Should you attend Cornell University? | Thoughts from a Recent Grad
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
- Thoughts about Cornell from a recent graduate for all the accepted students and future applicants out there! It's a bit ramble-y but I do hope you get some value from it. I had a great experience at Cornell and I just want to share my experiences with the university both negative and positive!
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:23 Academics
05:52 Extracurriculars
08:41 Social Life
11:22 Ithaca
14:48 Cornell’s Reputation
17:28 Is Cornell right for you?
DISCLAIMER: I am a Cornell University Dec. 2019 graduate who majored in Computer Science in the College of Engineering, so my experiences are heavily skewed
This is a super accurate overview and kind of matches my experience and thoughts, especially the academics section. Since you were CS, Professor Jon Kleinberg was a classmate of mine ... Genius. Smartest person to this date that I knew personally. John, Cornell Engineering '93
Always nice to hear from an alumni! Had the pleasure of taking both Jon and Bobby's classes during my time at Cornell and they certainly made incredible professors I can't imagine what they were like as students!
What do you think about the woke CRT and DEI nonsense at Cornell? It’s so much worse than when you went there. How about their unscientific lockdowns mask and vaccine mandates?
It would’ve been nice if at least one Ivy took the Swedish approach since their student population was at less risk from COVID than vaccines, especially males.
so comprehensive and well said! congrats on graduating and best of luck darren!🎉
the cornell queeeen!!
Wow this is so helpful. I’m personally a Senior in high school from a public school who is applying to Cornell’s School Of Engineering Early Decsion. This really made me step back and think should I go or not if I got accepted.
Personally I am very much concerned about my mental health as I do I have seasonal depression from living in New England already and I am a perfectionist aka “failing IS NOT the option”.
Also, I guide my believes that since Cornell is such an isolated IVY that the professors would really be more one on one with students especially in the School of Engineering, where it advertises itself as a happy community.
I can not thank you enough!
What an honest review. Thank you 🙏🏽 and congratulations on your graduation!
This was so honest. Thank you for telling us the truth!
THANK YOU for being so honest and down to earth!! Congratulations on your graduation and best of luck in your next chapter 🎓 😊
Great video! Thank you for your honesty and balanced perspective. Such a thorough, helpful, and friendly presentation. Best wishes to you in your future!
This was the most coherent and comprehensive video on this subject that I could find, so thank you. I definitely have a lot of things to consider in the months ahead
By far the best one of these types of videos I’ve seen
This was an amazing video, so informative and professional
well structured...very informational and sincere... thank you.
thank you so much for making this! i'm applying to cornell rd, so this is very helpful :)
Thanks this video really helped me understand that Cornell does not fit my ideal college experience. The grind continues 😁
As an engineering student I agree so much. thanks for this video :) your voice is very relaxing haha
Great, thorough summary. Thanks.
Wow, it is probably the best uni review I have ever watched
Thanks for your honesty. Great job!
Thank you for the detailed information. You are amazing.
this was incredibly helpful thank you!
Superb video, thanks for your honesty!
All the best to you. You are the face of our future. It is a beautiful face. Please live and love your dreams. Great discernment. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Darrem, just wanna thank you for the video, it gave very interesting information and a different aprouch to Cornel. Thanks and keep going
thx for all the info. this really helped
What an amazing video. Thank you!
Great break down. I'd say it's a pretty accurate description. Still wish Ithaca was just a tad bigger of a city.
I want more content about Darren's life; the blog format's cool and timestamps are poppin!
Hey just wanted to say great informative video and that I’m from a small town right next to you (Wallkill)! I’m entering into CALS at Cornell next fall and hoping to go Pre-med. I was wondering if you have any advice for adjusting to the heavy workload that Cornell brings? Thanks!
Loved the Baja shoutout 💪🏻 great vid. Your point about self-startership is spot on -rising junior
Engine teams always get the glory and for good reason, always used to walk by the garage in Upson to peak on how the cars were coming along haha
Thank you for this discussion. Has anything changed since 2020 to now? Mental health is more of a focus now so did the school show any improvement in how they help new students? Also, does a person feel isolated up there on the hill? How quickly can you reach an airport?
Love your voice bec it’s very calming
Cornell has been one of the best experiences in my life (currently third year), also a big depressive factor cause holy crap the work load and exam difficulty is insane lol
incoming freshman to cornell this year!! thank you so much for the video! super helpful ;)
Best of luck with your time at Cornell!
Hey Darren! This was a great video by the way! I have a question though. Are you familiar with the Cornell Transfer Option? I was given the TO this year and I will be applying to Cornell in hopes of finally getting in. Any info on this or how people went through this process is appreciated! Thanks man again for this awesome vid!
