Cornell University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Cathy

Class: Sophomore
Major: Biology
Gender: F

High School: Conestoga High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The best thing about Cornell is the spring time - when the weather is absolutely (excuse the pun) Gorge-ous. At the beginning of the fall semester and at the end of the spring semester, you have the opportunity to go gorge jumping, lay out in the gorges (to sunbathe or explore the waterfalls). Also, the restaurants here at Cornell are great. This is the perfect environment to work and play. One thing that I'd change is the amount of work and the way that the Cornell grading system works. I've taken a lot of big lecture classes and they purposely make the tests difficult to pull the mean down. I took a class where they purposely made up questions so that the mean on the test wold be low. The work is also a lot, but if you time-manage, you will be able to do anything. The school population sounds like its huge (over 3,000 per class!) but as you start joining organizations (i.e. sorority or fraternity, sports teams etc) you begin to find out that Cornell isn't such a large school after all. People think its great that I'm at an Ivy League school (when I tell them I go to Cornell). I spend a lot of time at the Big Red Barn, Mann Library (best coffee and cafe ever!), the Arts Quad, the Slope, and the various gyms (Helen Newman, Teagle, Noyes). I also tend to visit Collegetown a lot because of the great restaurants and people living there. Collegetown is where most of the upper classmen (after freshman year) live - there are a TON of great restaurants of various cuisines and apartments and places to just chill (Starbucks, Collegetown Bagels). The Schwartz center is also in collegetown, where a lot of plays, dance performances, and various arts groups perform. If you are involved in an organization, you will definitely have a lot of school pride. I know that my sorority is involved in playing in intramurals and philanthropy and in attending various sporting events (i.e. Basketball was AMAZING this past season). Students complain a LOT about the weather here - the weather is generally unpredictable and you tend to get a lot of rain. And you have one of the longest winters ever (luckily, winter break is a month long so you avoid a lot of the winter).

Academic Life

It depends on what kind of class that you take - the majority of my classes have been large lecture classes ranging from 100 students to 1,000 students. However, there are plenty of opportunities to get to know the Professor and Teaching Assistants through office hours. My favorite class is Neurobiology 222 because it pertains to my major and is a very interesting class. One of the most popular classes that students take as freshmen is Psych 101 and as upperclassmen Wines. I meet with my advisor and I meet with professors through the various organizations that I am involved in. Education at Cornell is definitely geared for the future - whether it is getting a job or getting into graduate school or getting into a medical school. Some classes offered at Cornell are offered to gear students towards learning for its own sake (so no stress in getting A+).

Student Body

There are various cultural organizations that students can join to feel more culturally involved - but I do not believe (or nor do I get the sense) that Cornell students segregate in that regard. Most students wear regular clothes (because most students tend to walk to class). There are buses that run (especially if you live on North campus, it is very easy to get from place to place). I believe Cornell is very diversified and that not too much segregation occurs. It is the student's choice to segregate themselves from other groups. Most Cornell students are from the East Coast Area (i.e. New York, New Jersey), but I've met so many people from a variety of places such as Alaska, California, Minnesota, Panama, Korea... the list is endless.