Cornell University Top Questions

Yes, there is an awful lot of hard work, but that's to be expected. You learn to manage your time and delegate time to certain classes, study less for one and more for another. Everyone goes out on the weekends and laughs and smiles, but they know how to hit the books too. As for being depressed, that's not true either. It's a tough school with a lot of overcast days so everyone will have their ups and downs, and I don't want to be speaking for everyone, but we're not depressed. We're surrounded by incredible natural beauty and intelligent, stimulating peers. There's a lot to get excited about. Then there's that awkward stereotype about Cornell being the worst Ivy? I'm so proud of my school that it's hard for me to even understand this one. Yeah, we have a higher acceptance rate, but have you seen how much Cornell is developing? They're increasing faculty in the humanities during the recession. The architecture school just got a new building, and so did Human Ecology, and Arts and Sciences will get a new atrium soon, and the law school is expanding. There's all sorts of research going on. Cornell is cited everywhere in all of my textbooks. It's an incredible and unique university that's in a class of its own.

Like I said before, no one stereotype can even begin to describe all the students at Cornell.

Are stereotypes ever REALLY accurate?

Are stereotpes ever REALLY accurate?

Another thing that I heard about Cornell before coming here that sort of concerned me was that people here are unattractive. Actually, I think I read that on Unigo. I braced myself for an ocean of ugly, and to my surprise, attractiveness was everywhere! The boys and girls here are definitely easy on the eyes. And everyone is extremely in shape. . . it must be all the hills! As for being overworked, that's not true. Yes, there is an awful lot of hard work, but that's to be expected. You learn to manage your time and delegate time to certain classes, study less for one and more for another. Everyone goes out on the weekends and laughs and smiles, but they know how to hit the books too. As for being depressed, that's not true either. It's a tough school with a lot of overcast days so everyone will have their ups and downs, and I don't want to be speaking for everyone, but we're not depressed. We're surrounded by incredible natural beauty and intelligent, stimulating peers. There's a lot to get excited about. Then there's that awkward stereotype about Cornell being the worst Ivy? I'm so proud of my school that it's hard for me to even understand this one. Yeah, we have a higher acceptance rate, but have you seen how much Cornell is developing? They're increasing faculty in the humanities during the recession. The architecture school just got a new building, and so did Human Ecology, and Arts and Sciences will get a new atrium soon, and the law school is expanding. There's all sorts of research going on. Cornell is cited everywhere in all of my textbooks. It's an incredible and unique university that's in a class of its own.

Another thing that I heard about Cornell before coming here that sort of concerned me was that people here are unattractive. Actually, I think I read that on Unigo. I braced myself for an ocean of ugly, and to my surprise, attractiveness was everywhere! The boys and girls here are definitely easy on the eyes. And everyone is extremely in shape. . . it must be all the hills! As for being overworked, that's not true. Yes, there is an awful lot of hard work, but that's to be expected. You learn to manage your time and delegate time to certain classes, study less for one and more for another. Everyone goes out on the weekends and laughs and smiles, but they know how to hit the books too. As for being depressed, that's not true either. It's a tough school with a lot of overcast days so everyone will have their ups and downs, and I don't want to be speaking for everyone, but we're not depressed. We're surrounded by incredible natural beauty and intelligent, stimulating peers. There's a lot to get excited about. Then there's that awkward stereotype about Cornell being the worst Ivy? I'm so proud of my school that it's hard for me to even understand this one. Yeah, we have a higher acceptance rate, but have you seen how much Cornell is developing? They're increasing faculty in the humanities during the recession. The architecture school just got a new building, and so did Human Ecology, and Arts and Sciences will get a new atrium soon, and the law school is expanding. There's all sorts of research going on. Cornell is cited everywhere in all of my textbooks. It's an incredible and unique university that's in a class of its own.

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Not all of them. Overall, the academic rigor is very difficult, the campus is nice (but it is pretty secluded) and the food's not bad at all (depending on which dining hall you go to).

yeah.. we all applied to other ivies and most of us got rejected, but we are very hardworking and overall, we definitely work harder than the kids at harvard and yale. we do party like crazy, and unfortunately we do hurt ourselves going gorge jumping.

Partly true. Some students stay in their dorms and only go out to classes or to the dining hall. However, the majority of us go out to the gyms, join clubs and socialize at local parties or clubs or even at friends' apartments.

NO... some people don't go out, but the people who do have time to go out a lot (not every night for the most part, but still enough). And everyone I knew at Cornell was happy and loved the school. Most were just depressed to leave.

Most likely, it seems.

There are definately people that fit those stereotypes perfectly, but Cornell is a big enough school that you get all different kinds of people.

Mostly

The composition of people in Greek houses does usually follow a certain trend, but that's no surprise and there's a house for any type of person really.Cornell girls can be attractive and approachable, but in my experience, relationships do not do well under stress at Cornell. It is true that Cornell is not helpful financially to MIDDLE class families, they do give significant help to persons under, in my opinion, a very low income line. As far as stereotypes about people in the various schools go, they seem mostly false to me, for every slacker there is an overachiever.

NO!! -Despite what some people may think, Cornell is not populated by Harvard and Yale rejects! I was accepted to Brown, Harvard, UPenn, and Oxford, but chose Cornell because of the unique opportunities it provides. At Cornell, I can take classes about aerospace engineering, wines, labor law, and architecture all in one place if I want to, and my best friends include a hotelie, a dairy science major, a mechanical engineer, and a textiles major. You can't get that kind of experience anywhere else. Most of the people I know at Cornell either applied early or chose Cornell over higher ranked schools because it is so different. -Ithaca is definitely not New York City, but there is still plenty to do! Because the school is in a more rural setting, people spend a lot more time doing things on campus with other Cornellians. Instead of everyone going all over the place on a Friday night, it's a pretty safe bet that you can find everyone you know at one of the parties on campus or in Collegetown. I feel like I have met so many more people from my school because people tend to stay on campus on the weekends. We have great restaurants nearby, gorgeous (pun intended) hiking and camping nearby, the Commons has great stores, and there's always tons to do. -There is a huge social scene at Cornell. Greeks make up over 1/3 of the student body, and as a result, Greek life is huge and there will always be at least a few parties on any given night. Sports teams have parties at their houses, and there are always house parties, as well. The Collegetown bars are also always really crowded. Cornell is surprisingly a pretty big party school.

