Cornell - honest opinion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS was accepted two years ago for CS. Originally applied ED, was deferred and got in during regular decision. DS ended up going elsewhere.

While I’m sure he would have been happy there, he is really thriving where he ended up. Ultimately it was the Cornell admitted student’s day (April) that turned him off and made him reconsider. Things that made him rethink Cornell were class sizes (especially for intro classes) and lack of freshmen with summer internships. It also seemed the college of engineering did nothing for admitted students day - opened up buildings for touring in your own and a few tables in a lobby with a handful of students to answer questions. It was pretty lame. The weather was horrible that weekend too.

They couldn’t throw together a presentation on why Cornell CS or Engineering is so great. They couldn’t bother to have a few professors there. We did our best to ask our questions to the student reps. Their responses were probably the most honest we would get but did not put Cornell in a great light - eg classes could be 1000+.

This raises an important point about Cornell re 'fit'. Cornell, especially STEM but really across the board, is a research-focused university, and perhaps on the opposite end of a SLAC in terms of undergraduate attention. The Professors are great and do interact with undergrads, but their prime focus is on their research programs and (grad/postdoc) research groups. It is a good fit for an undergrad that is very self-directed and independent academically, but not as much for students who want more from the faculty than solid and rigorous courses and exposure to academic research. One exception to this is that Cornell has extremely strong professional networks across the board and these are excellent for undergrads aiming to find alumni mentors and professional peer groups. But in general I don't think it's the kind of place where departments and faculty are going to put on a big tap dance for undergrads about how great their department/program is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD graduated last year. She did not think Environmental Engineering would be on the list of competitive majors. The last few years have not had much snow. It does have grey winters but she loved the campus, the arboretum, the sunsets on the slope. She was looking for a northern climate so that is not something everyone does tough. She had a solid group of friends in her engineering major. They studied ALOT (imo) but were not competitive.

I imagine someone with a different major or someone involved in Greek life could have a very different experience. It is a big school.

For me, the workload for engineering was challenging but the culture wasn’t competitive at all. And many engineers did join fraternities/sororities but they weren’t typically as active as others with less demanding workloads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was accepted two years ago for CS. Originally applied ED, was deferred and got in during regular decision. DS ended up going elsewhere.

While I’m sure he would have been happy there, he is really thriving where he ended up. Ultimately it was the Cornell admitted student’s day (April) that turned him off and made him reconsider. Things that made him rethink Cornell were class sizes (especially for intro classes) and lack of freshmen with summer internships. It also seemed the college of engineering did nothing for admitted students day - opened up buildings for touring in your own and a few tables in a lobby with a handful of students to answer questions. It was pretty lame. The weather was horrible that weekend too.

They couldn’t throw together a presentation on why Cornell CS or Engineering is so great. They couldn’t bother to have a few professors there. We did our best to ask our questions to the student reps. Their responses were probably the most honest we would get but did not put Cornell in a great light - eg classes could be 1000+.

This raises an important point about Cornell re 'fit'. Cornell, especially STEM but really across the board, is a research-focused university, and perhaps on the opposite end of a SLAC in terms of undergraduate attention. The Professors are great and do interact with undergrads, but their prime focus is on their research programs and (grad/postdoc) research groups. It is a good fit for an undergrad that is very self-directed and independent academically, but not as much for students who want more from the faculty than solid and rigorous courses and exposure to academic research. One exception to this is that Cornell has extremely strong professional networks across the board and these are excellent for undergrads aiming to find alumni mentors and professional peer groups. But in general I don't think it's the kind of place where departments and faculty are going to put on a big tap dance for undergrads about how great their department/program is.

Agree with this. I was able to work on two cool research projects but only because I took the time to establish a relationship with those professors and expressed interest.

There are many cool opportunities, but you need to seek them out yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opinions about the Cornell "experience" primarily depend on the major/school and, secondarily, how outdoorsy the kid is. My outdoorsy kid majoring in Psychoiogy absolutely loved Cornell. Played on club sports team, greek life, campus job, took 5 Physical Education classes (sailing, skiing, golf, mountain biking, ice climbing) when only 2 were required, etc. Graduated with very good grades.

My STEM kid there found it to be a grind -- requiring tremendous about of lab and study time in order to earn decent grades for medical school applications.

