<p>yeah…I went to SUNY New Paltz. I have other friends who came in after a year from schools such as Cal Poly, Binghamton, NYU, UPitt, U Maryland and Boston College…but, they were also NYS residents.</p>
<p>Hmm. That’s interesting. Thanks for the info., dewdrop! I’m glad you didn’t give up in trying to get in, even without a GT. That should give hope to others today, I’d think, especially if they are looking to get into CALS. Did you plan to apply again in a year all along, or did you hear of someone else doing that? I ask because the “typical” regular transfer year is after 2 years at another college.</p>
<p>I was majorly bummed about how my whole college application process turned out and wasn’t happy about going to a SUNY so I knew I wanted to get out as fast as I could. Cornell was my dream and I realized that I wasn’t a good fit for CAS. I called CALS…asked to speak with the director of transfer admissions and got the ball rolling in August…before I even started my freshman year :-)</p>
<p>Wow, dewdrop87–that’s really hopeful news for other people, I’d think! Good for you for having that kind of initiative! Cornell obviously recognized it. That’s a great story! I’m glad to hear they do that.</p>
<p>Does anybody ever get rejected from ILR?</p>
<p>Hey everyone… I’m another CALS transfer candidate… I really hope it is a GT! I have my heart set on Cornell, and I’ve decided on a college instate that I would be okay with spending freshman year in, and hopefully won’t get too emotionally tied to… but if I do, then no big loss, because I’ll be happy where I am. I’m just super excited I get to keep my options open! Question for you prior GTs: What were the course requirements like that they asked you to take if you were going to CALS?</p>
<p>stringa, i have the same question LOL, but i guess those who get rejected just never come back to the cornell thread…</p>
<p>prev. GT’s- you have to finish the coursework successfully by the end of the year, not by when you apply right?</p>
<p>CindyWC, </p>
<p>I’m a GT for Fall 2008 . CALS sent a five page packet outlining the GT requirements and the required (+recommended) courses and GPAs for each major. For example, I’m planning on majoring in Development Sociology, and under Development Sociology it reads</p>
<ul>
<li>2 Academic Writing/English Composition courses
or </li>
<li>1 Academic Writing course and 1 Public Speaking course</li>
<li>Biology 1 & 2 with lab</li>
<li>Precalculus or Statistics</li>
</ul>
<p>Recommended:
- Economics
or - Sociology</p>
<p>It’s super straight forward. Keep in mind that this is from last year, though, so some things may have changed. In fact, I’m sure they will have changed, because I got an email from CALS in late spring of last year changing the math requirement (precalc was no longer an option–I was required to take statistics).</p>
<p>The general GT requirements read:
- Fulfill all course requirements prior to transfer
- Earn a B or better in each required course
- Earn a 3.0 cumulative GPA (Biological Sciences 3.5)
- Be in good academic and disciplinary standing at your prior institution
- Study full time (minimum 12 credits a semester)</p>
<p>Hope that helped a little! Over the summer, I just emailed course descriptions to the CALS admissions office (they recommend that) just to verify that my fall semester classes fulfilled the requirements. Let me know if you have any other questions!</p>
<p>To anyone else, keep in mind that these requirements are just for CALS. I KNOW that they vary from college to college, so there’s a good chance that yours might be different. :)</p>
<p>grantortue, </p>
<p>That’s right, by the end of the year. We sent in midterm grades with the “application” (which consisted of like two pages and no essays!!) and will send final grades when they’re available. Our GT apps were due March 15, which is right in the middle of spring semester, and they definitely didn’t expect us to fit all those classes into only fall semester.</p>
<p>You will get the course information in your GT letter if you’re offered the GT. It will explain everything, such as what courses and what GPA and course grades, etc. are required. It’s important that you pay attention to your own college and major information that Cornell sends you, not the GPA and grades reported on this board. Some colleges/majors require a 3.0 GPA; some require a 3.5. Some want nothing lower than a certain grade in ALL of your freshman year courses; some want nothing lower than a certain grade just in the courses Cornell asks you to take at your freshman college. It’s important that you follow your own directions.</p>
