[AliceLove]

Hi Everyone! (This is my first time posting )

I just got accepted to Cornell University and I plan to go there for Fall 2008. I think I will major in biological sciences but they have really high requirements for a student to be eligible to major in biological sciences!

And I have been told that you can't get a C in any of your classes or you'll get kicked out of Cornell!! Hence, Cornell is known as the school that's "easy to get in, but hard to get out"

This is quite frightening to me and I was wondering if anyone (who is attending Cornell or any other university known to be academically rigorous) could kindly comment on:

1- Does IB really help?
2- Do you have time to have a life outside of school?
3- Is it really as hard as they make it out to be?

Any other information would be great too!

Thank you so much!!!

-Ali <3

[lilxtiffstah]

WHOA
HOWD YOU FIND OUT ALREADY?!?!?

[touche`]

To be honest, I don't know any other soompiers that are attending to any Ivy League or got accepted to any Ivy League.

[cavil.]

I got into Brown.

It wasn't for me, though.

But on the upside: good social network, brand name recognition, good resources, nice and smart folks, a lot of diversity (not only ethnically speaking)

Downside: bad social gatherings, snobbish and elitist people, and etc.

Basically, like any other social institution really.

[AliceLove]

WHOA
HOWD YOU FIND OUT ALREADY?!?!?

I depends on which college you apply to, A&S don't know until Early April/ Late March?

[aiwae]

omgosh!! congrats! what a great school, that is one of my choices for grad school
hope you enjoy yourself there : )
oh sorry i'm not sure what it's like though, have you visited the campus?
i go to #2 school in Canada (after McGill) and I don't think IB helps all that much hearing from my friends who did IB. You'll have lots of time outside school and student life will be a big part of your life (here at my school it is partying and drinking every weekend). It's actually not hard. Attending classes and actively listening is key, keeping great notes is another, and asking questions, making connections, studying way before the deadline and avoiding all-nighters, and trying your hardest in everything are good habits. For me, the hardest thing since i left for university would have to be finding "self-control" and embarking on self-discovery yet again because I found out lots of things I didn't know about myself. when high school ended i thought i had myself solved and my whole life planned out but life always throws you curve balls
anyways all the luck for your future at Cornell

[Kang1004]

ahaha top universties are what you make out of it. I have a friend at Harvard who studies a lot but still have time to hang out with friend etc. It always seems harder than yu think but once you're there you will see what you need to do to achieve high grades! You should not be afraid because if thousands of people can make it why not you! If you're there and party all the time and still get high grades well perfect! If you don't well you'll see how much more yu need to study and you'll simply do it, as long as you really want it! :-)

omgosh!! congrats! what a great school, that is one of my choices for grad school
hope you enjoy yourself there : )
oh sorry i'm not sure what it's like though, have you visited the campus?
i go to #2 school in Canada (after McGill) and I don't think IB helps all that much hearing from my friends who did IB. You'll have lots of time outside school and student life will be a big part of your life (here at my school it is partying and drinking every weekend). It's actually not hard. Attending classes and actively listening is key, keeping great notes is another, and asking questions, making connections, studying way before the deadline and avoiding all-nighters, and trying your hardest in everything are good habits. For me, the hardest thing since i left for university would have to be finding "self-control" and embarking on self-discovery yet again because I found out lots of things I didn't know about myself. when high school ended i thought i had myself solved and my whole life planned out but life always throws you curve balls
anyways all the luck for your future at Cornell

I am also attending UofToronto and studying all the time, rarely partying or drinking. So it's not all students but only a small portions that actually part and drink all the time haha as I said universities are what you make out of it.

[aznjeff07]

My friend is currently attending Cornell; this is his third year majoring in chemical eng. for pre med.
1- Does IB really help?
He took AP classes and went to a elite smart school for a year. It probably does help, because you're going at a faster pace with harder material. However, if you're willing to put in the hours to study and are of decent intelligence you'll be fine. My friend is basically a genius and his gpa would be considered fine compared to the vast majority of college students.

2- Do you have time to have a life outside of school?
He has time and goes out every week.

3- Is it really as hard as they make it out to be?
He says it depends on the class, but most of them will require you to put in hours. He always says biology is hard there, so heads up. Just put in the hours and you'll be fine.

