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<p>Um… no. Just science and fact-based. I’m curious, now, do you really think evolution is just a liberal viewpoint?</p>
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<p>Nope. It’s reality. They just choose to not acknowledge the cold, hard facts, probably for political purposes:</p>
<p>[Cost</a> of Care | Caslon Projects](<a href=“http://caslon-photo.com/blog/archives/1960]Cost”>http://caslon-photo.com/blog/archives/1960)</p>
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<p>I agree – that does seem crass and irrelevant. I hope you complained.</p>
<p>Like I said, I don’t want to start a political debate. That’s not the point of this forum and certainly doesn’t help the OP. I just wanted to say that while there is a liberal bias here, it is not unique to Cornell and should not sway prospective students from attending. The quality of Cornell’s education is worth putting up with a few biased professors, which is not the case at many other liberal institutions.</p>
<p>I actually did not complain about that image, although perhaps I should have…</p>
<p>That’s funny, because all but one of the kids I know here in good 'ol Central PA that did ED or are applying to Cornell are right of center and I know at least two kids from my HS (myself and another future Cornellian) that are pretty active (as in, will join College Republicans, etc…) conservatives. Now, that might stem from the fact that a) Central PA is pretty conservative to begin with and b) I know more conservative kids and it’s purely anecdotal evidence, but the point is that where there’s 14,000 undergrads…there’s diversity of everything from race and religion to ideology and background. </p>
<p>As for the “Northeast” and “Elitist” stuff…like Chendrix said, it’s not all Boston and New York (or, for that matter, all Providence, New Haven, Stamford, and Westchester) up here. The pace up here (I live about 120 miles from Ithaca in a region very similar demographically to the Finger Lakes) is a LOT slower and the people are a lot friendlier than in the Carolinas, where I lived up until sophomore year. Any top ranked school, especially one that fields teams in the Ivy League athletic conference, is going to have the “elitist” stigma attached to it. But, you have to remember, we’re also home to a Hotel School (even though its grads do pretty flippin’ well on the job market and it’s the top ranked school in the world for its discipline, it still gets ragged on plenty) and–gasp!–four state supported colleges, including an Agricultural School which, from the comments you hear from some uninformed people, is where you learn to clean cow dung and hose off the hogs.</p>
<p>As for liberal faculty and administration, I live in one of the most conservative regions of the Northeast in a county that went heavy McCain that happens to be home to a top 40 LAC. The current president of the University is resigning because of actions he took against the University’s equivalent of the College Republicans, the University is a frequent target of admonition and even legal action from [FIRE[/url</a>] for discrimination against conservatives and libertarians, and an [url=<a href=“http://brain-terminal.com/]alum”>http://brain-terminal.com/]alum</a> of the university](<a href=“http://www.thefire.org/]FIRE[/url”>http://www.thefire.org/) recently made a documentary highlighting free speech issues on college campuses using his alma mater as inspiration. Every college is like that, even in my conservative town. Most people that go on to be professors or college administrators are liberal (despite what you may hear, there isn’t some long line of conservative English Literature PHDs whose applications are thrown out by the vast left wing conspiracy). That said, you should check out [Legal</a> Insurrection](<a href=“http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/]Legal”>http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/), the blog of a conservative-leaning Cornell Law professor that frequently gets linked to from the big dogs in the conservative blogosphere.</p>
<p>I can’t really address competitiveness, as I’m not a student yet…but I’m looking forward to a challenge in college and that’s one of the reasons Cornell was my top choice. Anyway, I hope to see you this fall and I hope you learn to love Cornell as much as I already do.</p>
<p>\quote{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>
<p>I think it’s a bad idea to ask other people who don’t go to Cornell about their perceptions of Cornell. Not only will their views be skewed, they don’t have the experience or the intimate knowledge to make any valid point.</p>
<p>If you want to ask people about their school in particular, that’s fine. Just don’t ask an expert in food science for law advice.</p>
<p>P.S. For some reason my formatting tags aren’t working. Oh well.</p>
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<p>Surprisingly, there is a healthy amount of political diversity among Cornell’s top administrators:</p>
<p>[Stuck</a> in the Fast Lane: Party Affiliations of Cornell Administrators](<a href=“http://bilmes.blogspot.com/2009/07/party-affiliations-of-cornell.html]Stuck”>Stuck in the Fast Lane: Party Affiliations of Cornell Administrators)</p>
<p>That said, having worked with a bunch of these individuals, they aren’t really Republicans of the 21st-century variety, e.g. they don’t willfully disregard reason, science, and fact, all while obstructing any chance of proper governance.</p>
