[jchen]

Well I've read several of those college student review websites and the general impression is that it's a very enjoyable experience (despite the workload), people are open and friendly for the most part, great food, and despite the campus being located in the middle of nowhere, there are still things to do in beautiful Ithaca, NY.

Would any MacNN Cornell graduates, friends of graduates, etc care to share experiences, fun facts, or anecdotes from their years?

Thanks.

[Dubya's Dealer]

Years ago my girlfriend at the time went to Cornell. It is a bit out there- I remember a few painfully long (seven hour ) bus rides out there from New York. But the campus was nice-very nice. Everything about the place was great, except that it was so damn far from the city. It had a pretty diverse and interesting student body as well. Of course Cornell is a fine institution, it simply depends on what your goals are.

I, being a city person, chose a school in the city, and I took full advantage of all New York had to offer, in addition to the school itself.

My one question has always been, as wonderful as life on campus is-how does it prepare you for the transition to the professional world? I was already out there doing internships after my second year-something I doubt I'd have done had I been on a campus in the middle of nowhere.

[scadboy]

While not an alumni of the school, or even a student for that matter, I spent most of my junior and senior years of high school up in Ithaca, hanging out around town and on campus. I made many friends on campus, and I can attest to the beauty of the surroundings, the quality of the people, and the food! What other college makes its own ice cream? hehe

As far as it being in the middle of nowhere, I grew up in Elmira, about an hour south of Ithaca, and that was truly in the "middle" of "nowhere," and I considered Ithaca damn near metropolitan. Also, New York State is hardly nowhere, and depending on what you're field of study is, there are plenty of opportunities for hands on experience in the region, and there is considerable cachet that comes with the Cornell name that will make you a particularly attractive candidate.

I got the impression that it was a great school from the people I knew who did attend, and it does have an excellent reputation.

michael

[osiris]

I dated a grad school student and spent a lot of time at the campus. It seems as though the school is now centered around Business and Sports/Military Medicine. The other sciences and arts are seemingly less important, at least judging from the lack of maintenance on their buildings. The Observatory was in need of repair as well. There was a lot of planning for renovation, hopefully everything is restored by now.

It is worth taking a trip there to see for yourself! I do know their MBA program is first rate, so you'll meet a lot of future CFOs/CEOs. These students get truckloads of freebies (food/household/hygiene products) from people like Kraft and Nabisco. Great internship programs too.

People seem nice on campus, the air is clean, and the views are beautiful from the tower.
It has to be one the most beautiful campuses I've ever seen - the finger lakes begin at the foothills and Cayuga Lake is a site to behold.

College town has a lot of stores and fast food. The huge supermarket 'Wegmans' is in Ithaca town and has everything, but the Italian bread tastes like Wonder Bread. :/

Good luck to you!

[cdhostage]

I am a student at Ithaca College, on the South Hill of Ithaca. I don't know about life as a Cornell student in particular, but Ithaca is definitely a college town, and most of the local activity is made by and for students of Cornell and IC, as well as a large number of smaller institutions. There is a modern mall on Cornell's side of town, several theatres, several coffeeshops, at least fourteen pizza shops (I've found twelve that deliver), and the various interesting little shops that grow up around young people with a little money and less sense.

Ah, hmm... hijinks and blebs. Right - Ithaca is very much influenced by the adjacent Lake Cayuga, one of the Finger Lakes. The humidity is always high, it precipitates four days out of seven, and the temperature is milder than it is fifty miles inland. I'm only a freshman, but I'm told April and May are wonderful.
Don't go cliffjumping.
Don't hang out in the Commons after dark.
Don't try to walk home to Ithaca College from the mall, an 8.5 mile hike up and down several hills, in the dark. With a cold. Carrying sixty pounds of inked paper.

[ObiWan Flanders]

I've heard Cornell has the highest student suicide rate of all institutions in the states... does that qualify as a "fun fact"?

[cdhostage]

Obi, If you include deaths by cliffjumping as suicides, then I believe it. Cliffjumping is a result of the many, many rivers and streams leading into Cayuga. They've cut into the native rock deeply, and in the fall the streams are deep and cold, surrounded by steep cliffs. It's perfectly safe to take a jump - so long as you jump away from the cliff and at a point you know is deep. And you don't land on your head, which is as deadly after a 40-foot drop onto water as it is onto land. Etc. It's apparently exhilerating.

