Would Cornell be a good school for me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I'm interested in studying Engineering and I'm wondering if Cornell would be a good school for me? I think Cornell is the only Ivy League school that I'm considering to apply to. </p>

<p>I'd like a mid-sized school and one that has smaller classes. I like to be able to have easy access to my teachers and get more personal attention. I also like a social and friendly student body. </p>

<p>I have some questions about Cornell.</p>

<ol>
<li>How big are the freshmen year classes? and maybe even list how big your classes were.</li>
<li>Is it easy to contact and find your teachers? Especially since I heard the school has over 20,000 students.</li>
<li>What is Ithaca like? Are there a lot of activities to do there? Stores to go to?</li>
<li>How competitive is the environment? Are the students really smart there?</li>
<li>Is it difficult to get good grades here?</li>
<li>What are the students like? Are they friendly? helpful?</li>
</ol>

<p>Anything you think I should know?</p>

2

<p>Cmon guys the 400 that viewed this must know something.</p>

3

<p>Cornell honestly doesn’t sound like the best fit for what you are looking for. I wouldn’t say that Cornell is a mid-sized school with smaller classes. I think most of your engineering core classes at least for the first few years before people really start to specialize will have over 100 people in them. That said, all profs will hold office hours, and if you make the effort to attend them, you should be able to get access to your profs. Of course you may find that your prof’s office hours conflict with your other classes, which would in turn make it more difficult to make that connection.</p>

<p>I’m a parent, not a student, but most students don’t find there to be much to do in Ithaca, but they don’t mind because there’s so much to do on campus. I think the environment in engineering is more collaborative than competitive. Yes, it’s difficult to get good grades. The students seem great to me – I’m sure in a student body of that size, you’ll find some of everything :)</p>

4

<p>I’m a CAS freshman.</p>

<p>1) It really depends on what you take. Any 1000 level intro course is going to have 100+ students, though, so they will all be huge. You do have TAs and section to make up for this. Freshman writing seminars are capped at 18 students. If you begin in a 3000 level course, expect a wide variance of anywhere from 30-100.</p>

<p>2) Surprisingly easy. Just go to office hours or send an E-Mail.</p>

<p>3) This is one of the worst parts of Cornell. Ithaca is an absolute trailer trash town. Outside of the Commons and nature-based activities, there is NOTHING to do in the city except drinking. Fortunately, you don’t really have any time to go into the city anyway if you take advantage of the myriad opportunities here and catch sufficient sleep.</p>

<p>4) Hard sciences, pre-med, and engineering are all extremely competitive. A lot of kids don’t even leave their rooms. They are all extremely smart. Social sciences are somewhat competitive, but not nearly as much. In ILR, you’ll see a lot of divergence in intelligence. Some kids are CAS/Engineering level, others aren’t bright at all… Same goes for Ag and HumEc, but to a lesser extent.</p>

<p>5) Depends on the class. For me, no, because the classes aren’t curved. For engineers, etc.? Definitely hard.</p>

<p>6) It really depends on the person. As a whole, I’d say we’re significantly more friendly than the general population, but there are some jerks here, like everywhere (I would know, I had to collect signatures to run for student assembly and some people made some unneeded and insulting comments.) </p>

<p>I’ve founded recruited athletes to be totally insufferable so far. Almost exclusively pompous airheads who don’t take academics seriously. Fratty types tend to be tools as well. Binge drinkers are, of course, all morons. And then you have your random uppity people. </p>

<p>But you really don’t have to deal with them if you don’t want to. It’s not like high school.</p>

5

<p>I especially dislike the excessively judgmental types.</p>

6

<p>Saugus, when you say Cornell students are friendly, can you give me some comparisons with other NE schools you might have visited ? And I didn’t really understand what you said about HumEc–some kids are bright and some are not? It is still relatively new for you, right? It seems like the drinking is bothering you–do you think it’s the same pretty much at most non-religious schools?</p>

7

<p>^

  1. I’m from California and didn’t vist any schools before I applied. I went to SUNY Binghamton last week for a debate tournament and met people from a lot of Northeastern schools there, but I don’t think that counts.</p>

<p>But compared to my high school population and the general population, Cornell students are definitely more friendly/helpful as a whole. A lot of people go out of their way to befriend you or make you feel comfortable, and complete strangers will do small things like hold doors open or offer to push the elevator button for you if you’re carrying something. It’s fairly easy to meet people if you’re sociable.</p>

<p>2) CAS and Engineering have the smartest students on average; no dispute. They don’t have a monopoly on the smartest students, but most of them will be found in those two colleges. HumEc specifically has a lot of variance in intelligence from what I’ve seen. People in hard sciences/pre-med or Policy Analysis and Management in HumEc tend to be CAS level, but a lot of people in majors like Biology and Society, etc. tend to be significantly weaker students. I’m not talking about <em>everybody</em> in non science/PAM majors in HumEc, but probably the majority.</p>

