Congrats ED! Now, Ask a Current Cornellian...

march319
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:24:49 +0000

Can you describe the things you can do at Cornell? Like specific examples instead of just saying there’s lots of clubs to join. And why do you enjoy Cornell?

I have been involved in a bunch of extracurriculars from greek life to student ambassadors to student government to orientation. Besides extracurriculars I play intramural sports with my fraternity. Anyone can play IM sports and you can make up an IM team with your friends. But besides clubs I always try to go to random events on campus. There is always a concert or a guest speaker or a lecture to go to. On the weekends I go out in Collegetown to bars and house parts and study and go out to eat with friends. During the summer months I’ll swim in the gorges or hang out at Taughannock Falls. And of course like every Cornellians, I enjoy going to Wegman’s to stock up on groceries. There are 100000000x things to do at Cornell. It always seems like there is something going on and that I’m missing one event to go to another.

I have a couple of questions. What are freshman dorms like? Do you recommend buying a laptop through the school? How hard is it to get tickets to sporting events like hockey and basketball?

All the freshman dorms are different. You are randomly placed in a dorm (unless you specify Balch) so there’s really no need for me to go into detail about each one. If you do a search you’ll find a TON of old threads about the different dorms. Nevertheless, let me say this. You are meant for the dorm that you end up in-- you will love it and get close with people in your building and think that there is no better place for you haha.

I’d recommend buying a laptop from the Cornell store. They offer student discounts. Check their prices online and compare them to laptops at other places like BestBuy.

You can buy a Big Red Sportspass which gets you into all sporting events except Varisty Men’s hockey. The pass used to be $40 but I think it’s free now. Men’s Hockey is Cornell’s biggest sport. Tickets are sold as season tickets. Basically you get in line and wait over night to get tickets. It’s a big tradition.

Is it more convenient to use HSBC or Bank of America?
I have B of A with a passion and think they are evil. But they have ATMs in Collegetown and Willard Straight Hall. Same with HSBC. I use M&T and would definitely recommend it because they have an actual branch on campus and in Ctown.

I’m planning on going to Ithaca by bus from NYC. Which bus company is the best/cheapest/fastest/most comfortable?
I’ve always used shortline. It’s about $85 roundtrip, but that was two years ago so the price may have gone up.