Hi Eman, glad you liked the video! In terms of TO I have met a few people who did it, a lot of people end up not taking it as once you settle into life at your first university, make friends, get involved, etc. it can certainly become a much harder decision to move schools and I certainly don't think it's right for everyone, as far as I know though it should be pretty guaranteed? You probably have more information than I do but as far as I know as long as you meet the GPA requirements and take equivalent courses they recommend it shouldn't be a problem.
I found this video so helpful!
thank you so much for sharing, Darren!
judging from the spelling of your last name....I think you're Taiwanese American (or of Taiwanese descent).
so happy to see someone like me on youtube :)
sending blessings, love, and support from Boston!
i'm a incoming cornell freshman.
i'm thinking about bringing a rice cooker to cornell.
does that sound like a smart or dumb thing to do?
Taiwan number #1 :) thank you for the support! As for the rice cooker, if you have space when you're moving it can't hurt. You might not use it as much as you think freshmen year as you're going to be most likely on a meal plan and near dining halls, but as an upperclassmen when I lived off campus I used my rice cooker religiously and couldn't imagine my life without it
Hi Darren,. I echo the praise you're getting for providing such a valuable video to newcomers and would like to commend you also, for spending the time & effort to help others by answering questions citing your experience. My grandson was JUST accepted by Cornell for the fall 2022 semester and it's very reassuring to hear your comments and now know what to expect. We are on the island of Oahu living in Honolulu, Hawaii and though we know of Cornell as an Ivy League College, we don't personally know anyone who attended. Your warm, friendly synopsis makes us feel that we do!!!
What would you say are the admission stats required to get into Cornell? Great video, thanks!
Excellent video!
the video was incredibly helpful! I was stuck on deciding on ED'ing or not to the College of Engineering, but I had a question about cs. is it necessary to have cs experience in the college of engineering? i want to apply as a biomed eng major but i don't really have a solid cs foundation.
Same and I got accepted
Dpes Cornell offer full tuition scholarship for Hotel school?
And is it hard to transfer to the hotel school comparing to others?
Congrats 🎉
Hi, I’m an incoming student ‘26 who also want to major in cs. Kind of concerned after watching your video 😂 Have you used any of the AP credits in Cornell? And do you recommend students to do so?
I'm assuming not, since even if they let you skip some intro courses, you might run into problems if it turns out that there was something in cornell's version of calculus that you didn't learn in BC and now need in a more advanced class
Mzny thanks! Excellent info.
How about cafeteria and food in Cornell, how expensive things are in Ithaca?
I will have a conversation with an alumna tomorrow. Is it another word for an interview or is it really a chat session that I will not be evaluated for. Could you give some tips? Should I be prepared for classic interview qs?
Thank you for being so honest, very helpful. But has me confused if this would be the right fit for my son. Is there anyway to connect to someone to get more info? My son is on wait list and we were strongly considering it until I watched this video.
Cute voice, useful video. I loved this, I may stay over here ✨
Great video Darren, thanks. For a college athlete it sounds like the workload would be immense with academic plus athletic demands? My son is around 3.2GPA. Do you have any comments? Thanks again
Hey Tony glad you appreciated it! It's hard to strike a balance but it's certainly possible, among those I know who were able to juggle both D1 athletics with the Cornell curriculum, the vast majority chose to pursue the Dyson School which is our business major department, a Communications major, or other lighter coursework paths through Cornell. I do know student athlete engineers but they found the first two years extremely challenging and I know many who dropped their sport sometime during their 4 years because they felt burned out. At the end of the day, it's all about how you manage your hours in the day, understand that having a sport will occupy the vast majority of time you have when not in classes or doing work, and that's going to impact everything from the extracurriculars you can join to the friends you're going to have, hope this helps!
@@darrentsai169 Thanks very much!
Hi I'd like to say how helpful this video was! I was also wondering if you knew anyone who studies architecture since I'd like to look into it in the future.I'd like to really understand the experience of an arch. student if that was possible.Regarding the academics and mental stability , do you have any advice that helped you throughout your first years like schedules or anything of the sort.Thanks again for the video it was really helpful!
Hey Alexandra! Sorry I usually am on top of the comments but this one must have slipped by. Glad you found the video helpful! Certainly architecture is definitely a different beast and your time is dominated a lot by your studio based classes, I knew architecture majors that would be in the studio working until late at night all the time. My Cornell experience and advice probably won't necessarily apply to archies and other AAP majors besides in terms of social life because I know a lot of the stuff those students get involved in on campus are completely different from what I did at Cornell. I know this wasn't the most helpful so I apologize, but there is someone I know from my hometown that's currently an architecture major at Cornell, if you send me an email (dt356@cornell.edu) I'd be happy to connect you :)
Darren Tsai thank you so much!!
Hey Darren, I heard at 9:03 that you had friends in the Christian community at Cornell. Are there churches/student fellowships that you would recommend? I got in for a MS in mechanical engineering and am trying to figure out how life will look there.
