Should I transfer to Cornell?

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I’m currently a freshman at Macaulay Honors at the City College of New York, and I just found out that I got into Cornell CALS as a transfer. I need some help in weighing some pros and cons, and perhaps if it is worth transferring. This is a really long post, but I’m so indecisive and there are so many factors that I have to take into account.</p>

<p>Going to CCNY, I don’t have to worry about tuition, it’s completely free for all honors students. I’m already doing research at CCNY with a professor, and I got into this partnership program between CCNY and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, so I’ll also be doing research there over the summer. I have a 4.0 and I’m majoring in Biochemistry. Now here’s the dilemma I’m facing: </p>

<p>If I stay at CCNY and don’t transfer, the benefits would be that I would get to continue with all the research I’m doing, I would have an easier time in classes, (I didn’t have to put much effort to get a 4.0 here) and I would have a much easier time standing out in comparison to other people in my grade. However, the problems I have with CCNY is that I am severely disappointed with academic and intellectual environment here. I’m unimpressed with the academics, and from what I’ve heard from upperclassmen, there are more teachers to avoid than to actually want to take. I feel that there’s a strong sense of apathy on campus, and that people are just struggling to get by with their classes. Since it is a commuter school, there’s no school spirit, very few school events compared to other colleges, and although it is in NYC, it’s location in Harlem isn’t so great. I wouldn’t say I’m happy here, just satisfied. I like the Honors College community, which is smaller and more tight-knit, and we get more specialized attention from advisors, but otherwise I spend most of my time in lab because well, there’s not much else to do. Overall, I feel like I would have a much easier time at CCNY; I wouldn’t have to worry about tuition, I already established a strong foundation in science research, and even in the harder classes in the future, I would most likely stand out due to the curve. </p>

<p>However, I’ve always wanted to go to Cornell, and I applied initially because I wanted to prove to myself that I could get in after I was waitlisted last year. The perks of Cornell are obvious, it has a beautiful campus, a rigorous academically motivated student body, all the aspects of an actual college experience that I’ve been missing out on. However, I am afraid of starting over from scratch; I would essentially abandon the progress I’ve made in my lab, (and who knows how hard is it to find a new lab in such a more competitive environment?) and I would not be able to do the research internship at MSKCC as I had wanted this summer. Plus, it’s going to be much harder to excel and stand out as I’ve been doing, with such a huge student body at Cornell. I didn’t receive any financial aid, and even with the reduced tuition of CALS, I would have to pay 45k (including all the room and board). My parents said they CAN pay for it, (I would take some loans, not sure how much, but it would be manageable) but I feel bad for the extra economic burden since it costs so much compared to the free tuition I’m getting now.</p>

<p>And the obvious reason, Cornell has a better brand name than Macaulay and CCNY, but is this brand name worth the money and sacrifice? I can imagine myself graduating near the top of my class at CCNY or winning some award from CUNY in the future, and to achieve the same feat would be near impossible at Cornell. I plan on either going to med school or grad school for medical research past undergrad, and for admission into those programs, would it look better to be an award winner from CUNY or an Ivy League grad? Ultimately I would feel safer at CCNY, but perhaps happier if I took the risk at Cornell? </p>

<p>TL;DR

  • Cornell vs. CUNY
  • CUNY pros: safer and easier to stand out; already have great grades and research, free tuition
  • CUNY cons: really sucky academic environment, commuter school, lack of school pride
  • Cornell pros: it’s Cornell and it has a HUGE bio department
  • Cornell cons: no financial aid, new environment, harder to stand out, would have to start over in terms of research</p>

<p>For the people who have attended Cornell CALS or plan to, please let me know what you love about Cornell and if attending is worth the risk of transferring and worth the expenses. Thanks so much! </p>

2

<p>Cornell provided you can keep the GPA and then do Med school.
But I can rant all day, but as you pointed out about CUNY: “really sucky environment… lack of school pride”
Which therefore indicates you should transfer to Cornell, and participate in activities and research from there. Consider it as a golden ticket…Good Luck.</p>

3

<p>College isn’t all about getting certain grades. It can be one of the most transforming 4 years of your life. If your parents are ok with your transferring, why not? The research? Send a email to a professor doing research in a related area. Explain that you are considering going to Cornell but you have been very involved in research at Macaulay. Explain what you have been doing and express interest in being involved in research in her/his lab. As if that would be a possibility. And if not, ask if she/he could recommend others you may write to. Most researchers welcome such inquires and will probably respond promptly. That might help guide your decision making.</p>

4

<p>Since you are planning on going to medical school, you should give the considerable tuition difference a little more thought. You can always go to a med/grad school like Cornell. Med school will cost you a fortune, and the $1350,000 you will save by staying at CCNY will be a huge help. Spending three years at Cornell as an undergrad may be more appealing, but you really need to think long term. You may be paying for those three years for a very long time.</p>

5

<p>I meant $135,000. College doesn’t cost a million bucks yet, but it’s probably not far off!</p>

6

<p>@lostaccount‌ thanks for the advice! I’m definitely going to do a lot of contacting over the summer, and hopefully one out of the hundreds of Bio professors there would respond. I’m just a little worried if there’s a lot of competition for research positions there, but hopefully it’ll be a little easier if I have some prior experience. If you go to Cornell or know a lot of people there, do you how difficult it is for people to find research or any tips when contacting professors? i got my current research from a program matching so it’s not really through the conventional contacting. </p>

<p>@blprof‌ yeah, so as of now, it’s the tuition cost that’s mainly holding me back. It’s a huge stretch to go from free tuition to almost $150k in 3 years. But I’m also concerned about would those few years at Cornell prepare you better for med/grad school? Perhaps the more diverse classes, the connections, and more rigorous atmosphere might be more helpful in preparing for postgrad endeavors. Honestly, most of the upperclassmen I know at CCNY don’t seem super prepared (but again, that varies on a case to case basis) but perhaps the environment is different. I know coming from a specialized high school in NYC really pushed people to be more ambitious and try to succeed beyond, and perhaps this environment is more important in the long run?</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone to responded! I think to be honest the way I’m defending going to Cornell means something, and I’m 95% most likely going to go for it. </p>

7

<p>What did you decide ?</p>