[mac-at-kearsarge]

Hmmmm. I was at Cornall University not too long ago. I even posted a thread about it: Check it out: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=187876

[d4nth3m4n]

i have the luxury of growing up in ithaca and going to cornell. my grandfather was a prof at cornell back when and my folks both work here currently. ithaca is a great place, if you know where to look. the commons are a little shady, but not horrible, the dreadlocks are mostly harmless.

cornell is the kinda school where a ton is going on, from cinema to frat parties to hiking clubs to a huge ass indoor climbing wall. i dont know where you grew up, but, i think if you look around, youll grow to love ithaca.

as far as the suicide thing- ithaca is a grey place with a demanding schedule (if you go to cornell) people DO dive headlong into the gorges, but i dont think its at an abnormal rate, just through an abnormal means. its not everyday you hear about people jumping to their deaths, but here, its nearly the only way people decide to end their lives.

what other schools are you looking at?? what program here at cornell? i would be happy to get you set up here in ithaca, show you the safe places to cliff jump, the good waterfalls to hike to, the whole nine.

just remember to order pizza from ginos, i work there and there are too many stingy kids on the hills who dont know how to tip.

peace,
Dan.

[kjb]

Originally posted by scadboy:
What other college makes its own ice cream? hehe


michael

University of Missouri-Columbia makes Tiger Stripe Ice Cream from milk from cows at the Ag. School. How's that for home grown?

Kevin

[maxintosh]

I have quite a few friends up at Cornell.

They like the school, the campus, the professors, and all that, but they... well... aren't particularily fond of Ithaca. I often hear phrases like "ghost town" to describe it. If you're the country-type that likes to listen to the mountains and what not, it won't be an issue, but if you're looking for the fast-paced life, it ain't there.

If you want an Ivy League education, but you don't want to live in Bumblef*ck, NY, don't skip over Columbia Stay out of Morningside Park at 3 AM and you won't get mugged -- promise!

Cornell's a great school though. Can't go wrong.

[maxintosh]

Now that I think about it, though... Ithaca (I've never been) couldn't be nearly as bad as Hanover, NH. On my tour @ Dartmouth, I literally drove by the town by mistake.

[d4nth3m4n]

yeah, last call is at 1 in ithaca... but you can get a killer reuben at shortstop at all hours everyday of the year (honest)

[DaedalusDX]

I'm still an undergrad at Cornell...

I'll write more when i'm less tired, but if you're applying for Engineering, prepare to be worked to the bone.

As was said before, Ithaca is a very grey place... it rains most of the time, and when it gets colder, it snows a bunch.

How do they hook you and convince you that Cornell is a beautiful place? Admissions must have some sort of weather machine, since whenever the pre-frosh visit, its the most gorgeous weather... only to rain the next day when they're not here.

I still love this place, and I think the people are great (avoid the Greek though... *shudder*)... but this place is not for the faint of heart.

[DaedalusDX]

Oh, and Cornell ice cream is to die for... and so is Cornell apple cider.

[d4nth3m4n]

yea, im bumping this thread, im the ultimate resource on this one... a third generation local/cornellian. its cool up here, but you have to try to make it cool.

[moki]

Originally posted by cdhostage:
Obi, If you include deaths by cliffjumping as suicides, then I believe it. Cliffjumping is a result of the many, many rivers and streams leading into Cayuga. They've cut into the native rock deeply, and in the fall the streams are deep and cold, surrounded by steep cliffs. It's perfectly safe to take a jump - so long as you jump away from the cliff and at a point you know is deep. And you don't land on your head, which is as deadly after a 40-foot drop onto water as it is onto land. Etc. It's apparently exhilerating.

Yep, I used to do cliff jumping in Ithaca -- a few spots on Cornell's campus, Upper Buttermilk falls, and others. It was great fun, though an ex-girlfriend of mine decided to try the upper Buttermilk falls jump once when I wasn't around, and ended up breaking her back (she has a steel rod in it now, and thankfully, is okay).

Cornell is a great college, with people from all over the world attending there. It's also a very cool college town, especially around Cornell, because of the diversity of the students there (and a large number of students as well). It's also quite beautiful ("Ithaca is Gorges").

[bewebste]

My g/f is going to Cornell right now as a grad student. She grew up in Houston, so moving to Ithaca was quite a change (small instead of big, hilly instead of flat, snow instead of not snow). But yeah, if you're used to big city hussle and bustle, Ithaca is quite the opposite. She's having a great time so far, although she has the impression that the undergrad program isn't quite as good as the grad program there, but that's really just an impression.

It also depends a lot on what department you're going into. One weird thing about Cornell is that it's actually partially publicly funded, and the rest of it is private. Like I think the hotel, veterinary, and agriculture schools are all publicly funded (and maybe some others), but the rest are not. So you can actually have two people going side by side to the same class with one of them paying twice as much as the other one.