Cornell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,
We are from the South and contemplating visiting Cornell--I just watched a YouTube video and the campus felt like a pretty NE Suburb? Big, far flung, not cohesive. I know online can be deceiving but just wanted to get feedback from folks who have visited. It will be a expensive trip and not an easy one so thinking it through. Thank you!

Alum and parent here, and my spouse was a faculty brat so Cornell is like a second home for us. Campus for the most part is actually pretty compact. Some of the Ag school buildings are far out on Tower Road, but even the core Ag quad is not far. The Arts & Sciences quad is beautiful and it is kind of the center of the academic campus, and the AAP college is right there also. Engineering, Hotel, ILR and HumEc are also close by. It is easy to meet your friends for lunch regardless of what school they might be in. The main undergraduate library is right off the Arts quad, by the bell tower. And then the student union (Willard Straight Hall) is a 1 minute walk from the bell tower, across from the campus store.

If you are able and depending when you visit, try to stay a night on campus at the Statler. Also, as to the "parking on campus is never free" poster, on the weekend you can often park behind the Arts quad (at the top of Libe Slope) for free when the gates are up. The art museum is also on that road and was designed by I.M. Pei.

I had several friends from the South when I went to Cornell, who loved it. Good luck! Feel free to ask specific questions if you want.

Who is this? I just asked my spouse if they posted this but they insist they did not! At any rate, I agree with all you've said. The Cornell campus, and Ithaca, are beautiful and easy to navigate even without a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is a lower level Ivy, certainly cannot be compared to other Ivy's. My DC got into Cornell engg as well as Georgia Tech 2 years ago, and decided to take Georgia tech to Cornell. He is very happy with his decision.
If Ivy brand is what you are looking for, Cornell may be your answer. If not, there are far better engg. schools

The phrase "Lower Ivy" often invites ridicule and I recommend you stop using it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is a lower level Ivy, certainly cannot be compared to other Ivy's. My DC got into Cornell engg as well as Georgia Tech 2 years ago, and decided to take Georgia tech to Cornell. He is very happy with his decision.
If Ivy brand is what you are looking for, Cornell may be your answer. If not, there are far better engg. schools

But they probably teach you how to properly use apostrophes and plurals, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is a lower level Ivy, certainly cannot be compared to other Ivy's. My DC got into Cornell engg as well as Georgia Tech 2 years ago, and decided to take Georgia tech to Cornell. He is very happy with his decision.
If Ivy brand is what you are looking for, Cornell may be your answer. If not, there are far better engg. schools

Of course, he has no idea what his Cornell experience would have been like to compare...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a large campus in a medium-sized town in a rural area. Not really suburban.

This. I wouldn't describe it as a suburb. It's a large, world class university in a rural area.

I’ll warn anyone from the south- winters in Ithaca can be brutal. We went something like 45 days in a row my second year of law school without seeing the sun.

Cornell is definitely a work hard, play hard type of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is a lower level Ivy, certainly cannot be compared to other Ivy's. My DC got into Cornell engg as well as Georgia Tech 2 years ago, and decided to take Georgia tech to Cornell. He is very happy with his decision.
If Ivy brand is what you are looking for, Cornell may be your answer. If not, there are far better engg. schools

May I ask why your DC chose GT? Was money a factor? What part of the country are you from? We might be in a similar situation, that's why I'm asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is a lower level Ivy, certainly cannot be compared to other Ivy's. My DC got into Cornell engg as well as Georgia Tech 2 years ago, and decided to take Georgia tech to Cornell. He is very happy with his decision.
If Ivy brand is what you are looking for, Cornell may be your answer. If not, there are far better engg. schools

The phrase "Lower Ivy" often invites ridicule and I recommend you stop using it.

+1. That entire post was weird. Especially given their supposed focus on engineering schools, where Cornell is usually regarded as being at or near the top among Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a large campus in a medium-sized town in a rural area. Not really suburban.

This. I wouldn't describe it as a suburb. It's a large, world class university in a rural area.

I’ll warn anyone from the south- winters in Ithaca can be brutal. We went something like 45 days in a row my second year of law school without seeing the sun.

Cornell is definitely a work hard, play hard type of school.

I do not buy that Cornell is more of a “play hard” school that any other school. My DC is a sophomore there. Is very social, plays inter mural sports, running club, makes dinner with friends. Sure, there are parties and Greek system, but plenty if students engage in other types of social outlets. Great outdoors activities, wonderful farmers market and beautiful lake. It can be a great fit for many (some people really don’t like the weather in the south).

[Anonymous]

Cornell should realize it will never out preftige, out woke the rest of the ivies and completely lean the other way

Be the first Ivy to go no legacy and race blind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell is the best ivy reject school. There's better schools in the south.

Other than Duke, not by a long shot.

Duke - definitely better than
Rice, Vandy - likely better than
Emory - As good as

Deal with it.

Emory is no where near as strong as Cornell.

Rice - depends on program

Vandy - eh. Vandy people are prettier but raw iq is higher at Cornell.

[Anonymous]

For the love of God, it's Ivies, folks. Not Ivy's. Plural not possessive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell should realize it will never out preftige, out woke the rest of the ivies and completely lean the other way

Be the first Ivy to go no legacy and race blind.

You don't actually know anything at all about Cornell, do you?

[Anonymous]

what some people don't realize about Cornell and what makes it unique among the ivies is that it is half a public university.

I went to Cornell and didn't fully realize this before getting there. (My approach to applying for colleges was so different than our approach with our kids. I just applied because a friend's parents went there and liked it.)

Cornell is New York's land-grant university. The Agricultural and life sciences school is public. So are the College of Human Ecology, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Veterinary college. So you really can't compare it to other ivies.

[Anonymous]

Could everyone please stop pretending ranking schools makes any sense at all. So childish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you aren't legacy, don't bother.

or if you aren't a NY state resident, don't bother

Neither of these statements are true

+1 The only person I know currently at Cornell is an out-of-state, non-legacy, non-URM from a GS2 public high school.

This was me (Cornell undergrad) 20 years ago. Not a big legacy school compared to other Ivys.