<p>I am interested in hearing from alums who worked hard to get into their dream school.
Was it ultimately worth it and did it live up to your expecations and if so how and if not why was it a let down?</p>
<p>Well… I am on the same boat as you but from what I know Cornell fails as a undergrad school in respect to graduate school acceptance. Its only the top students who get into CalTech and MIT. You could be average at Cornell and go to Penn State be the beast student there. You could gain an edge by doing that. so it depends on what kind of a person you are.</p>
<p>I’m sure you are going to get many unbiased Cornell alumni giving you their honest opinions. </p>
<p>Honestly if I went to any top university I would walk out with gungho stride wearing pink tinged sunglasses. No person who went to a top uni is going to say it was a let down, the answers that will be posted will be for the most part positive.</p>
<p>This thread is irrelevant.</p>
<p>I am an Arts & Science alum who went into banking. I loved Cornell and it was definitely worth it. That said, it really depends on what you want to get out of school. All the university can do is provide the resources in the form of students, professors, etc. The rest is up to you. Many of my friends went to top grad schools and some didn’t. Those results generally reflected their performance and overall focus.</p>
<p>… Class of '79</p>
<p>The undergraduate liberal arts education has provided me with the tools to adapt to a changing world over 30 years. The problems and issues we face today were unimaginable when I attended Cornell. The methodology for approaching problems is timeless. That is, to me, the main value of my education.</p>
<p>I think it depends what you want out of college. Cornell’s academics are top-notch, as are the other opportunities on-campus. It’s certainly impressive there are 800+ student organizations, as well as a rich Greek life. However, overall, most majors at Cornell are significantly more rigorous than their counterparts at other universities. Not everyone is into that. All my friends at Cornell who were transfers (and my friends transferred from other top schools like NYU and BC), commented that Cornell’s workload was a lot bigger. One of my ILR friends said that Cornell was ranked #1 by employers as having a good work ethic. </p>
<p>I’m glad all my courses were taught by professors, not TAs (except for small discussion sections). That’s certainly not as common at other schools. I studied Economics at Cornell, and while our Econ professors don’t have the name recognition of Harvard (partly because Harvard attracts more political economists), at least our professors teach our courses. Prof. Mankiw at Harvard may be the best known Econ professor in the country, but I’ve heard he teaches one a month and it’s usually TAs that run his classes.</p>
<p>It’ll be hard for an alum to give you a good answer though simply because Cornell was their only undergraduate college experience. I personally enjoyed Cornell and thought that it really did give an opportunity to explore a lot of different areas. For example, some of my favorite/memorable classes were outside my majors and were some of the most random. From my 4-person class about German opera, where the professor brought tea/cookies to class, to my Arabian Nights class, where watching Disney’s Aladdin was homework. I guess a part of that is the fact I like the breadth of a liberal arts education in CAS.</p>
<p>Ultimately, any college experience is what you make of it. Cornell definitely offers more opportunities than most to have a great experience. That said, if you are just going to “slide by”, it’s probably not worth the money, but I would argue, neither is any college.</p>
<p>I’m a parent and a Cornell graduate, class of '76.</p>
<p>I have always thought that Cornell was worth it. My years there were terrific, and having the Cornell name on my resume has been an advantage throughout my life.</p>
<p>My daughter is class of '11 – she graduated last May. She also thinks that Cornell was worth it, not just because of the academic and extracurricular opportunities and the great friends she made but also because of the excellent on-campus job recruiting, which gave her some great jobs to choose from, including the one she has now.</p>
<p>Class of 2007. Absolutely worth every penny. The quality of education cannot be understated. All of my professors were easily accessible via office hours. I found the TA’s to be generally good teachers. I found career services at Cornell to be very helpful and the advisers to be very knowledgeable. The campus is really beautiful and I felt like I got the full traditional college experience, which you may not get if you go to a school with a tiny campus in an urban environment. Some of the best years of my life.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s what I thought.</p>
<p>mikeyc765 you heard wrong.</p>
<p>Mankiw personally lectures his introductory economics class, except for the rare instances when he has guest lecturers, usually someone famous or important. He is a very good lecturer and his class is hugely popular with students.</p>
<p>not really. for some majors like AEM i can totally see it being worth it. but i was pre med and i ended up in a med school… and med schools don’t care about college that much. my class is full of CUNY and SUNY students with far less debt than me</p>
<p>@Noragon - You should read how many undergrad alumni rag on their underwhelming experience at Harvard before assuming everybody who goes to a top-ranked school will blindly booster it just to save face.</p>
<p>I transferred into Cornell, so had some perspective that most students don’t get. If I hated the experience I’d say so, but I thought it was great and my appreciation for it has only grown since graduating. The diversity of intellectual pursuits was perhaps the most rewarding aspect. Had some truly great professors who really took the time to get to know us (and some not-so-great). The campus, waterfalls / gorges, and Ithaca community were also wonderful to bolster the experience beyond the classroom.</p>
<p>An older alum here. I’m not going to dwell on the undergrad experience. You will have a great time at most places you go if it feels like a right fit. What has made the Cornell experience great for me is the alumni experience. There is an unbelieveable network of Cornell alumni who give their time and talent to helping each other out, and volunteering on behalf of Cornell. And the intellectual, networking, social, reunion events will last you throughout your lifetime. As far as I’m concerned, the Cornell alumni experience is incomparable.</p>
<p>Well if I had been to a great uni which I had always wanted to go to I would innately decide the experience was great regardless of reality. Honestly I haven’t met anyone who whines about their uni experience irl. But true some people may have some negative things to say.</p>