They also search dorms during winter break while kids are away, not just freshman dorms.
To be completely honest, alcohol and drugs are a fact of life when it comes to a majority of colleges. At Cornell, many students choose to partake in activities involving one or both but there are also many students that never interact with either substance in their 4 years here.
Random question-but for women, are there any good hair salons nearby or is the best thing to do head to NYC and pay a fortune?
Hi, I hope this thread is still open. I’d like to how flexible Cornell’s academics are. I’m deciding between Cornell and Macalester, and I’ve heard that Cornell has a heavy workload and is hard to graduate from. Would it be a bad decision to choose Cornell if I wanted to explore more than a few majors? (CAS Student) Thank you very much.
My D is currently in doubt about choosing Cornell Engineering or Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science (she was admitted for both). I believe both schools have rigorous workload, so this is a non-issue. However, she thought that CMU has a really well structured program for computer science – but forget about a social life. While, when visiting Cornell, she felt she could have a more well-rounded college experience – but possibly less quality in CS instruction than CMU. I think my real question — I am concerned that CS in Cornell maybe as intense as CMU, so how much actual social life can someone in Cornell Engineering trying to affiliate to CS major really expect in college?
What do you like best about Cornell? What do u like least about Cornell?
Are the townhouses a good option for incoming freshman?
@rolofolo – Students at Cornell are allowed to enroll in courses in any of the seven U/G colleges, as long as the student satisfies the pre-req for the course. As an ILR student, I took classes in ILR, A&S, Ag, Engineering (that was a mistake as I was not a math person), Hotel, and JGSM (the MBA program). The university’s motto: “Any student, any study”. I finished in four years.
Each colleges has its very own specific course and distribution requirements. You can find those on the Cornell site and determine if you think the requirements are restrictive.
In answer to your question: “Would it be a bad decision to choose Cornell if I wanted to explore more than a few majors?” No, it would be the correct place to go as students are encouraged to pursue studies wherever they want among the 4000 offered courses. Now, if you want to double major and triple minor…that I cannot address as that is a more recent trend.
@PentaDad – I don’t know enough to answer your question but want to say that even the Engineers have a social life. They join clubs, singing groups, fraternities and sororities, etc. Now the architect students do not get out quite as often.
@okie97 – I am many years out of Cornell so don’t know of current salons. I used to walk downtown to the Commons to get my hair cut. I did want to mention though that it is a four hour ride to Manhattan, so that may not be the most practical solution.
@CT1417 Thank you very much for your answer. I’d like to know a few more things about Cornell, if you have the time. Would Cornell’s professors offer the same level of mentorship and guidance (criticism, advice) that would be found at a smaller liberal arts school? As an undergrad, I’m looking for personal growth and development as much as academic achievement, and I’m not yet sure if I’d be able to find it at Cornell, with its large size and research focus. Am I mistaken about this?
Thank you again.
@PentaDad
I’m trying to make the same decision. In terms of CS, admission to Engineer doesn’t guarantee you a CS major. CS Major is the hardest to get in. However, getting into Cornell CS shouldn’t be a problem if she can handle the workload of CMU. CMU is easily the hardest CS school in the nation (harder than caltech and MIT). They have a reputation for being tough. In fact, i contacted them asking if there are research opportunities, and they responded with are you kidding? You will be busy studying for classes! So no, Cornell is no where near as intense as CMU, but it is probably the most intense in the ivy (maybe after princeton). It really depends what she want to do outside of undergraduate. Does she want to go to graduate or no? If she intend to work in the industry right after undergraduate, then CMU is definitely the right place. The rigorous workload will prepare you for that environment. On top of that, CMU is a well known name in the CMU Industry. If she manages to survive CMU undergraduate, there will definitely be a high paying job available after graduation. However, CMU does not have the same reputation in academia as it does in industry. So if she wants to go to grad school, then it would be a slightly harder decision. This is just my take on thing from what i heard.
@idkName Thanks! However, does Cornell limit the number of CS major students? (Your comment “CS Major is the hardest to get in”). The requirement for CS affiliation in the Cornell seems straightforward (essentially C or better for all pre-reqs)
@PentaDad, I believe so. I’m not completely sure. My father contacted Cornell regarding this, and they said the two most competitive majors are computer science and chemical engineering. Basically, from what i heard, it is a double selection. The Cornell admission guarantee admission into school of engineering. Then, the departments from the school have to pick the students based on their performance in Cornell. However, this really shouldn’t influence your decision, because if your daughter can do well in CMU, I’m pretty sure she will be able to get the major in Cornell.
By the way, my D thought she made a mistake in applying to Cornell Engineering, since she feels that she would be more comfortable studying CS through the College of Arts and Sciences. How soon can a student request to change from Engineering to the College of Arts and Sciences? Is there any difference in terms of chances (more difficult) to get into the CS degree if student is from the College of Arts and Sciences ?