1. Yes and no... Cornell is the largest of the Ivy Leagues, so naturally we have the largest class size. Our acceptance rate is definitely higher than that of other Ivies and we have to widest range of SAT scores, but keep in mind that this is all relative to other IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS. Cornell still has VERY high academic standards. 2. Yes and no...some colleges at Cornell are state endowed, so we have lots of in-state students. In my opinion, state school doesn't mean that it's not as good as a private school. It's more of an indication of where our funding comes from. 3. NOT true. Apparently there was a documentary made a few years ago about college suicide rates and some of Cornell's gorges were part of the scary footage. This isn't to say that there aren't any tragedies, but we're not a school of suicidal crazies. 4. TOTALLY true. Ithaca is absolutely beautiful and it definitely adds to the Cornell experience. 5. It depends. Last winter was like any other winter I've experienced (and I'm from the Midwest). I've heard we've gotten snow days, but hey, that means more fun times for sledding, right?

Nobody I've met is overly competitive. People strive to get good grades, but not at the expense of others. People are more than willing to share notes, answer questions, or make study groups. Also, with the exception of a small percentage of students, people do make sure that they have free-time and go out and have fun!

Yeah, it's pretty cold out around winter time and it usually snows a great deal, but after January and before November its beautiful and there are gorges and waterfalls on campus. Cornell is pretty challenging academically, everyone is going to have that moment where they don't think they can cut it no matter how good they were in high school. The Hotel school is still pretty easy. A few kids usually die every year whether from alchohol abuse, falling of gorges (probably when drunk) and maybe one suicide case or killing a year, but if you have a good head on your shoulders you should be fine. With a population of 2,000, 3 isn't that bad. Yeah, people can be pretty weird. There are definitely a lot of people who just chill in the libraries all day and don't know how to socialize, but people are really smart and can be really fun. I would probably characterize most of the students as overacheivers in some way, shape or form. People can also tend to keep to themselves. If you're from a small town where everyone knows each other this could be an adjustment.

With the one about Cornell, ya it's totally true. We may get made fun of for being "Harvard rejects" but then again we probably work twice as hard as any other Ivy-league school student.

stereotypes come from somewhere, right?

nope but the courses are definitely hard

No.

The suicide rate is completely a myth; that's not true at all. People do work very hard here, but we have a 'work hard , play hard ' mentality.

This is definitely not true. Cornell has all types of people who have all kinds of different interests. The people I have met at Cornell are some of the smartest and most social people that I have ever met.

I addressed this question in the above paragraph. Some stereotypes are accurate, like the work hard/play hard mentality, and student's competitiveness (especially in the classroom). Most of the Greek stereotypes are dead wrong- there are so many different kinds of fraternities and sororities, many of which do a lot of good for the community, that even a brief sampling of the Greek community would reveal a great deal of diversity in personality.

Negative ones - Not overall - there are some who fit that profile though. Most people are really very intelligent!

Yes

no, we're not all nerds and although there are a lot of Asians, they're not a majority

There are a good majority of Cornell students that are affluent, but there is also a lot of students who are working hard to pay their own tuition. Cornell's acceptance rate is higher than a lot of other ivies, but the course load once there is just as difficult if not more. Most stereotypes about the Greek organization and their individual groups are false.

A good number fit those categories perfectly, but it's also fun! and the random people fom the midwest are a welcome sense of friendliness.

No

Somewhat, but Cornell students also know how to have fun.

Yes

Yes, very.

Yes - the weekend is a two day break where, for most students, little to no work gets done. The classes can be very competitive depending on what department it is in. Most pre-med and engineering classes are rigorous, and curved to a B. This system forces students to be compared to their peers, rather than graded on how well they have mastered the material.

I think if you apply yourself there is plenty of time to do well academically, be involved on campus, and have a great social life. I've been successful in all of those things, and I'm really enjoying my time here. Taking a positive attitude definitely helps. I think, deep down, every one of us loves this place. Stereotypes about different schools are not necessarily true. Yes, hotelies party, but so do the rest of us! I know a bunch of really cool and social engineers. However, it is true that the architects work constantly...I feel bad for them, but they're getting six years of work done in five, so what can you do? Oh, and one more thing to clear up: Cornell girls are NOT ugly! We're smart AND beautiful!

for the most part people are smart and have enough money to pay for school. yes, there are lots of parties. i don't necessarily think the students are ugly.

There is a bit of truth in some of these statements, but most are gross over generalizations.

No

pretty much

It is true in some what extent, but as there is alwyas exceptions, they are just stereotypes that some people generalize based on some people's examples.

No! Although they work hard, Cornell students love to go out.

Yes.

Yes, many of the courses are challenging

Though classes are absurdly difficult, this stereotype isn't correct.

I would honestly have to say that most of these stereotypes can go either way. A lot of my friends can fit these stereotypes but I know a lot of people are that completely opposite.

Cornell can be either relatively easy or hard, depending on what school and major you choose. Overall, it is definitely harder than most other schools. Most Pre-Med students are always stressed out.

Cornell is somewhat Long Island, but not at all nerdy (unless you're in the engineering school).

No.