As others have said, I highly recommend spending at least one undergraduate summer on campus taking advantage of the lake, hiking, wineries, golf, easy parking, etc.

Definitely! The Ithaca summer is glorious. Cayuga Lake, Taughannock and Buttermilk Falls, and just the campus itself are beautiful during the warmer months. It does get hot and humid, but not unbearably so - certainly worlds better than DMV area during the summer. I worked on campus several summers and had a great time. A lot of students stay on campus to either work, take classes, or both... so chances are at least some friends would be sticking around for the summer. The only tricky part was finding a place to live because at the time, the dorms weren't open for living space; I ended up subletting from a friend who lived off campus and went home for the summer, which worked out well.

+1

Summers are amazing!

[Anonymous]

My kid is a senior at Cornell.

The weather is similar to elsewhere in the northeast. I am from upstate NY and always think Boston is colder and windier.

Ithaca in the Fall is wonderful. We went in late October and went to wineries on the lake and enjoyed the views outside. Beautiful weather. My kid doesn’t wear a winter coat until he returns to Ithaca in the spring semester.

Of course, it gets cold and cloudy. I think February is probably toughest month. But again, like elsewhere in NE.

My kid really likes Cornell and doesn’t complain about weather at all. Cornell opens doors in his field.

The school is large and doesn’t have just one vibe. There are students into Greek life and parties, and also students that do not drink or party. Lots of diversity on campus with students from all over the world. My kid mentions the crazy loud party kids making noise at 3:00 walking down the street. He has never mentioned Cornell being competitive. He thinks Cornell is a big party school compared to CMU or John’s Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a large campus that would require a lot of walking (or waiting outside for buses). It is also quite hilly.

This would be a detraction for my child.
Summers in Ithaca are gorgeous. Would he likely stay there in the summer (like to work in a lab) or be elsewhere (like for a business internship)?

My kid had similar concerns about a school in Maine (where we were warned about it getting dark at like 4pm??)

Bowdoin gets dark an hour earlier than where we are this time of year. Depending on how your class schedule false you may not get much time outside on your own during daylight hours. That is a factor my DC is considering since he is looking at schools in Maine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opinions about the Cornell "experience" primarily depend on the major/school and, secondarily, how outdoorsy the kid is. My outdoorsy kid majoring in Psychoiogy absolutely loved Cornell. Played on club sports team, greek life, campus job, took 5 Physical Education classes (sailing, skiing, golf, mountain biking, ice climbing) when only 2 were required, etc. Graduated with very good grades.

My STEM kid there found it to be a grind -- requiring tremendous about of lab and study time in order to earn decent grades for medical school applications.

As others have said, I highly recommend spending at least one undergraduate summer on campus taking advantage of the lake, hiking, wineries, golf, easy parking, etc.

If you aren’t going to major in stem or gun for Wall Street/mbb consulting then why wouldn’t a “outdoorsy” kid go to cu-boulder instead?

Hmmm... lets see....just for starters....
1. Because Cornell is ranked #12 by USNEWS while CU Boulder is ranked #105.
2. Because CU-Boulder lacks many of the non-STEM programs offered by Cornell (e.g. Human Ecology, ILR, Hotel Administration, Architecture)
3. Because CU-Boulder requires expensive flights to/from Colorado while Cornell is only a 4-6 hour bus ride to/from DC, Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, etc.
4. Because Cornell has a much better reputation for grad school/law school/industry applications.
5. Because Cornell offers great financial aid -- making it less expensive for most non Colorado families with financial need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of weather, it's important to distinguish that students majoring in engineering and CS are having a very different experience at Cornell than the hospitality or the humanities students. I'd throw in Dyson too - Applied Econ and Management. Those three programs are incredibly competitive. There are known to be difficult, intense, and cutthroat. You either have the disposition for it, or you don't - particularly engineering and CS.

It's probably best for students that like the outdoors, can compartmentalize, and have an outgoing personality that makes it easy to make friends. I'd be wary of sending an introvert with Seasonal Affective Disorder to do STEM at cold and dark Cornell. Hotel Administration and the softer majors will be different. Plenty of time to join clubs or the Greek system. But engineering and CS are very time consuming majors at Cornell.

Dyson difficulty is closer to the hotel school than Engineering/CS.