Do you guys go to nyc often and if so how long does it take to get there
Incoming student this year! Planning to do information science since I heard it’s “easier” than cs haha do you know anyone who majored in info science and how their workload was? Hopefully not as intense as cs?
Hahaha I almost switched to IS multiple times because of the reputation of it being easier, I'd say don't count yourself out of CS before you try it, and if you come in Engineering you have at least 1.5 years to decide. Info Sci gives more flexibility on what path you take, but understand that comes with drawbacks. Most people who came in thinking CS and switch to IS are trying to skip 3410 (systems) / 3110 (functional) / 4410 (OS) core which is historically the most weed-out classes of the major (although they're getting easier). IS can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be, you can take the bare minimum of CS classes and curriculum (usually people going more the "design" route) but do be warned I know seniors who went that route who cannot code whatsoever, you can take a very data science approach (take databases, some ORIE courses, etc.) and skip some classes like OS, or you can go for almost a pure CS curriculum but in that case unless you're in CALS for NYS tuition why not just be CS major. Don't count yourself out of CS just yet! Take up to the 3xxx courses and see how you feel, you only need to affiliate sophomore spring so you got time
Brother, your voice is so soothing!
I am a high school student from India and will be applying to universities this year. I intend to pursue either economics or entrepreneurship. As an alumnus of Cornell, (even though you have attended the College of Engineering) could you tell me a few pros and cons of the Dyson?
Great video, nonetheless!
Thanks
Iss saal apply karne ke faida nahi
Sure thing! I took quite a lot of courses in Dyson so I'll try my best to keep this objective, but there's definitely trade-offs on both ends. Some cons: the courses aren't very rigorous and many of them require work that's more time intensive than mentally challenging, the quality of your classmates really range because close to 50% of the freshman incoming class are D1 athlete students, which ties into the final con I'll say which is a LOT of the work is group based. Pros, it's a good business program and the network is incredible, there's established pipelines to PE, management consulting, and investment banking, and Dyson has a lot of funds that go towards sponsoring students to go to conferences, run their own events, and also funding research trips. If you're set on Dyson definitely apply, but some have found it's a lot easier to apply to elsewhere in Cornell and transfer into Dyson as a sophomore as they double the class size from freshman to sophomore year (it's a dirty trick to change admission metrics, an unfortunate important metric for rankings)
Hi! I come from Brazil and I love Cornell, my grandfather went there and my mom was born on campus. I am afraid I like the school more because of my story with it tho... Do you know if the astronomy/astrophysics major and research is good there? Is is worth it to apply ED?
Hi Catarina, that's an incredible story first off, but in terms of astronomy and astrophysics our program is of course famous for having once included Carl Sagan. While I can't speak specifically to our astrophysics caliber, in the broader study of space we're certainly quite esteemed as many of our professors have played a key role in pushing the envelope on research in space, notably the Mars rover missions (news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/09/planetary-scientist-steve-squyres-retire-cornell). I am a bit biased on the ED question as I was ED, but it's really how risk averse you are and how interested you are in exploring other options!
@@darrentsai169 The link seems to be broken. Anywhere else you can find this. My daughter is specifically looking for opportunities to get into space fields and deciding between 5 schools. Cornell is one of them.
@@dawndennison6799 Sure Dawn! Seems the link appended the parenthesis by mistake this should work: news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/09/planetary-scientist-steve-squyres-retire-cornell
Awesome video!
As someone who did CS at Cornell, would you say that prestigious firms have similar interest for hiring computer science Cornell graduates when compared to schools like MIT or Berkeley, or is it not quite at that level?
Thank you!
Cornell has one of the top programs in the world. Doesn't matter.
Hi Darren, this was a really interesting video. I was wondering if you knew anyone who was a government major at Cornell. Is time management as much of an issue for this major?
Hi Tristan, one of my best friends was a gov & CS double major and from what I saw he never really struggled to catch up with the work required from his gov classes. It's a lot of reading, and a lot of papers, but I know plenty of government majors who double majored so I think it should be much more manageable, hope this helps!
As a STEM major student should you take physics, chemistry, maths AP exams or should you rather take humanity/language course?
I took both so i dont think you should limit yourself. Do what you can handle, but if you are STEM, prioritize the sciences/math
I got in but I’m still on the fence committing and may 1st is right around the corner. Yikes
Thank u for your transparency HumEc87
Honesty is our family policy
One of my professors went to an ivy league school and is now teaching a community college with the other professors so it doesn't really matter.
