oldfort

Cornell was not my daughter's first choice because of the location. She thought she wanted to be in more of an urban setting. But after her first week at Cornell, swimming at the gorge, she said it was a "little piece of heaven on earth." She is abroad this semester, at one of the prettiest place in the world, she misses Cornell and her friends. She is studying at one of the best universities in that country, but she finds it's no comparison to her classes at Cornell.

My brother graduated many years ago. His eyes still light up when he speaks of Cornell. He has lived around the world. Every time he moves to a new place he would use his Cornell contact.

As a parent, I am very proud of the fact my daughter is at Cornell. Not because it's an Ivy (it's a plus), but because of the kind of education she is getting and friends she is making. I think many of those friendship will last her a life time.

Tboonepickens

this is the definition of school spirit if you ask me:

YouTube - Cayuga's Waiters - We Didn't Go To Harvard


cayuga waiters- "we didn't go to harvard"

I love cornell, and I mean love, not teenage crush, not admire from a distance. LOVE. and she loves me too.

Thold

When I was applying to schools I only applied to Cornell because it had the program I wanted and because of its name/status. However upon visiting I fell in love with Cornell. Now that I'm here I know for sure that I made the right choice. Before ranking the schools your applying to, be sure to visit (if you can), and do as much research as possible. Honestly I wish i would have visited in time to submit an ED application, it would have saved me lots of money, and plenty of frustration applying to other schools.

somni

how can you tie cornell with brown? they are very different and you should know what style of education you want.

whitecadillac

yeah, they're different but each offers many things i like.

both of them -- superb faculty, interesting classes, great student body, lots of intriguing clubs that i'd love to get involved in.

brown -- open curriculum (i don't mind a core curriculum, but i'd probably prefer the open curriculum), decent city life, decent film program, liberal, possibly more artsy

cornell -- maybe slightly better film program, beautiful location, liberal but not overwhelmingly so? (which i might like better than just 'liberal'), better architecture? (not sure but i've read some threads where people were disappointed with brown's actual buildings, but anyone can feel free to correct me)

overall, i'm starting to sway towards cornell as my second choice, but brown's open curriculum is the main thing keeping it close to cornell for me.

Tboonepickens

^ you may want to completely rethink your ranking list, its really ****ing lame. I don't think that architecture will have nearly as much an impact on your four years in college as the base of friends you will make and the experiences you will have academically and otherwise. When you are 70, and looking back on your days in XYZ university, are you going to admire the architecture? No, you are going to remember your friends and the experiences you had with them. And I am not attacking browns student body at all in this post. My point is that the student bodies are distinctly different, and you should chose the one that is right for you.

Ny0rker

what makes the student bodies distinctly different? how are they different?

whitecadillac

@tboone:

wow, way to overreact to one single criterion i mentioned. my ranking system isn't based solely on architecture...maybe you didn't read my post thoroughly enough. personally, i'm a lover of beauty and nature, and if there are two schools that are really close for me, i WILL take into consideration the way the campus looks and the natural beauty of the surrounding environment. it's not the most important thing, obviously, but it's at least worth considering imo.

besides, i believe i'll make friends at any university i go to, i KNOW i'd meet outstanding individuals at both cornell and brown, and i also know i'll make the best experiences at whatever college i go to as well.

did you read the part where i stated that both universities boast a great student body? i believe it's true, and i'd like to find one person who would say "you'll make tons of friends at cornell, but you won't make any at brown". you say you aren't attacking brown's student body, but i don't know what point you're trying to make. there is diversity in both student bodies. not everyone at cornell is the same, and not everyone at brown is the same. for you to seem to think otherwise is ridiculous.

but for the sake of argument, what all-encompassing differences do you think the student bodies possess?

anothermom2

"If you're a preppy you have probably been rejected by each ivy league school except...Cornell" sung to the tune of Downtown, by Cayuga's Waiters. (Don't know if it is on you tube.)

Cornell is not for everyone, but after an education there, few other things in life seem difficult.

whitecadillac

if you're preppy? that's the big difference? sorry, but somehow i doubt every single student at cornell is preppy or that there are not plenty of preps at other ivies. it just doesn't add up. hopefully you were joking; it's hard to tell over the net sometimes.

anothermom2

It's a funny SONG parody, by the famous Cayuga's Waiters singing group (famous to Cornellians, alumni and friends of Cornell.) It's sung to the tune of Downtown made famous by Petula Clark - yes, famous before you were born.