<p>I don’t mean people that flat out don’t know S*** about the school and most times, you can tell because they totally bash it as a horrible school as opposed to others. Maybe someone who has experience with the school/transfers from and to Cornell. Yeah, them.</p>
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<p>I’ve attended (or lived on the campus of) Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Georgetown, and Oxford. Does that suffice?</p>
<p>By the way, OP – From a reading of your past posts it sounds like you really would like to attend Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is a good school and it does have that whole ‘Southern charm’ going on – but your campus experience at Cornell can end up being very much like a Vanderbilt experience. Just join one of the preppy/conservative fraternities and you will be set. And if you don’t like it in Ithaca, you can always transfer.</p>
<p>Where Cornell and Vanderbilt differ is that Cornell has a lot more breadth/variety in terms of the student experience than Vandy. The only thing that Vanderbilt has that Cornell doesn’t have is SEC football.</p>
<p>lol…^I guess. But for how long? (just wondering)</p>
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[Heyyyy</a> oh!](<a href=“Home - The Big Cheezburger Network - Made from the finest of internets - Cheezburger”>Home - The Big Cheezburger Network - Made from the finest of internets - Cheezburger)</p>
<p>Oh, Vanderbilt? My college decision actually came down to Cornell vs. Vandy…I turned down a considerable scholarship to come to Cornell instead and I don’t regret it. </p>
<p>ocean10, if you’d like to talk about Cornell vs. Vandy, feel free to PM me. I obviously can’t really speak to the Vanderbilt experience, but a lot of thought went into my final decision and I’d be happy to help you sort through the pros/cons.</p>
<p>I was another person who had Vanderbilt as my 2nd choice, but I think your reasons for not liking here are the wrong reasons, and I’ll provide you with an unbiased view. If you were not to want to go to this school, it may be the terrible weather, not as fantastic girls as Vanderbilt (sorry girls, there are tons of cute/hot ones here, but Vandy is a bit better!), or the large size of the school, not the reasons you mentioned. Yes, there is the stereotype that Cornell is an elitist school (due to being an Ivy), but it is absolutely not true. Yes, you will find a couple really competitive/elitist/liberal kids. Find me a school where you won’t find them, and I will pay you an undisclosed amount. I happen to be one of the most laid-back people I know (and still manage to do well), and my friends are all really laid-back and are not competitive at all (yet they do very well too). Cornell is a school where you make yourself, and certainly there are issues here, but none that you mentioned.</p>
<p>I would just like to remind OP that you don’t really have an option right now about which school to go to, that option expired back in Nov. I am one for marching forward and not looking back, sometimes things happen for a reason. It sounded like you were pressured by your parents. May this be a lesson to you. You will be faced with more decisions in your life - college major, profession, who you date/marry… You’ll either cave in to your parents every time and be miserable (maybe), or be an adult to make your own decision and take ownership for it. </p>
<p>Cornell was not my daughter’s first choice because of the location and weather. She wanted to be in NY or CA. But once she was dealt with the cards, she ran with it. She fell in love with Cornell the first week she was on campus. She has friends who only carry Chanel bags, and friends who are on 100% FA, and it really makes no difference to her. Education is a great equalizer.</p>
<p>One fringe benefit about Cornell we never counted on was its Career Center. As a target school for many top firms my daughter was interested in, the Career Center organized “Cornell Days” with many of those firms through their alumni network. Cornell students were invited to meet and greet senior people at those firms. At every one of those events, it was well attended by many alums. It is the advantage of having 13,000+ students. Even though Cornell is at a remote area, it’s worth those firm’s while to travel to Ithaca to do on campus interviews. My daughter had 10+ interviews in 2 days. She never had to go off campus to get her first offer. Her friends at other smaller top tier schools are traveling in to NYC for their second rounds, and some of them never got a chance to interview with some of those firms (because it wasn’t worth those firms’ while to travel all the way to their school).</p>
<p>Yeah I am also a little bit worried about the size and weather but I feel like thats something that will be a part of the college adjustment. But I guess by elitist I was talking about people seeming to take themselves so seriously and not as willing to let loose and have a good time. Wrong perception maybe? Like are people spirited and do they go to games and stuff? When I visited people just seemed to have a too cool persona…</p>
<p>“Like are people spirited and do they go to games and stuff?”</p>
<p>Just wait until you go to your 1st hockey game! If you want to see real Cornell spirit now, try these:
[YouTube</a> - Cornell Hockey versus Quinnipiac](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BLCNm_9Ryk]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BLCNm_9Ryk)
[YouTube</a> - Cornell Ice Hockey Game](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtlzu11Gm70]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtlzu11Gm70)</p>
