Hi. I’m a senior deciding between Cornell and Binghamton (I have an extension to decide). I was wondering, are the academics at Cornell that much harder than they would be at Binghamton?
I would be in the school of human ecology at cornell, most likely as a human development major. At Binghamton, I would be in the college of arts and sciences, most likely as a pre-health or psych major. I am very intimidated by the academics at cornell… thank you!
Congratulations on both schools! I’m not sure about specific colleges and majors (some might be a bit easier than others) but academics at Cornell can be very rigorous. The workload shouldn’t absolutely crush you if you manage your time well but expect to work hard. From a purely academic standpoint, Cornell is of very high quality.
Unfortunately, I don’t know too much about Binghamton, but I know it’s a great school. You’ll get a quality education regardless ao don’t worry too much. At the same time, please don’t be scared off from a school because of the percieved work load. The admissions officers accepted you because they knew you would be intelligent and responsible enough to do succeed.
Consider financial aid and which school you like better personality wise. These two factors are more important. Pick the school whose culture you like better and go where you’ll be happy.
There have been a number of CC posters who transferred from Binghamton to Cornell who could answer your question definitively. But sadly, for the most part they do not stick around and keep posting on CC once they get in to Cornell.
There is this one snippet I found, from @airspirit:
“Then, I transferred to Cornell my first semester, which is a big adjustment–socially and academically-wise.”
But he also held indicated he could rise to the challenge:
" I’m doing well in my classes, ,"
The way I would think about it is:
Let’s say a large chunk of the Cornell class comes from the top 1%-3% of your HS class.
And maybe the largest chunk of the Binghamton class comes from: not sure, but say the top 10%-15% of your high school class.
Just to throw out some numbers, in both cases.
Even if the class material and assignments are exactly the same, in most intro classes grades are curved, and the curve will be determined by the performance of all the students in the class. Which IMO will likely be somewhat higher, on average, from a pool of the top 1-3% than from a pool from the top 10-15%.
On the other hand, the grades at BU might be curved to a lower average than at Cornell.
I have family members who now and in past attended both.
Major matters a great deal, less familiar with HEC, but in general the volume of work is very high,
and curve is much tougher at Cornell. If you are not someone who works very hard, or can speed read and write, will be tougher at Cornell.
That said, if you are willing, it is a very different and unique experience that may be worth the extra effort and cost.
Do not know what the financial difference would be for your family. Cornell has accepted you as they believe in you. Both are great schools, (My wife and I are both BU alum, and 2 sons to Cornell). Hands down go to Cornell.
“Major matters a great deal”
And the majors in Hum Ec are all over the place. Fashion Design, to Biology & Society (which seems to have a lot of pre-meds), to Policy studies… They have nothing to do with each other.
So even within Hum Ec this might be true.
When I attended they had a great program in “Human Development & Family Studies”, led by a giant in the field. don’t know where that stands now. But it was a more focused developmental psychology major. I think it was considered a great program. Knew people in it, never heard them squawking about it… Still, I doubt it was easy.
Anyway the majority of one’s courses will be taken outside of the major, and a lot will be elsewhere within the university. So it’s not just people in your own major or college that you will be sharing class time with.
Going back to my #2, maybe you have AP classes in your high School? Conceptually think about taking all your classes with 30 of the smartest kids in all the AP classes at your HS (after stripping out the five who will be going to Harvard & MIT…) Can you hang in that group? Would you thrive & survive?
MY D2 transferred into her HS for junior year, and come senior year she went into an AP English class with all the smartest kids there. Who she did not know well, since she just got there basically. That class had the eventual #1 and #2 in the school(who went on to Harvard & Yale, IIRC) . She was intimidated at first. By the end she was getting the highest grades in the class. She eventually graduated from Cornell (after transferring there). At the same HS, my son dutifully avoided most of the AP classes. He had higher test scores than D2, but went to the state U.
FWIW just recalled there was some other poster whose kid transferred from some state U to Cornell ILR school. Which is not Hum Ec, but another contract college at least.Don’t recall him posting specifically about workload change between state U & ILR, but at the end of the day his kid was making dean’s list at ILR. Don’t know for sure whether the state U was Binghamton though.
@srocky11 if you did the most rigorous classes during HS and the workload was such that you studied hours every night well into midnight or 1am then your school has prepared you for studies at Cornell. If you go to class engaged and keep up with the work, then you’ll be fine. A lot of success is due to good time management and choosing your courses wisely. My S had the same concerns going into Cornell as a stem major and his college does not grade on a curve. He is doing fine but manages his time well and studies a lot.