2020 Applicants, Ask Questions Here!

IndoorCloud25
Mon, 11 Jan 2016 05:12:38 +0000

@ArthurDent42 I can’t really comment on the finances because that seems like a highly specific and individual question you should ask the Office of Financial Aid.

With regards to grades, it is well known and true that it’s difficult to get and maintain a high GPA without making some sacrifices. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. That being said, if your goal is to have a 3.8+ while doing research and having a life outside of academics, you need to learn time management. For me, I was able to get a 3.786 in engineering my first semester by sacrificing some social and extracurricular activities that I sometimes regret not attending. You really have to think about the goals you want to achieve. If getting into grad school is your end goal, then spending more time on academics is probably worth it for you. I think many would agree that myths about the difficulty of getting a high GPA are mostly accurate, but can be blown out of proportion. Plus, by the time you reach higher level classes and become an upperclassman, most classes are curved higher and average GPA rises considerably. Lastly, one of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of grad students at Cornell are not from Ivies or comparable schools, but state schools and mid-tier schools because it’s not as difficult to do well there and much cheaper. If you want, check out some of the department pages like the math department to read some of the profiles of PhD candidates to see where they come from.