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I feel hesitant to wear Cornell apparel for fear of being made fun of.
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<p>Honestly, that sounds like it's you who have the problem. People wear their school sweatshirts all the time, Stonybrook, UC Davis, whatever. 99% of the sweatshirts will feature a school that's not as prestigious as Cornell. They do it because they're proud of their school. No one's going to make fun of your school, esp. one that's ranked #12. You need to get over this, seriously.</p>
<p>"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>I've had that type of question a few times, and I usually reply with the ever trusty "either that or I'm really good at faking it" and it usually makes people laugh.</p>
<p>My last post was a serious over-reaction. I wrote that right after experiencing some extreme bashing. You're right in saying I should have reacted better. What I expressed in that post is something I'm getting over. I feel more comfortable when I hear anti-cornell opinions. When I was admitted to CU, some of my peers started to see me differently and I had some trouble adjusting to that, but I think I'm getting more used to it. I will most definitely wear my Cornell sweater with pride.</p>
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I usually reply with the ever trusty "either that or I'm really good at faking it"
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<p>I'll have to remember that one :)</p>
<p>laurstar,
If you had read the whole thing, you would know what's going on. Even CayugaRed seem satisfied with my explanation. Threads on Cornell vs. school X are every where. I'm getting tired of this. I said "I got into Cornell's College of Engineering, and I was proud of that." At least, I treated Cornell with respect when I applied; I didn't treat it as a safety. People at my college brag about how Cornell was their safety. Some people even brag that Cornell didn't make their safety, for Yale was their safety after they got in REA. But who cares what they boast? Cornell is a top school. Period. This is getting ridiculous. This is my last post on this thread.
Nesquik, take my advice and wear your apparels with pride. Most people treat Cornell with the respect it deserves as a top school. Don't mind what those northeastern elitists say.</p>
<p>It's funny - if I ever wear anything that says Cornell on it I often face some tension from people because they think I'm rubbing it in their face that somehow I think I'm better than them. Seems to be the complete opposite of your problem, nesquik (mmm... strawberry).</p>
<p>I think you should educate people about Cornell if you face attacks like that again. The good news is that Cornell is probably a far better school than its general reputation suggests. It's a complicated place. A lot of people don't understand it.</p>
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I've had that type of question a few times, and I usually reply with the ever trusty "either that or I'm really good at faking it" and it usually makes people laugh.
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<p>I would tend to prefer the more self-disparaging:</p>
<p>"Either that, or I am awful at faking it."</p>
<p>I feel the same way as you applejack...I feel the opposite of him about the hoodie lol</p>
<p>I've never understood why acceptance rate correlates to prestige. I seriously don't understand that at all. Cornell is a much better academic institution that most of the Ivy league in a lot of disciplines. Its individual acceptance rates are incredibly low and just as competitive as teh other schools. I don't get why playing the percent game is so popular. Additionally, Cornell Engineering is unique in the Ivy League because it devotes itself to a lot of research and has some of the best professors in the world. I don't think you can say that about any of the other Ivy League engineering programs. Its because we're well rounded and truly provide education in any study, that we deal with this, but I don't think its a bad thing. Let the ignorant talk. You know the truth.</p>
<p>I have no dog in this fight, but I would just let this thread die. If people hate Cornell and say that it's inferior, let them do so. It's no skin of Cornell's nose, one of the best universities this nation's got.</p>
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Additionally, Cornell Engineering is unique in the Ivy League because it devotes itself to a lot of research and has some of the best professors in the world. I don't think you can say that about any of the other Ivy League engineering programs.