@PentaDad, ooo that is going to be a little bit difficult. I actually made the same mistake in Umichigan, but reversed. In Umichigan, the CS department in art and sciences is a hollow department. It means that there are no faculty there. I still had to take courses from the Engineering school. I’m 99% sure that is the same case for Cornell. You will still be in same the classroom as Engineering. The only difference is the requirements for the degree. Engineering has more math/science requirement while arts and sciences has more humanities requirement. So, the only difficulty difference is the courses she have the take, not the courses themselves. If she is going into field of engineering, I highly recommend staying in the school of Engineering. Now, i’m not sure in terms of the difficulty of getting in the department themselves.
P.S
if she is worried about difficulty of CS in Cornell, then I highly recommend her not attend CMU. That place destroys people. I heard 1 in 4 CS majors drop out, but I been told that as long as I’m above average there, I’ll have a good career.
Sorry been a while since I’ve checked this tread (I’ll blame spring break).
@okie97 There are certainly a few options in college town. Also Big Red Barbershop is also nice if you are looking just for a simple cut.
About CS stuff, I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge (have many engineer friends).
So CS is in both CAS and Engineering but really the only difference between CS in either major is the distribution/requirements that come with being in those particular schools. Like someone mentioned, Engineering will come with the physics/math requirements while CAS will come with the language and humanities requirements. Other than that, I highly doubt there are any “CS differences” if that makes any sense. Apart from that, CS at Cornell is one of the best in the country no doubt. I know CMU is probably, if not, the best but Cornell isn’t terribly far behind and definitely above the rest of the ivy league to the best of my knowledge. My CS friends should have no trouble getting good jobs. Obviously the course load is hard and challenging but thats what you get with Cornell. Employers know that and as long as hard work is put in, most people do well enough GPA to not have to worry about that being a problem.
About social life, Cornell is a hard school once again. This is especially true in the sciences, engineering, premed, etc. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to time management. The average Cornell student finds a way to socialize and definitely doesn’t spend all of his/her time studying, I certainly don’t. This means parties, clubs, greek life, sports, theater, drama, etc, etc.
Hmm, townhouses are certainly an interesting option but it all depends on what you want out of your freshmen experience. I lived in one of the freshmen dorm and had a blast because I got to meet so many people, make lots of friends, and basically just have a lot of good experiences. The townhouses are a little bit out of the way in that they are at the top of North Campus and that they are very apartment/house type which is very different than your typical dorm. If thats what you want then by all means go for it! They are definitely nice in terms of quality. But either way, you’ll meet lots of people but just realize that townhouses are not the same as your typical college dorms.
@matrixsurgeon My son was offered the option to enroll at Cornell next year as a sophomore. Do you know anyone who has done that? He would be coming from the Midwest, from our state flagship where there are tons of kids from our area. I know he is excited about the opportunity. I’m just wondering if it will be really hard to jump in as a sophomore.
@CAMidwestMom – jumping in here. The GT program at Cornell is fairly large and well-established. I think there may be 500 students who enroll as sophomores. A current student can address this better than I can, but I believe they house them all on West Campus (as opposed to North Campus, where the 3400 freshmen are housed). There are also other upperclassmen on West Campus.
As to whether or not it will e difficult to jump in…I will leave that to others also. I think this will vary by school. For example, the close-knit Hotel School has a sizable # (maybe 70) who start as sophomores, giving them all a peer group.
Sophomores are welcome to rush and some of my sorority friends started as sophomores or January admits.
Best of luck to your son.
@CAMidwestMom I have a few friends who transferred in freshman spring/sophomore year.
The sophomore transfers told me it was slightly more challenging to find a close-knit group of friends, but not impossible. A lot of people form their friend groups during freshman year and they become more reserved as sophomores. But as long as your son goes to clubs/campus events/etc., he’ll have no problem maintaining a good social life.
@CAMidwestMom
I’ll just second what has already been said. GT/January Admit has been a fairly established program at Cornell so from an administrative standpoint theres no issue. Obviously, as there is with any transfer, your son would have to adjust between where they went to school and Cornell once they get here but thats usually not a problem because there are tons of opportunities around campus to get to know people/make friends/etc. Its not hard to join stuff like Greek Life or sports as sophmores. If Cornell is what your son really wants, I have no doubt he will make it work and enjoy his 3 years here.
And about housing, Cornell does a good job with sophomore on-campus housing for those that don’t go off-campus or go into Greek Life as a freshmen. West Campus is probably one of the best college “house system” in the country and its meant for sophomores so I believe your son would also be eligible for that.