Is Cornell Applied Econ really considered difficult and cutthroat? Curious to hear more about this major - is it a Wall Street feeder or something like that? Back in my day at Cornell (Arts and Sci) no one really understood what/who that major was supposed to be for.

yeah, I'm curious as well. I'm one of the alum PP's who graduated in the 2000s and I don't remember the AEM major having a reputation for being super competitive or challenging. My best friend majored in AEM and he breezed through it, by his own admission, as did a lot of his other friends in the major. The Economics majors in Arts&Sciences seemed to gripe a lot more about their problem sets and courseload. However, this was back when AEM was solely housed under the Agriculture school; I'm not familiar with the Dyson structure or affiliation with the Business school. Maybe that's upped the competitiveness of AEM somehow?

The business school now houses Nolan (hotel admin) and Dyson (applied economics) While Nolan has the highest acceptance rate at Cornell, Dyson has the lowest, even lower acceptance than engineering. It’s incredibly competitive to get into with a 5% acceptance rate.

Lower acceptance rate doesn’t necessarily correlate with difficulty. Business major at Berkeley has an acceptance rate close to EECS but its difficulty is not comparable.

[Anonymous]

There are a good number of athletes in Dyson. It’s not one of the more difficult undergrad majors at Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opinions about the Cornell "experience" primarily depend on the major/school and, secondarily, how outdoorsy the kid is. My outdoorsy kid majoring in Psychoiogy absolutely loved Cornell. Played on club sports team, greek life, campus job, took 5 Physical Education classes (sailing, skiing, golf, mountain biking, ice climbing) when only 2 were required, etc. Graduated with very good grades.

My STEM kid there found it to be a grind -- requiring tremendous about of lab and study time in order to earn decent grades for medical school applications.

As others have said, I highly recommend spending at least one undergraduate summer on campus taking advantage of the lake, hiking, wineries, golf, easy parking, etc.

If you aren’t going to major in stem or gun for Wall Street/mbb consulting then why wouldn’t a “outdoorsy” kid go to cu-boulder instead?

Hmmm... lets see....just for starters....
1. Because Cornell is ranked #12 by USNEWS while CU Boulder is ranked #105.
2. Because CU-Boulder lacks many of the non-STEM programs offered by Cornell (e.g. Human Ecology, ILR, Hotel Administration, Architecture)
3. Because CU-Boulder requires expensive flights to/from Colorado while Cornell is only a 4-6 hour bus ride to/from DC, Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, etc.
4. Because Cornell has a much better reputation for grad school/law school/industry applications.
5. Because Cornell offers great financial aid -- making it less expensive for most non Colorado families with financial need.

All you have say is it is an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The opinions about the Cornell "experience" primarily depend on the major/school and, secondarily, how outdoorsy the kid is. My outdoorsy kid majoring in Psychoiogy absolutely loved Cornell. Played on club sports team, greek life, campus job, took 5 Physical Education classes (sailing, skiing, golf, mountain biking, ice climbing) when only 2 were required, etc. Graduated with very good grades.

My STEM kid there found it to be a grind -- requiring tremendous about of lab and study time in order to earn decent grades for medical school applications.

As others have said, I highly recommend spending at least one undergraduate summer on campus taking advantage of the lake, hiking, wineries, golf, easy parking, etc.

If you aren’t going to major in stem or gun for Wall Street/mbb consulting then why wouldn’t a “outdoorsy” kid go to cu-boulder instead?

Hmmm... lets see....just for starters....
1. Because Cornell is ranked #12 by USNEWS while CU Boulder is ranked #105.
2. Because CU-Boulder lacks many of the non-STEM programs offered by Cornell (e.g. Human Ecology, ILR, Hotel Administration, Architecture)
3. Because CU-Boulder requires expensive flights to/from Colorado while Cornell is only a 4-6 hour bus ride to/from DC, Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, etc.
4. Because Cornell has a much better reputation for grad school/law school/industry applications.
5. Because Cornell offers great financial aid -- making it less expensive for most non Colorado families with financial need.

All you have say is it is an Ivy.

C’mon, it’s part of a football league, and some of the others in that league are, you know, Harvard. And Yale. So it must be a good school right!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was accepted two years ago for CS. Originally applied ED, was deferred and got in during regular decision. DS ended up going elsewhere.

