Getting to Cornell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. Currently I am looking at a flight to Syracuse with one stop and then driving for 2 hours. How would a undergrad navigate this for 4 years for breaks? How do parents who live beyond driving distance visit if needed? Are there any 'secret' shuttles from a major hub airport?

Syracuse to Ithaca is more like 40 mins than 2 hrs.

Google Maps says 67 mins.

Maybe that’s driving the speed limit the whole way? It definitely is less than an hour.

Here’s a bus option:
https://www.ourbus.com/routes/syracuse-airport-ny-to-ithaca-ny

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There are also direct flights to Ithaca from Dulles, so you could connect through DC.

United is stopping nonstop flights from Dulles to Ithaca after the first week of March.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. Currently I am looking at a flight to Syracuse with one stop and then driving for 2 hours. How would a undergrad navigate this for 4 years for breaks? How do parents who live beyond driving distance visit if needed? Are there any 'secret' shuttles from a major hub airport?

Syracuse to Ithaca is more like 40 mins than 2 hrs.

+1

If you can't swing a flight into Ithaca then Syracuse is the next best option.

Looks like there could be a charter bus to Syracuse.
https://fcs.cornell.edu/departments/transportation-delivery-services/parking/getting-around/travel-resources

This is the answer. There are frequent buses (OurBus) for students going from Syracuse Airport to Ithaca/Cornell and vice versa. Or students get rides to the Syracuse Airport with other kids flying out for the holiday. It is a 70 minute drive at most from Syracuse Airport to Cornell.

+1. Our Cornell kids are flying out of Syracuse Airport on Friday for the upcoming long weekend break. One is flying direct to Dulles Airport for a weekend at home while the other is flying south for a warm weather weekend with school friends. They lined up a ride to the airport with another student who is flying.

[Anonymous]

It’s not particularly easy. You fly to Ithaca indirect or fly to Syracuse and then take a bus or get a ride from a friend or another student. But there are hundreds if not thousands of international students at Cornell who travel from all corners of the world and seem to manage. I personally hauled back and forth from Cornell to the air base in Germany where my dad was stationed in the mid 80s. It was quite a journey but I was able to handle it at 17, and that was before cell phones and the internet when I had to buy a paper ticket and organize rides through a ride share bulletin board. If your kid can’t handle anything other than a direct flight from Texas and a short Uber ride to campus, they shouldn’t go to Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not particularly easy. You fly to Ithaca indirect or fly to Syracuse and then take a bus or get a ride from a friend or another student. But there are hundreds if not thousands of international students at Cornell who travel from all corners of the world and seem to manage. I personally hauled back and forth from Cornell to the air base in Germany where my dad was stationed in the mid 80s. It was quite a journey but I was able to handle it at 17, and that was before cell phones and the internet when I had to buy a paper ticket and organize rides through a ride share bulletin board. If your kid can’t handle anything other than a direct flight from Texas and a short Uber ride to campus, they shouldn’t go to Cornell.

Come on. Stop it. OP asked a reasonable question. What is the point of this.

[Anonymous]

My first semester, I flew to SYR and took the shuttle to campus. After that, I would fly to Newark or JFK and drive with friends going back to school. Tons of Cornell students were from that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not particularly easy. You fly to Ithaca indirect or fly to Syracuse and then take a bus or get a ride from a friend or another student. But there are hundreds if not thousands of international students at Cornell who travel from all corners of the world and seem to manage. I personally hauled back and forth from Cornell to the air base in Germany where my dad was stationed in the mid 80s. It was quite a journey but I was able to handle it at 17, and that was before cell phones and the internet when I had to buy a paper ticket and organize rides through a ride share bulletin board. If your kid can’t handle anything other than a direct flight from Texas and a short Uber ride to campus, they shouldn’t go to Cornell.

You know how it is said that little things say a lot about someone. This comment shows that this person is a mean person IRL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. Currently I am looking at a flight to Syracuse with one stop and then driving for 2 hours. How would a undergrad navigate this for 4 years for breaks? How do parents who live beyond driving distance visit if needed? Are there any 'secret' shuttles from a major hub airport?

My kid drives back to DMV so I'm not on top of this but I believe OurBus runs limited bus shuttles to SYR airport specifically for the breaks. I remember that recently, there appears to be an OurBus scheduler/employee that solicits and posts on the parents FB when it is close to the breaks to see what the demand is.

Besides ITH airport, there is Elmira/Corning and Binghampton to look into. I don't think there are bus shuttles there so chartered taxi, Uber (limited in Ithaca currently) are your ways to get there.

Many other kids, especially internationals, take the multiple bus options from campus to the NYC area to access the 3 airports there. There is usually a nonstop bus to the DC area (Bethesda/Montgomery Mall) where your kid can then hop on a flight from one of the 3 airports in the DC area.

The student would have a long uber to get from the mall to any of the DC airports (after the 5 hour bus ride). This would not be an efficient option.

[Anonymous]

When I was there a little less than a decade ago, it was in principle quite easy to fly directly to Ithaca via either Philadelphia or Detroit. The problem -- hence the "in principle" -- is that flights were cancelled consistently in winter due to weather.

I flew often (to CA, to Europe via Philadelphia, etc.) and never went out of Syracuse. But did get cancelled a few times.

[Anonymous]

My Son drives from Cornell to Bethesda every time he can. He usually carpools with several kids from the area.
So if you need a ride get in contact with student services the have a list of kids that drive to several places in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This. Currently I am looking at a flight to Syracuse with one stop and then driving for 2 hours. How would a undergrad navigate this for 4 years for breaks? How do parents who live beyond driving distance visit if needed? Are there any 'secret' shuttles from a major hub airport?

Call Admissions and ask them this question before you write off the school. A lot of schools have special Thanksgiving and Christmas busses to the airport that leave right from campus and then do the return loop when kids go back. Either they run the busses or they have an arrangement with a company that does. My kid went to an out of the way school and we were very surprised to find out that they do this, since it didn't appear anywhere on the website, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Son drives from Cornell to Bethesda every time he can. He usually carpools with several kids from the area.
So if you need a ride get in contact with student services the have a list of kids that drive to several places in the country.

Is there a Facebook group for Cornell parents in the DMV area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Son drives from Cornell to Bethesda every time he can. He usually carpools with several kids from the area.
So if you need a ride get in contact with student services the have a list of kids that drive to several places in the country.

Is there a Facebook group for Cornell parents in the DMV area?

This is absolutely a let the kids make arrangements situation.

[Anonymous]

I really don’t think it’s an issue getting to Cornell. Long, maybe. Expensive, perhaps. Bad weather during winter, sometimes.

Others have posted above several good options.

Ithaca airport remains your best bet. Major airlines serve Ithaca, it’s been upgraded from the cowshed it once was, and you can connect to major airports to almost anywhere. The TCAT local bus takes you to Cornell in 15 minutes (not for a 6am flight though).

Cornell is connected to NYC by several buses a day particularly during the term, because of Weill and Tech.

And there’s always somebody driving back and forth NYC over the weekend with several rideshare lists.

I wouldn’t worry about this too much.

[Anonymous]

Lots of options as there are lots of college kids in Ithaca between Cornell and Ithaca College. Be warned - Ithaca winters are long and no joke and can result in flight delays.