Of course not everyone at Cornell is preppy, or was rejected at each Ivy league school. As you kids would say - tons of alumni send their kids there as their first choice.

whitecadillac

ha, i know the song 'downtown'. listen to it all the time actually. and yes, i understand the cayuga waiters' song is a parody song. but since i'm not an expert on cornell history yet (sorry), i was unclear if it was a inside joke among cornellians or an actual attack on them. sorry again.

Tboonepickens

I am not saying that everyone at Cornell/Brown is the same. I am telling you to visit if you haven't already and get a feel for the campus and the kind of people there. I feel at home at cornell, and I would most probably feel worse at brown, but this is just me. I think if you visit these schools you will have a very clear view on which is your top choice because of their distinct differences.


Differences include (not limited to):
cornell has a large greek scene, brown does not
IIRC brown's music/art scene is much more developed than cornell

roneald

You could say that about any college. This tells me nothing about anything about your fit at any school.

As far as your justification for what Brown offers with its "open curriculum",, I can see you've done little research on Cornell's curriculum. I have less requirements to meet in ILR than someone does at Brown. Also, there are no "core classes" that all students must take in CAS like at a state school, but rather distribution requirements that must be filled with classes of your choice, which is far more aligned with a LAC. If anything, I've heard people who want the LAC experience prefer Cornell's system system to Brown's, which provides you with a real liberal arts education because your studying in all the disciples of the liberal arts, not just one sector (which many students end up doing at Brown; resulting in what Brown calls concentrations, not majors).

I have nothing against Brown, but I have not once heard an argument that has compelled me PERSONALLY to ever choose it over Cornell, which is why I didn't apply (I haven't heard you give a good reason either, for the record).

In his defense you named four criterion, two of which you weren't sure about (maybe a better film program; liberal but not overwhelmingly so).

You say you've done your research, but I haven't seen much of it. There are very critical differences between Brown and Cornell, few if none of which you have touched on. I would really recommend talking to some alumni so you can get a better grasp of the schools you want to apply to, and don't have to fall on justification such as "have clubs I want to join" or "have superb faculty and interesting student bodies".

whitecadillac

1.) unfortunately, i can't visit the campuses. as much as i would love to (and i really really would, believe me), i don't have the money to fly out there right now. if i get accepted, THEN i finally will get to see the schools before making my decision. trust me; i know it's extremely important to visit, as the actual feel on campus is critical.

2.) you can't say "superb faculty, interesting classes, great student body, lots of intriguing clubs that i'd love to get involved in" for any college. i don't want to name names, but there are plenty of colleges i've researched that don't offer organizations i'm interested in, and you obviously know that the faculty and nature of classes is going to be a lot different at an ivy than at a state school, for example.

3.) can you direct me to the place on the website that talks about cornell's requirements? i can't find it under 'academics' or through google.

but even so, if it's a true liberal arts education, it'll most likely include english, social science, science, and some type of math or quantitative reasoning, no? that's definitely different than an open curriculum. even though, in brown's case, most people end up taking classes in all the core 4 anyway.

4.) and out of four criterion, he decides to act like i'm basing my decision off architecture (which clearly i wasn't.) like i explained, it is something i consider. if a campus's appearance is irrelevant to you, that's your preference. but i'd prefer an aesthetically-beautiful, clean, well-maintained campus. (and i'm not saying that brown isn't, i'm just saying i've heard cornell is better in this department.)

5.) well, can you illuminate any distinct differences for me? all tboone said was that greek life is bigger at cornell and art scene is bigger at brown. that doesn't really mean a whole lot to me though, because you can surely find a greek scene at brown if you want and an art scene at cornell if you want. i mean, if the greek scene totally DOMINATES cornell's social scene, then yeah...that might be different...but even so, there are so many organizations i'm interested in at cornell, that i don't think i'd have a hard time finding my own friends. all ivies are going to comprise a ton of bright, motivated, interesting people anyway, and i get along with people from all different interests/backgrounds, so i don't think it's going to be a problem for me one way or another.