<p>If the GT means enough to you to make you plan for the future based on it, then I’d recommend that you keep the information you should receive with your letter somewhere safe. If you’re just wondering whether or not you want to follow through with it, it will give you lots of information to ponder. Also, you can fill out and return the form and still not be committed to the GT if you decide later you don’t want to follow through with it. There are no commitments (or at least there weren’t last year) to saying now you want to try for it but changing your mind later.</p>
<p>Yes–another important aspect we learned was that all of the required preparatory coursework had to be completed BEFORE the summer between your freshman and sophomore year (for the 1-yr. GT). If, for example, you are supposed to take Calculus I, then you can’t wait until the summer after your freshman year to take it. You have to get it in that first year. I think this is because preliminary decisions are made by Cornell at midterm of the second semester of freshman year (this is for 1-year GTs, obviously). This is important to keep in mind when working with the first college. You have to be sure you can get the courses you need <em>when</em> you need them. If you need to take prerequisites before you can take a Cornell-required course, that would need to be worked out. Oh, and you have to be a fulltime student when you take Cornell’s required courses as well. This is all based on last year’s GT info., btw. Best to read your own papers very carefully when they arrive, which I know all of you will do!</p>
<p>I agree with indigo’s post above, btw! ;)</p>
<p>Okay, thank you very much guys! What you all have said has been super helpful… I’ll just keep an eye out for the mail to get the exact specifications.</p>
<p>One last question though…
I’m going to be attending Virginia Tech next year since it’s instate and I’ll be honors + I think I’m getting a full ride (or at least half the tuition) and I had a question about credits you receive from IB/AP tests. I think I might potentially (depending on my exam scores) receive credit for some classes at Tech that I might not get at Cornell. Would they still work as transferable credits? I’ll probably call in to double check once i have more specifics…</p>
<p>something tells me no…but definitely call to check with Cornell.</p>
<p>I received AP credit for US History at SUNY New Paltz and received 3 credits…those did not end up transferring to Cornell since my score was not what they accept for AP credit.</p>
<p>No they wouldn’t, I asked the adcom that a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>dewdrop, I live right near new paltz! It’s such a great town isn’t it?</p>
<p>Q: I thought CALS used to only be a cumal. of 3.0, not cum. 3.0 and no lower than a “B” in every course.</p>
<p>Okay, that makes sense. Darn, I was hoping it would maybe count… but alas, of course it won’t. I’ll call and double check though, just in case they changed their policies! :]</p>
<p>Hi, CindyWC–That’s another thing to be careful of. The freshman yr. college might take more credits than Cornell will from AP/IB/college courses taken in h.s. Their threshold for AP scores, for example, might be lower to offer credit. What’s important there is to get the college to still let you take what you need for Cornell, even if they don’t think you need to take it for their program. If you “place out” of something at College A, don’t think you will automatically place out of it for Cornell’s GT requirements, in other words. Does that make sense? That’s another “loss,” so to speak, that you have to be willing to take. It would be the same situation if you started at Cornell next fall, though, so it’s only a loss if you consider the credits you’d get by staying at College A vs. going to Cornell. My S’s experience has been that if Cornell won’t take certain AP/IB scores or college in h.s. programs for credit for their incoming freshmen, they won’t take it for the GT either, even if his freshman college would take it. Best to work out your individual situation with the GT coordinator of your Cornell college, though.</p>
<p>Hope that’s not too confusing! (the GT thing can get confusing!).</p>
<p>grantorture…New Paltz really is a lovely area. I don’t miss the school but I really miss the scenery…especially driving over the Ashokan Reservoir spillway (which I don’t think you can do anymore).</p>
<p>CALS has changed their GT requirements and regular transfer requirements a lot in recent years to account for the more competitive nature of the applicants. It used to be you could get into Biological Sciences with a 3.3-3.5. Now you need a minimum 3.5…most most students who matriculate have a 3.7 or higher.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the Bio. major in CALS has a higher GPA threshold because so many pre-meds see the lower tuition in CALS with the Ivy League degree as a good buy, so the in-state number of applicants for Bio. is probably disproportionately high.</p>
<p>ughhhhh…pre-meds…stay away from them 
yes…I’m one of them so I’m allowed to make fun of our kind</p>
<p>that’s why I chose Bio & Society :-)</p>