[thislove]

I had a cousin who went to Cornell and he did fine. I think it just really depend on how u can manage ur time and day to study for all ur classes, tat's really wat college life is all about.

[iamamyy]

my older brother currently goes to cornell and i go to johns hopkins right now ^^
yeah, it really is the easy to get in, hard to get out school
quite the same with hopkins, cornell tends to deflate their grades, while schools such as Harvard, or so i know, are known to inflate their grades
but basically all youreally need is time management
those who fail its because they dont manage their time wisely. also i dont know about cornell, but here at hopkins you cant have more than 16 credits worth of D's, or you drop out of college...
cornell tends to be harder on their engineering and archi students, and easier on their A&S students.
IB's or APs tend to help a lot on the courses that arent part of your major, but are college requirements. such as, if youre a chem major adn you have to have a writing or history credit you can use your high school ib or ap to fill in for that. otherwise, if the class is the basic elementary course, such as gen bio or gen chem and you are a bio or chem major, its helpful that you take those classes and not fill in the requirements with your high school credits. (well at least for a premed) for premed students or students heading to grad school, grad schools like to see that youve taken and understood all the elementary courses as well as high 400 600 level courses.
of course all of us have a life besides studying! but to attend a school like cornell or hopkins or any other high rated school, studying kinda becomes first priority.. after all it is your occupation as a student. and btw.. cornell tends to be a very bleak place.. i visit a lot and there is absolutely nothing to do there except drink, party, play games. unless you have a car, you have the tri-hammer mall around 30 minutes away. because its such a bleak place you dont want to go to classes at all.. and the weather is ugh.. winter its nothing but snow snow snow. and no snow days. haha
and yeah... never seen anyone who attends ivy leagues or top10 colleges at soompi...

[Kang1004]

and yeah... never seen anyone who attends ivy leagues or top10 colleges at soompi...

humm really wonder why....

[krit]

Hi Everyone! (This is my first time posting )

I just got accepted to Cornell University and I plan to go there for Fall 2008. I think I will major in biological sciences but they have really high requirements for a student to be eligible to major in biological sciences!

And I have been told that you can't get a C in any of your classes or you'll get kicked out of Cornell!! Hence, Cornell is known as the school that's "easy to get in, but hard to get out"

This is quite frightening to me and I was wondering if anyone (who is attending Cornell or any other university known to be academically rigorous) could kindly comment on:

Any other information would be great too!

Thank you so much!!!

-Ali <3

congratulations there's seriously no life here, but the university is great.

as a cornellian... no, you won't get kicked out of the university for a (single) C .... unless you're talking about your semester's GPA being a 2.0.... then you'll probably get probation. I've only known of 3 students on probation, one (a bio major) had to take a semester off, another (printmaker) had to take a yr & 1/2 off, and a 3rd, sort of slacked his way through MechE, always was on probation, BUT he never was forced to take a leave of absence.

I don't think you'll have any problems, as long as you don't take a leave of absence either voluntarily (because of academic/mental strain, etc) or forced - then the process becomes quite elaborate to get back into the system (it sounds like pure horror) and usually they drop you anyway.

oh, yea, which reminds me of a student from Brunei who did so poorly throughout the yr that he was kicked out. (so that makes 4). But still, its pretty rare. Also, I imagine, if you're coming here, then you care about your performance in general... so you'll (hopefully) just fear getting B's. a 3.0 overall gpa is shameful. ^^;; (it really is - so just study- there won't be any distractions anyway)

1- Does IB really help?

not really. Just study, that's all you need to do.

2- Do you have time to have a life outside of school?

define "life"

oh, and "outside of school?" There's nothing outside of CU's campus. Not to scare you, but its nonexistent. Unless you consider stinky frat parties and cowtipping (both which are outside of school) or hanging out on the commons watching the stinky hippies amuse themselves with begging or drugs... activities that are outside the classroom.

3- Is it really as hard as they make it out to be?

Its not hard per se....but professors have this dandy little habit of assigning work as if they're the ONLY class you attend. You'll get alot of busy work, and that makes it sometimes a wee bit overwhelming. (*coughprelims/finalscough*)But again, its nothing hard. ^^

you have the tri-hammer mall around 30 minutes away

Pyramid Mall/Triphammer Mall?

that is NOT a mall (what kind of mall only sells balloon-sized maternity dresses?). There are supermarkets bigger than that strip.