Cornell is tough. Lots of really bright and gifted kids that push the curve. STEM courses are tough. My son took a freshman writing seminar where he thought he was earning an A. Showed up to each class and participated in discussion, met with professor during office hours about research paper to ensure it was on track and he still ended up with a B. He questioned the prof about his final grade and he said he only gave out so many As, he was close but apparently not A quality to him. This class was supposed to be his ‘easy’ class too to help his gpa that suffered from a bad Calc grade 