<p>ILR-- The top students are easily CAS level. The weaker students aren’t even close to CAS level.</p>

<p>Ag-- Science students are easily CAS level. So are most AEM majors. Everybody else: For the most part, no.</p>

<p>Hotel-- Not really a fair comparison since what they study is so much different from the liberal arts. But in the traditional sense, no, not CAS level academically at all.</p>

<p>(Again, keep in mind that this is a generalization.)</p>

<p>But it’s not like it matters how bright people in other colleges are. It’s actually good to have them in your classes-- they soften the curve, as I’m finding in my freshman writing seminar.</p>

<p>3) Yeah, I’ve only been here for a month and a half.</p>

<p>4) Virtually every school, including top ones, has a huge drinking problem. It’s not really something which should factor into a decision of where to attend or apply. Schools like Notre Dame or BYU obviously don’t have drinking, but I personally would NEVER go to those.</p>

<p>The drinking bugs me because we’re in a small city, so the social life revolves around it. If I were at Columbia, I would totally go see a play on Broadway or do some other artsy activity. I’m quite jealous of Princeton, Columbia, Northwestern, UChicago, and even Penn because of their access to big cities. </p>

<p>I went to a party once but was very uncomfortable due to the drinking and smoking. I left as soon as I saw a guy about to light up a Marijuana joint. There are definitely alternatives for Friday nights/weekends (Acapella concerts, etc.) but it’s difficult to find people to go with and doesn’t compare to city life.</p>

<p>There’s a trade-off for having a city, though. Columbia has a 32 acre campus compared to Cornell’s 745. Chicago and Penn are in slums. Princeton and Northwestern don’t really have any negatives associated with being near a city, at least that I can think of. People I know who are from New Jersey say that the city of Princeton itself is boring, but this would be a non-issue for me because I would just go to NYC every weekend.</p>

8

<p>

It wholly depends on what classes you take. I have classes with 233, 132, 36, 33, 22, and 17 students. The one with 233 is a large lecture course in cognitive science which students from various majors take because it’s interesting and satisfies general education requirements. If you want to avoid large classes, you should have AP credit for intro courses relevant to your major, and use smaller classes to satisfy your general education requirements. Large lecture courses can still be really good, though; cognitive science is one of my favorite classes right now. The courses with 132, 36, and 33 are honors-track courses because I placed out of the introductory levels for those. The one with 22 is a 1-credit course, and the one with 17 is a writing seminar.</p>

<p>

Yes, if you go to office hours. You can talk to them after class too but not for very long.</p>

<p>

</p>

<ol>
<li>It depends on you. There are theaters, restaurants, department stores, etc., like any town would have. I prefer staying on campus because there’s enough to do here. You can go to NYC if you want, a lot of students do. Having lived ~1 hour away from a major city all my life, I don’t personally get what the big fuss is about cities, so I don’t go.</li>
<li>What the above poster said. When I first came here it seemed like a lot of the students (from various colleges) only partied and didn’t do any work, but now come prelim time they are really focused, so it’s pretty competitive but not cutthroat. There are definitely a lot of smart students here; unless you’re the next Evan O’Dorney you won’t be disappointed.</li>
<li>I’m not sure yet, since it’s the first semester. I’m doing decently right now but I can say already that I will be really glad if I can pull off a 4.0. (I’m a double major in the hard sciences). There can be a lot of work but if you are good at time management it’s not so bad.</li>
<li>Obviously varies by student. They are generally friendly.</li>
</ol>

9

<p>Thanks, all the answers above were really good and detailed. So I have another question. How well do you think your teachers know students on an individual level? And with all the work, do you still have a lot of times to join clubs and activities? </p>

<p>Sent from my ADR6300 using CC</p>

10

<p>^
They’ll know you only if you ask questions during class or come up afterward.</p>

<p>Depends. The engineers I know don’t, but I have copious spare time.</p>

11

<p>I have one kid who graduated last year and another one who is a freshman now. The older one double majored in math/econ. She was placed out of of many introductory courses. In higher level courses class sizes were smaller. Most of her professors were very available and accommodating to her. Few times when she was sick, they allowed her to turn in her work late. </p>

<p>Our older daughter was very busy at school, between her school work, job, ECs and sorority, she didn’t have much down time. I just came back from Cornell for a business trip. I took the opportunity to have dinner with our younger daughter. She said she had 2 classes that day, 2 hours of work, club meeting, dinner with me, going to work on her paper for few hours before she went out with her friends.</p>

