LakeClouds

My impression from visting Cornell Engineering is that the school is somewhat large and impersonal. People were friendly when approached but it felt like being in a large city rather than a small town. If asked, people would answer a question but seemed eager to get back to their work or task at hand. I had a very different impression at some of the smaller schools where people would take time to have a discussion. Is this just a result of having so many students? Is everyone just a number easily replaced by another student?

Islander4

You just ran into an all too "typical" Cornell student. Trust me, you'll find people a lot more loquacious when you reach campus.

I won't deny that engineers tend to be busy. That should be fairly irrelevant to social interactions though.

faustarp

I think your assessment of the atmosphere in Cornell engineering (and the rest of Cornell) is generally correct. I think that's just how society is in the northeast US. I have spent some time at some smaller schools in the same region (visiting friends, once taking some courses) and it's the same deal. people are busy in a campus setting, and they aren't looking to just converse. there's also just the expectation that you'll mutually leave people alone in public.

I'm also wondering if you're talking about people who are specifically meant to be dealing with prospective students, or just the average person on the street.

LakeClouds

I try to judge schools by people I meet around the campus rather than those paid to be friendly and cheerful - I find them fake at most schools.

Do you think the forced grading curve at Cornell forces students to be more nose-to-the grind-stone? I find it strange for people to be so task oriented at a college.

faustarp

that's a good choice about who to judge a university by.

fyi, there isn't necessarily a forced grading curve. many upper-level courses I took didn't have curves, but then it was still really important to do well on each assignment.
I think regardless of how grades are assigned, though, people are taking challenging courses and care about doing well. that's why people are task oriented. I found that to be a good thing, personally, because I think hard workers make better classmates, especially in things like labs or group projects. it's just nice to be around motivated people.

one thing to remember is that people to not live and eat on the engineering quad. people live at their dorm or apartment and eat at dining halls and restaurants. outside of academic settings you can find plenty of people chilling out and not focusing on their work at every moment. even if people claim they are constantly working it's obvious that they're having down time as well. usually if I bother to go to the library or an academic building, I will be in "nose-to-the-grindstone" mode because that's the time when it's appropriate.