Cornell (AEM) vs. Boston College

BCMan2013
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:50:42 +0000

To the Cornellians on CC,
My GT/TO application has arrived for Cornell AEM, and I am not in danger in any way (my college GPA is high enough and I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary). I would like to ask you guys a few questions, as this is a big decision for me and I don’t want to risk getting it wrong.

1. If there’s one thing I love, it’s BC’s faculty and staff. The faculty and staff are caring and fun to talk to. They are willing to spend office hours going over my questions some. Most that I’ve spent time with are passionate about their field and have pointed me to people I should talk to and what classes I should take. Some have even shared stories about their personal lives, which is really interesting to hear. I’ve heard Cornell’s faculty is nowhere near as kind or as attentive. Is this true, and to what extent?

2. The student body at BC, on the other hand, is boring as hell. Or as I like to call it “too well-rounded”. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of friends there, but as a whole, the student body is homogeneous. Most I’ve met fall under the category of “president of student council/NHS, varsity sports, extremely involved, AP classes, good old American etc.”. Even the interesting people have become more homogeneous as time goes on. The social scene revolves around beer and sports, which I’m not into at all. I want a much more tight-knit community where everyone has different personalities, interests, and stories to tell. To what extent does Cornell provide for a diverse and more low-key student body/social life? Also, are getting into clubs uber-competitive and cutthroat (as in I have to do applications for every single thing that I am interested in)?

3. Cornell’s “no majors outside of your school” policy is hard to take in. Is there any way to get around it, because I would really like to couple AEM with philosophy in CAS?

4. How much more rigorous is Cornell AEM? I found this semester to be surprisingly easy and non-intellectual (hence my high first semester GPA). This might be because it’s only the first semester, so I can’t really talk about the rigors of the school. I want Cornell to be challenging, but not at the expense of my GPA (I am pre-law). Does Cornell provide a rigorous but not impossible to get a high GPA, environment?

5. What makes Cornell special to you?

6. Would you transfer to your top choice school (if not Cornell) if you were given the opportunity to?
Thanks for your help?