While I’m sure he would have been happy there, he is really thriving where he ended up. Ultimately it was the Cornell admitted student’s day (April) that turned him off and made him reconsider. Things that made him rethink Cornell were class sizes (especially for intro classes) and lack of freshmen with summer internships. It also seemed the college of engineering did nothing for admitted students day - opened up buildings for touring in your own and a few tables in a lobby with a handful of students to answer questions. It was pretty lame. The weather was horrible that weekend too.

They couldn’t throw together a presentation on why Cornell CS or Engineering is so great. They couldn’t bother to have a few professors there. We did our best to ask our questions to the student reps. Their responses were probably the most honest we would get but did not put Cornell in a great light - eg classes could be 1000+.

This raises an important point about Cornell re 'fit'. Cornell, especially STEM but really across the board, is a research-focused university, and perhaps on the opposite end of a SLAC in terms of undergraduate attention. The Professors are great and do interact with undergrads, but their prime focus is on their research programs and (grad/postdoc) research groups. It is a good fit for an undergrad that is very self-directed and independent academically, but not as much for students who want more from the faculty than solid and rigorous courses and exposure to academic research. One exception to this is that Cornell has extremely strong professional networks across the board and these are excellent for undergrads aiming to find alumni mentors and professional peer groups. But in general I don't think it's the kind of place where departments and faculty are going to put on a big tap dance for undergrads about how great their department/program is.

I’m the PP you are quoting. DS ended up at a university twice the size of Cornell. Both have top 10 rated CS programs. Both universities do lots of research and have strong grad school programs. In fact, Cornell “visited” this university to learn about their CS program.

His intro classes can be large (~200-300 students), but never 1000+ students like we were told Cornell has. At this university, the admitted student day had a presentation from the department chairman and another professor.. Other presentations were from students. Both professor presentation were relatively canned (eg minimal effort for them to pull together). The chairman presentation was on why this university’s CS program over other universities and other professor presentation was about computer simulation work he did for movies. They made the effort. It took max 2 hours of the professors time. Cornell CS made absolutely no effort. The impression we got from
Cornell is that as student you are absolutely a number and they are living off their reputation.

As a parent, I’m making a decision to drop $240K in the case of Cornell. I traveled to them to make help this decision and Cornell CS couldn’t bother to show up. They had a handful of students in a hallway to answer our questions. That was it. Guess they were too busy with their “research” (btw - buildings were empty when we were wandering around). Other schools are able to do research and show up for admitted students.

In fact, DS’ university encourages freshmen to engage in research. One of his friends (sophomore) just presented at a conference this Christmas break. Didn’t hear about any undergrad research opportunities at Cornell at all. Maybe they do, but wouldn’t know it.

As for Cornell network, a current senior posted on our neighborhood listserv this past spring looking for an internship over the summer. It actually struck me as a little odd as I would have thought Cornell/ivy networking would kick in over our VA suburban neighborhood. Of course, this is could just be a one off type thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it gets very cold at Cornell, but the real weather related issue is the overcast, dreary days that can trigger depression/ SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

I appreciate you bringing this up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it gets very cold at Cornell, but the real weather related issue is the overcast, dreary days that can trigger depression/ SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

I appreciate you bringing this up.

OP here - have been doing a bit more research and that seems to be key. Seems schools in Boston area may be cold, but somehow not as overcast and campuses are more compact. So when it snows or we enter the muddy season it might not seem so bad if things are more compact.

I do worry about SAD for DC and also worry if he will just want to veg in his room a bit too much in his free time if it is freezing outside and the place he wanted to go to was a mile away in the dark.

[Anonymous]

I attended Cornell in the mid to late 90s. The campus is remote, which can somehow make the weather feel worse than in Boston. I hate the cold, but honestly the weather wasn’t really an issue for me. I enjoyed my time there and made great lifelong friends and generally thrived. But it’s a very intense place. The academics are intense, the social life is intense, etc. I also didn’t find it very supportive, but fortunately I didn’t need a lot of school-provided support and I know resources existed. It’s just up to the students to avail themselves of the resources. I worked very hard, was in a sorority and can say there was a lot of drinking/partying, but I knew all kinds of people who were happy there.