<p>does anyone know exactly what will happen if I decided to withdraw my early decision application, not for financial reasons. I had a major change of heart and really am not sure what to do. The thought of going to Cornell has now become a dreaded thought and I am not sure I want to spend the next few months being so unhappy just thinking about it, never mind once I get there. I really think there are better schools out there for me but i had a lot of pressure when I was applying, but now I'm not sure I can go through with it. Does anyone know what my options are??</p>
<p>You could only get out of ED for financial reason, change of heart is not an option. That being said I don’t think Cornell would want a student who doesn’t really want to be there. On the other hand, you could forget about going to any ivies or top 20s if you should decide to withdraw. It is Feb already, you should have withdrawn from all schools already, so where could you go next year?</p>
<p>You can get out of–the only reason would be for FINANCIAL reasons–you could also defer for one year if you need time off. Of course you would be obligated to go the following year.</p>
<p>We see buyer’s remorse every year, even for RD. Come July or Aug, some students start to wonder what they were thinking of for picking a particular school, and some how they are all happy after few months. </p>
<p>What is it about Cornell that’s giving you second thoughts, maybe people here could answer some questions for you.</p>
<p>I think the best option for you is to go for a while and then transfer. I’m not sure why you’re dreading it so much (maybe telling us could help us help you), but I can’t see a scenario where you don’t attend the University at some point unless Admissions just decides to let you leave (which seems very, very unlikely unless you have a REALLY good reason). You obviously can’t apply to any other schools this late in the game minus some lower tier schools that do late rolling. I’ve heard of people going to college for a semester, taking a leave of absence 2nd semester, and applying to colleges as a sophomore transfer. If you can stick it out for a while and post decent grades, you’ll be in a much better position to transfer just about anywhere you’d like.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t think you’ll be able to since it is binding. Why the change of heart though. Something must’ve drawn you too the school apply ED. You might also be reading too much into what you see ‘negative’ about the school. I say you should just try it (at least) and see. You might like it even more! But you seem very sure that you made the ‘wrong’ decision which in unfortunate as Cornell is a great school. You can also, as said before, stick with it for a bit and transfer because ED would be a tough thing to get out of.</p>
<p>Fasinro- You CAN get out of early decision.</p>
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<p>Unless you’re suggesting that our Mr. Ocean here compromise his integrity by lying about his financial circumstances in order to get out of the ED contract.</p>
<p>I know you can get out of ED for financial reasons but he said that it’s not a financial reason. or unless you would like our Mr. Ocean to…^…</p>
<p>Cornell is a great school, but what are you other options? You know you will be blackballed at other schools if you decline them now at this late date and after selecting ED. I’m sorry if your parents pressured you. Discuss this with them and let them see what their pressure did for you. Why didn’t you just apply RD? </p>
<p>You can get anywhere you want from Cornell. Not only does it have impecable academics, it is a large school in a small town, which creates a really unique college town experience. Also, since they have a hospitality school, the food is really first rate. My friend said they were getting Prime Rib and roast Salmon all the time.</p>
<p>the problem is sort of the accumulation of all of the things that I do not like about cornell. Basically there was another school that I liked a lot better but my parents had serious qualms with and gave me every reason they could think of why I shouldn’t go there until I caved. I guess the change of heart came once I realized that everything I do not like about my current school is what is at cornell: northeast, elitist, liberal, competitive. Among my friends now I am sort of different but they seem like they would fit in well at cornell and I’m looking to get away from that. It seems like transferring is the best option since I’m not going to throw my life away, as it seems would happen, if I withdrew my ED app.</p>
<p>I also think it’s unwise to judge the entire school based on what your abstract perceptions of it are (northeast, elitist, liberal, competitive)</p>
<p>Cornell is a large school with a hugely diverse spectrum of backgrounds and opinions. People are vocal here about their beliefs, and Cornell always tries to foster even debates and healthy dialogue. We have a significant religious population, a significant conservative population (along with socialists, atheists, buddhists, feminists, anything-ists) and they often exercise their rights to free spech. Yes, we are in the northeast, but we are also a small thriving city in the middle of a rural backdrop. This isn’t the liberal never-stop always-gotta-keep-movin-on-up of NYC. This isn’t the same “northeast” as New Haven or Providence. </p>
<p>We are also not elitist. We are proud of the academic quality and recognition of our school, but you must remember that Cornell is “put down” by HYP students for stupid factors and ignorant arguments. Therefore Cornellians understand that it’s not about the statistics or the number of Nobel Laureates or how small your class sizes are, but about the experience you get and the community you build. Cornellians are always cognizant of other people’s choices, mitigating factors, and circumstances. We have a huge transfer pool, all of which bring to the table their experiences from other institutions, and their inputs and views are always valued by non-transfer Cornellians.</p>
<p>Cornell is only competitive in the sense that people set high standards for themselves and want to meet it. Cornell always tries to encourage group work to emphasize the amount you can learn from other people. Even in Engineering and the hard sciences, which most would consider to be the most competitive, there is a huge atmosphere of camaraderie and group support. We are brought together by the academic experiences (both good and bad) that we share. The professors encourage open dialogue in classes, they encourage working together on homework and projects, they emphasize studying together.
