Cornell CS vs JHU- competitive pressure and happiness

srparent15
Thu, 29 Apr 2021 18:47:48 +0000

If he plans to do CS then Cornell is much better than Hopkins as Hopkins isn’t really on the radar for CS. If he isn’t sure then it’s irrelevant. It isn’t a mile walk in cold days to Engineering or any classes from the freshman dorms because many kids just take the free bus door to door so no one has to walk. My daughter is in CS at Cornell and has found it to be extremely collaborative. But as @momofboiler1 mentioned, if your son is interested in joining clubs and activities like a project team, etc. those are very competitive and he has to put himself out there and be prepared to not be accepted. That’s ok. He also has to be prepared to not get all A’s. That’s also ok. I wouldn’t say it’s a competitive environment more so that it’s stressful and a lot of work. Mine doesn’t feel she’s in competition with others, but she feels overly stressed with deadlines and tests (prelims) stacked one right after the other. Some parents don’t like that prelims are at night (big deal) or weekends (also big deal). But mental health for some, and the sun not shining a lot is a serious issue. If your kid sees a therapist of any kind, I would make sure that does not stop once he goes to school. Mental health of any sort is vital and some kids need that. Parents asking for these resources on the parent page often say it’s hard to get appointments or people are full, etc. There was a recent student death a few weeks ago. The family doesn’t want details shared so I can’t say what happened but you can google. That’s not uncommon on college campuses in any case. But people need to be aware that it is a pressure cooker and they cannot go to Cornell for the Ivy name only. It is not worth it. It’s more about fit than anything.

I have another daughter who intentionally chose not to go to any Ivies. She was worried we were disappointed in her decision. I told her absolutely not. I wasn’t the one going to college she was. I could never be disappointed in my kids with one exception. If they didn’ try their best. Cornell or any Ivy would not have been for her. She is a perfectionist. She would not have been able to handle getting a B+ at Cornell. Or the constant stress.

While mine have never needed the help of a therapist or have mental health issues, I have a child that does have SAD and their father is a psychiatrist so we are always on the lookout for our kids mental health and we ask constant questions, always try to be supportive of them, and if they need help we are there for them. So, take all of this into consideration when your son is making his final decision. My daughter absolutely loves Cornell, loves being around smart people. Her sister absolutely loves where she is and is also with smart people, but she is also with more mainstream people in her non-Honors classes (sometimes she sees the big difference) but the bottom line is they couldn’t be happier with their decision.

@momofboiler1 is a Cornell alum who clearly didn’t push her D to go to an Ivy or “elite” college and he daughter is highly successful at a top engineering school but with different recognition than what people think an Ivy means. (Hope that makes sense).

Key word being FIT for the student.