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<p>Princeton.</p>
<p>And Harvard in ten more years.</p>
<p>CayugaRed - I qualified my statements by saying that Cornell has a much stronger history of Engineering in terms of research. Additionally, I don't think its that easy to create a top notch engineering program.</p>
<p>Decided to jump into this thread, and noticed a few things...</p>
<p>I believe in something completely unacceptable to most high schoolers on CC. I think that the US News and World Report is total bulls***. Yes, let it sink in.</p>
<p>The US News and World report gets data from surveys sent to participating colleges, and using numbers like graduation rate, average GPA, peer reviews, retention rate, selectivity, resources, endowment, and graduation performance. </p>
<p>How do you assign a number to how good a college is?</p>
<p>You can assign number rankings to students...but, wait no, that's based on academics only. Not how "good" those students are as persons.</p>
<p>You can assign number rankings to cars...but that's based on test statistics. Cars are also machines. No thought, no emotion, and definitely no education.</p>
<p>But you can't - and shouldn't - assign a number to your college. </p>
<p>Recently, I was approached by an old friend of mine, who will be attending Georgetown. After telling each other where we got into, he said, "Oh wow, Cornell is so much better than Georgetown."</p>
<p>I was like...whoa, wait, lolwut?</p>
<p>Yes, Georgetown is ranked lower than Cornell. But if you base it's ranking off the numbers, realize that it is an extremely onesided way of looking at something. Sure, academics at Georgetown can be weaker than those at Cornell. But the experiences that you will have in the nation's capital can be far more important than whether or not you will learn how to properly make a buffer solution or how to integrate properly.</p>
<p>Saying Cornell is better than Georgetown is like saying that your school's valedictorian is a better person overall than the student that is ranked 10th in the class. Sure, if you look at their academics and where they are going to college, the valedictorian is going to win out. But there are a lot of things that people do that can't be ranked. The same thing goes for colleges.</p>
<p>In my opinion, there are three rankings for colleges: Good Schools, Decent schools, and Bad schools. </p>
<p>Cornell, Georgetown, as well as all the other Ivies, all fall under the Good schools category.</p>
<p>Don't let some random student who's been stuck in his room studying too long exploit you for a personal ego boost. Every school is different, and it's extremely difficult to assign a number to each one, especially when it comes to trying to figure out which top tier school is more top tier than another one.</p>
<p>Even my three rank system doesn't always work. The boundaries become blurred. What defines a good school from a decent school? A decent from a bad school?</p>
<p>My point is, college rankings give you a sense of where your college(or the college you want to go to) is on the national scale. But if you're letting the number rankings get to you, there's a problem. Arguing over number rankings(Example AIM Convo: OMG Cornell is 10, and Duke is 7!!! OMG, I r bettr den u, lolololol), then feeling bad over it because Duke is ranked higher by a newspaper than Cornell is bad. Remember that these rankings have NOTHING to do with your performance at a particular school.</p>
<p>"Sure, academics at Georgetown can be weaker than those at Cornell."</p>
<p>I disagree.</p>
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Sure, academics at Georgetown can be weaker than those at Cornell. But the experiences that you will have in the nation's capital can be far more important than whether or not you will learn how to properly make a buffer solution or how to integrate properly.
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<p>I think for business and international relations, Georgetown is just as strong as Cornell. </p>
<p>Some may think that Georgetown is better than Cornell for international relations, but I think they fail to realize how many impressive international connections Cornell has. It's not a coincidence that two out of the last three National Security Advisers have come out of Cornell.</p>
<p>However, don't kid yourself. for a lot of disciplines -- engineering, architecture, natural sciences, the humanities, etc. -- Cornell is better. Not because Georgetown is a bad university. It's a fantastic university. But because Cornell is a much much much more comprehensive University.</p>
<p>That said, I completely agree with the intent of your post.</p>
<p>There is no way Georgetown can compare to Cornell's sciences and engineering, but there is also no way Cornell's international relations program can match SFS. SFS is known as the "Westpoint of the Foreign Service" for a reason.</p>
<p>Where again is Georgetown on this list?</p>
<p>Fulbright</a> Rankings</p>
<p>Sure, Georgetown produces a LOT of students going into the Foreign Service and related fields. But you need to control for the number of students interested in such careers.</p>
<p>I do not believe that like-minded and like-aptitude students interested in a career in foreign service are disadvantaged in any way by attending Cornell vis-a-vis Georgetown. In many areas, such as East Asian studies, Southeast Asian studies, Northern European Studies, etc., Cornell is extremely strong.</p>