<p>Hey Dragon! It’s nice for you to drop by here. I remember how unbelievably excited you were about Cornell. How did your FA package turn out?</p>
<p>It turned out excellent!!! The best offer I could have ever possibly imagine… It was actually way more than what I have expected. So I am happy about it. Cornell Does commit to their 100% need-base!</p>
<p>Hey dragon, thanks for the support. So did you get 100% of you FA covered? And is the FA in the form of a grant or loan? Also what program are you transferring into?</p>
<p>I did get 100% of my FA covered. The FA that i have received is in the form of Cornell Grants and government Supplement. No loans. Even though I have no loans, I do have a very tiny student contribution. Everyone has a student contribution. I transferred to CALS as a Biological Science Major. </p>
<p>If you have any other questions about the application process, let me know.</p>
<p>my bf also got a VERY good FA package, as his parental contribution is $0 and he doesn’t have any money to pay for school since his earnings will be used for books and such. cornell is really great about FA.</p>
<p>question, do you guys think i should apply for FA? at my current school, i am not eligible even though i live in a single-parent home because my mom makes a good amount of money. that said, cornell’s cost is like 6 times that of my state school’s, so i don’t know. can someone tell me what the process is? i know i have to fill out FAFSA and stuff but what does that mean? also, i don’t want loans, so do i have to accept every offer i get (like is it all or nothing)? thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Yes of course apply for FA. You got nothing to lose. Its free and you it is really not that hectic , even though it is a lot of forms.</p>
<p>Well Cornell is very specific and you are require to complete and sent a lot of forms. Such as, the Cornell Financial aid, Bank Statement information, your parent’s W-2 forms, your parent’s tax returns, and I think that is about it.</p>
<p>Lets say you do get a loan, you are not require to take the loan and accept it.</p>
<p>I am looking to transfer to Cornell in fall of 2010. My numbers are all pretty respectable, nothing stellar, but all quite decent. I keep on reading tht you need to show that you are interested in their school particularly. How would I do that for Cornell? Or any school I’m applying for really?</p>
<p>Dragon, approx how many words was your “why transfer” essay? I know the min. is 250 words but what do you recommend is a good cut off point? Also if you can give us your thoughts as to how you answered it. If anyone else could speak on this issue please do.</p>
<p>I thought about it, but I know people at Cornell and they tell me the winters SUCK.
tooooo cold</p>
<p>For the common app application,
My EC short essay was 142 words; Do not go over 150 words…
My Why transfer essay on the common app was 574 words; I recommend that you do not go over a page and a half</p>
<p>Cornell Supplement
and my Cornell Supplement essay was 788 words. I recommend that you do not go over two pages (even though I went a little more than two pages)</p>
<p>For your essays, it is one of your most important factors at Cornell because Cornell emphasizes diversity and FIT! So make sure you do your research on that school and VISIT TRANSFER DAY!!!</p>
<p>I would also avoid writing a generic essay. Please do not write a generic essay. That is a big minus, definitely when Cornell is a school about fit. Also in your essay, DO NOT BASH YOUR SCHOOL AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU HATE IT! If you do bash your school, you will just show that you are not grateful for the education that you are receiving.</p>
<p>So make sure you will write an essay that is unique, personal, and something that shows your character.</p>
<p>hey dragon, when i’m done writing my new ones, wanna read them for me? :)</p>
<p>I won’t promise you but I will do the best of my ability to read them for you and give you feedback.</p>
<p>Thanks dragon, I can’t attend transfer day (I live 1800 miles away) but I’ll be there on labor day weekend, visiting with Ian and so forth. Do you think this will be good enough? I’d like to have a nice long talk with Ian about my career plans and everything, how much do you think this will factor into the “fit” part of the process? I like Cornell specifically for ILR but am not totally sure how to get this across.</p>
<p>@ Bj8nes, Make sure you leave a GOOD and most impressive impression when you meet with Ian. Not only that, but make sure you have sign up for an ILR information session meeting online, so they have your name and record that shows that you did attend an information meeting. Not only you should talk to Ian, but also talk to some of the admission counselor people and ask for their advice and what you can do to improve your chances. Usually they will tell you what your weak points and from there, you can strength your weak points.</p>
<p>So make sure that they have some kind of information on their computer that tells them that you have registered, visited, and attended their information session.</p>
<p>What if I’m really not in a position to be traveling half-way across the country just to attend an information session? Is this going to be held against me? My understanding was that attending information sessions was not supposed to affect one’s admissions chances because of this. Hm, I hope it won’t be held against me…</p>
<p>Of course it is not require and will not play a major role, but it does show interest. And yeah of course, if you live in China or West Coast, they will know and understand. The point is, they have something that says, oh he visited our campus and attended an information session. But of course, it doesnt play a huge role.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about attending the ilr info session. I’m from California and there was no way I could fly over there and go to it. BUT, make sure you own the phone interview for ILR. I felt that Ian was trying to figure out whether or not I would be a good “fit” for the program. Make sure you know your stuff and why you want to be in ILR.</p>
<p>Ok, that is good to hear! Thanks for the responses.</p>
<p>Macruber and dragon, how many recommendations did you have? Did you have any work or EC recommendations?</p>
<p>Hey TFN, I had two letters of recs, even though Cornell only requires one. For extracurriculars, mine didn’t really have anything to do with ILR. I think as long as you do something you enjoy you are fine. But I think it depends on your major, say if you are going for premed, you should have some premed type ecs. I think ILR is the exception because I don’t think there are many clubs that you can join that have a lot to do with labor organizations. Although I don’t know what the admissions officers are looking for, but my opinion is just do something that you love.</p>