<p>I took some of our daughter’s friends out to eat today, very smart, friendly, clean cut kids. They talked about their first prelims. The pre-med (biology major) just aced his first prelim. He parties like everyone else, but may not rush the first year (probably because of his course load). I asked them if they are enjoying themselves. They all said that they are loving it. Last weekend was Homecoming, some were invited to fraternity formals, but didn’t remember the game too much. They are all looking forward to their midterm break.</p>

<p>

You gotta be kidding me, right?</p>

12

<p>Saugus, thank you for the thorough answers! As it happens, though my S’s heart would definitely place him in NYC, other factors make Cornell the right choice. Like you said, there are trade-offs. It sounds like you are finding a niche and I hope he will, if he gets accepted, too.</p>

13

<p>I spent six years at Cornell: four years in electrical engineering, and two years for my master’s. </p>

<p>

</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Freshman engineering classes are big. Enrollment in a particular class can easily exceed 200, though those classes are split up into smaller lectures. Some upper-division classes are small (perhaps 10 to 20 people), but you won’t take those until your junior or senior year.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s incredibly easy to contact professors. Go to their office hours, email them, or just go up to talk to them after class. Regardless of whether you go to a small school or a huge university, you will have to make an effort to get personal attention from your professors.</p></li>
<li><p>Ithaca is a quirky town in the middle of nowhere. There are some bars and restaurants near campus (Collegetown) and there are a lot more bars and restaurants down the hill in Ithaca. There is plenty to do as long as you have friends. There is a mall a short bus ride away.</p></li>
<li><p>Your perception of competition depends on your abilities, standards, and time-management skills. Most people will feel that it is competitive, though not cutthroat. If you set high standards, then you will feel a lot more pressure than if you’re satisfied with a B. Obviously, if you are brilliant then you won’t struggle as much as others.</p></li>
<li><p>See #4. It’s not too difficult to get a B in most classes. It still takes a lot of work, but you don’t have to be a genius. If you want a 4.0, it may take a lot of effort and brains. </p></li>
<li><p>Most of the people I met were very friendly. With so many students, you will meet many different types of people. If you want to party, you will find plenty of friends. If you want to work on homework with other people, you will find plenty of study buddies. I felt the environment was pretty collaborative. </p></li>
<li><p>The only way to get to know professors is to talk to them. Go to their office hours frequently, and ask them many questions. The difference between high school and college is that you have to make an effort to get to know your teachers. </p></li>
<li><p>If you do the bare minimum for engineering, you probably will have a lot of free time. Cornell students tend to go beyond what’s required though. A lot of students join project teams, clubs, or join research labs. You will definitely have time to join clubs and whatnot. It’s a good way to learn something new, not to mention it’s practically a requirement if you want to get a good job or go to grad school.</p></li>
</ol>

14

<p>College is what you make out of it.
It shouldn’t really matter what others think, just how you decide to spend your time here.</p>

15

<p>“3) This is one of the worst parts of Cornell. Ithaca is an absolute trailer trash town. Outside of the Commons and nature-based activities, there is NOTHING to do in the city except drinking.”</p>

<p>I do not agree with this at all. The NY Times recommended Ithaca as a place to retire. It has culture, beauty, excellent restaurants and festivals, speakers and concerts at two colleges. </p>

<p>Saugus sees it from the eyes of an 18 year old. He mentioned he would be able to regularly see a Broadway play. At Over $100 a ticket. that is not something most college students can regularly afford. Cornell has good theater. It also has the Johnson Museum of Art which has one of the finest collections of art in NY State. Have you visited Saugus?</p>

<p>Ithaca is a small city. But it has a lot going on. Between the two colleges, it has regular theater, concerts and speakers. It has a beautiful natural environment with gorges, falls, a lake, gardens, etc. It has festivals and farmers markets. There is skiing nearby. Wineries are all along the Finger Lakes. Wine tours are alot of fun. There is so much to do.</p>

16

<p>^
I have. It’s a nice museum. But Columbia has the Museum of Modern Art, etc. No comparison.</p>

17

<p>Saugus - I would suggest for you to spend a semester at one of those “better schools.” How are you doing with your prelims? I am just wondering because you thought you were over qualified for Cornell. My younger daughter said “I think they are taking learning to a different level.” She is liking all of her classes, but feel very challenged even though she graduated top 1% from her high school.</p>

18

<p>^
Mixed bag. I’ve actually realized that the quality of education is the same at any top school, and that dumb people are in fact a good thing…</p>

19

<p>Don’t be so hard on yourself Saugus, just because you got 8/20 on your Intro Econ prelim (you shared that in another thread) doesn’t make you dumb.</p>

20

<p>^
Good one, sarah515!</p>

<p>:)</p>