</p>
<p>Urban</a> Dictionary: daps</p>
<p>Thank you for such a great post. You make a great alumnus for taking the time to help high schoolers with our questions/problems.</p>
<p>Really, most of the people who disrespect Cornell just didn't get in. It may be the easiest Ivy to get into, but it's still an Ivy. It's like saying the cheapest Ferrari is comparable to a Honda. It's just not.</p>
<p>Cornell is a great school. There's no need to defend yourself. You were able and fortunate enough to get in while thousands of other high school students were turned down.</p>
<p>And just for the record, I love the F430. :)</p>
<p>You guys hate me for minorly :) dissing Dartmouth? Well, why don't you go over to their thread and see what they're saying about Cornell.</p>
<p>It doesn't mean we have to stoop to their level :-)</p>
<p>they are probably just bitter about the fact that they are located more in the middle of nowhere than we are, and that people usually forget about dartmouth.</p>
<p>Very well said CayugaRed2005.</p>
<p>hey IPBear...ive been reading your posts. let me just remind you that cornell is the ONLY ivy with an accredited professional arch UG program. and its number 1 in the country at that. and what do you know...it even has BOTH types of highly ranked masters of arch programs. wow...good UG and G in one school? <em>WOW</em></p>
<p>and i was going to apply to penn just because i have a legacy there, but i realized i didnt even want to waste my time with it at all when it just had a mediocre 4 year program.</p>
<p>I agree with you on Penn. It's a "state school" in words of 23% of high school guidance councilors. I laugh at the fact that Penn think of itself as our main competitor. The only merit to that is that Wharton might be our equal.</p>
<p>i was just using that example to show you how your statement that 'cornell's ug programs are inferior to other ug programs or even grad programs' is flawed.</p>
<p>Ack no more fighting. It's a sad thing to see someone feel poorly when attacked about Cornell and then turn around and make a sweeping attack at a bunch of other schools on the same level. </p>
<p>ps I keep getting reminded of this thread at my job. I work for very wealthy and successful people and whenever they ask me where I go to college and I say Cornell they are always extremely impressed. I especially was reminded last night when a guy asked and I answered and he went "oooo you must be really really smart. Are you really smart?" lol. The most awkward question of my life.</p>
<p>And just back to the original question of wearing the sweatshirts. I find it ridiculous when people are embarrassed to wear an Ivy League shirt. When I go out I constantly see people wearing their 3rd tier 2nd tier local school college shirts with pride. I feel like we got into such good schools because of our competitive nature and that this nature never lets us be content and happy with ourselves and our status. Cmon...you go to Cornell, which is in the VERY TOP percentage of schools in the world. The name is recognizable in countless countries and by wearing the sweatshirt you carry it's great legacy and potential with you. You should be happy, proud, and excited to be going to Cornell and to finally be a Cornellian. We are a happy family and you should be glad to go to college at such an absolutely fantastic university nestled in a breathtaking and gorgeous setting. You can get ANY job you want or go to ANY grad school from Cornell. You can do whatever you want. Be happy to have this opportunity.</p>