This is definitely not the type of atmosphere where people rip pages out of books.</p>
<p>I think you would be surprised at all that Cornell has to offer if you come here with an open mind, without having damned it from the start.
We are not your typical Ivy League university, and that is what makes us proud.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you didn’t apply anywhere else or if you had applied before your Cornell acceptance, you withdrew. That means you won’t go to college next year. Actually, it probably means that you’re still obligated to Cornell for the following year.</p>
<p>I’m sure parents can put pressure on, but if you were that dead set against Cornell, it’s disappointing that you were “forced” to apply ED. You would have been much better off applying RD & not doing ED anywhere… but that’s water under the bridge now.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear you’re that upset.</p>
<p>chendrix - great post.</p>
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<p>Fantastic post, chendrix. Cornell is the “lone wolf” among the top northeast universities for these very reasons.</p>
<p>chendrix that post actually makes me feel a lot better. I guess I got a certain feeling from the alumni I know/ have met and from when I visited the campus as to people being a little bit elitist. students seemed to take themselves pretty seriously. Also I got a big brochure booklet from the school that had a girl talking about how great it was that it was so liberal, so that and the summer reading book sort of signaled to me that the administration and school endorse a leftist view, but I am glad to hear that you don’t feel like my concerns are true at cornell!!</p>
<p>In all honesty, most of the faculty here is leftist and they don’t mind making that known to students. Even looking at past commencement speakers (this year’s is actually Nancy Pelosi) will tell you that. That being said, conservative Cornellians still have a pretty strong voice. I’m conservative, but coming from NYC I guess I’m used to being surrounded by liberalism and biased teachers. In any case, you are going to encounter a liberal bias almost anywhere you go - don’t let it be the reason why you turn down Cornell.</p>
<p>And to be honest, i think you should ‘also’ get opinions elsewhere. I mean, this is the Cornell section so people are obviously going to try to convince you about their thoughts on Cornell. Anyone will defend their school and list reasons to attend but who’s going to show you the other side of things? It’s just like getting a review on a movie from the person that made the movie. (won’t do, will it) Not saying that Cornell is bad but get other perspectives as well.</p>
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<p>How does a summer reading book indicate anything about the political persuasions of an institution?</p>
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<p>As well they should. But I think you will find that relative to most of the other northeast institutions, Cornellians are a remarkably laid-back bunch.</p>
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<p>I suggest you look up the definition of ‘leftist’. There aren’t too many faculty at Cornell advocating for the violent overthrow of the government, urging that private property should be abolished. And for 95 percent of the courses at Cornell, from food science to mechanical engineering, hotel management to architecture, philosophy to anthropology, political persuasion has absolutely no impact on what you will learn.</p>
<p>If the Cornell faculty have any bias, it is a reality-based bias. You know, the reality where evolution is best able to scientifically explain man’s origins, deficit-spending helps the country to weather economic recessions (that are caused by a complete gutting of this country’s regulatory framework for financial institutions), abstinence-only education only yields more babies born out of wedlock, universal health-insurance schemes are able to provide better quality of care at cheaper costs, and where Sarah Palin has absolutely no idea what she is talking about.</p>
<p>I didn’t say that the professors’ politics have any impact on the quality of education I’m getting. And of course there will be courses where political views are never even brought up. But when they are, they are nearly always skewed to the left, and it would be nice for once to have an unbiased professor whose political orientation isn’t known - is that really too much to ask? The other day in my psych class, my professor showed a slide with a map of the US in which all of the red states were labeled as “Jesusland,” garnering huge laughs from the lecture hall. This class happens to be one of my favorites, but that image was irrelevant, unnecessary, and offensive.</p>
<p>Everything you stated as “reality” is just another liberal viewpoint. For somebody opposed to Obama’s healthcare plan, the statement “universal health-insurance schemes are able to provide better quality of care at cheaper costs” is far from reality.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t want to start a whole political debate. I’m just saying that - in reality - Cornell is a largely liberal institution. The academics are top-notch, but it’d be lying to say that students will never come across liberally biased professors.</p>