Lots of Questions about Cornell

cornellian926
Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:40:06 +0000

Hi I’m a current freshman in CALS, so while I many not be able to perfectly answer all your questions, I’ll give it my best shot.


Yes, double majoring is definitely possible! Many students do it, so no worries there. One of my closest friends is actually an econ/psych double major!
Personally, I have no experience with the IB Program (my high school was all AP), but from what I’ve heard, it’s very well regarded. The classes seem very rigorous and I have many IB friends who are excelling at Cornell!
As an international student, financial aid will be a major factor in your application. Cornell is need-blind for American students, but is need aware for international students. There is very limited financial aid for international students, esp. from highly competitive countries such as India. The fact that you do not think you will need fin aid is definitely to your advantage, although you should talk with you parents about finances if you’re not completely sure!
The research opportunities here are amazing! Undergraduates absolutely do meaningful work with professors, although you may have to start out at the bottom (i.e. cleaning beakers, etc.) and work your way up. I know several freshman who are already involved in very interesting research (one of my good friends has a job cutting open fish brains in a neurobiology lab!), and I know many upperclassmen who have done amazing things. If you want to get involved in research here, you will have absolutely no issue, esp. if you have any previous lab/research experience.
If you have letter grades, I would just convert them to a regular 4.0 scale, i.e. A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, etc. I’m sure there are plenty of GPA calculators online.
You can study any language you want. I would assume you are fluent in Hindi, so if you wanted to, you could simply bypass this requirement. But if you’re passionate about language you can continue studying a language you have some experience with or start a new language entirely!
Both econ and psych are offered solely in CAS.
I’m sure there are plenty of international job opportunities available to you after graduation. I think I read in some article that approx. 10% of Cornell alumni live abroad, many of whom live in Asia. A Cornell degree opens many doors, and if you plant to work abroad, Cornell can help you do that!


Hope these helped, and if you have any other questions, let me know :)