Can't argue with you there Aloyce, college like most things in life is what you make of it and college admissions itself is a flawed process ripe with inequality due to privilege. I took classes at my local state college in HS with some community college transfers that had worked blue collar jobs for a few years after high school and they all were as smart and even harder working than anyone I met at Cornell. At the end of the day the education difference Cornell and my local state school is there but isn't as big as people make it out to be, the biggest differences you see are in companies that come to recruit, funding opportunities for student activities, and how well connected alumni networks are when you look at top 20 schools.
Bro I got accepted as a transfer student but I didn’t go this fall 2020. I don’t know if I regret not going or not. I’m a Biology Premed major.
Congrats bro!
I got admitted as a transfer student for this upcoming fall term and I wonder how the workload would be for Civil Engineering. I assume it's different the transition experience for a freshman than a transfer student regarding to workload. What do you think?
Although I'm a transfer student, I feel like a freshman because everything will be new for me.
Hi Luis! First off congrats, although at this rate I'm not sure what Fall 2020 will look like for Cornell. In general I can tell you it largely depends on how many courses you manage to attain transfer credit for. All engineers need to take (or bring transfer/AP credit) up to multi-variable calculus, 2 semesters of chemistry, and 2-3 semesters of physics, writing seminars, etc. so the general education requirements alone might bog you down quite a bit depending on what you bring. As a CivE sophomore you're gonna probably be taking ENGRD 2020 (Statics) which is a notoriously difficult class, Physics Waves (2214) also is considered by some to be quite difficult, you can find the typical progression here (www.cee.cornell.edu/cee/programs/undergraduate-programs/civil-engineering-major/civil-engineering-major-roadmap). All in all, it's going to be tough, but office hours are your friend as well as those around you. Also (depending on whether Cornell decides to return to campus) sophomore transfers are typically housed together on West Campus so you have a nice support group of people also trying to adjust!
@@darrentsai169 Thank you for the advice. I'd greatly appreciate it. I've already transferred my credits for all my physics, chemistry, writing, and math classes. However, I need to take ENGRD 2020 (Statics) and MATH2940 (Linear algebra) which I'm already preparing myself by watching tutorial videos on CZcams. I need to ask you 3 important questions and I hope you can help me.
1. Have you taken Summer or Winter classes? If so, how was your experience?
2. Transfer students can join professional fraternities in their first semester or they need to study at least one semester at Cornell?
3. What clubs or fraternities do you suggest for Engineering? I couldn't hear clearly the one you mentioned at 7:08
Thanks and sorry for asking so many questions but my goal is to take the most of Cornell.
Glad it was helpful! To answer some of your follow ups
1. I personally haven't but many of my friends did Summer Sessions (although they are online this year so your experience may vary). They found them nice to knock some requirements out of the way and lighten their semester course load. Expect a lot more hours per week than traditional semester long courses due to the condensed schedule but also by virtue of that less depth on all the topics which will make the overall material you need to learn more manageable. You definitely can take 1-2 courses and still have plenty of free time on the side
2. We personally allow transfer students to apply immediately last I checked (Theta Tau) and I think that's shared among all professional fraternities. It might be tough though traditionally they look for campus involvement which you'll naturally be disadvantaged for having just arrived, I'd probably wait a semester at least.
3. Project teams! For sure the most valuable thing you can get out of the College of Engineering, you can find all of them here (www.engineering.cornell.edu/students/undergraduate-students/special-programs/project-teams) for a CivE, Engineers in Action (they build bridges in Tanzania), Steel Bridge (pretty self explanatory), and Seismic Design (wooden miniature buildings designed for earthquake resistance, they use a massive earthquake simulator we have in Thurston Hall occasionally it's pretty cool) would probably be some you find interesting! Keep in mind they are application based to join so don't be discouraged if you don't make all the teams you're interested in!
@@darrentsai169 Thank you. Now I have a clear understanding about my plans for this semester. I hope you achieve your goals in your future plans. 👍
Luis Jave Good luck at Cornell 🙏🏽
ur goated
nice!
Can u plsz make a video on how u get into cornel...your score,ECs,essay etc
I have been selected
Nobel Committee chairman
And
I will be Confered with
Nobel prize in science
Cornell University
Right for students
I am 67yrs
Old
Born
14.07.1955
Hence my
Education
Carrier
Over
omg i have the same duke psoter aha
I am member of
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Belgium
Hey man, i was recently accepted to Cornell and really appreciate the video
wait u applied through common app or something else
I recently Graduated from Cornell University online it was so hard considering that l paid for it on my own with no help from anyone
Hi Eric, I have admission to Cornell’s MSBA program with a 20% scholarship, but have admission to Georgetown costs less and Wake Forest 85% scholarship. Being that you graduated Cornell online, would you say for the price it was worth it? If I have to pay that much, I hope it is worth it and also is Cornell really better than Wake Forest and Georgetown? Decisions.
@@calmkwame for me it was definitely worth the investment and l all ready have a job that l can utilize my education I'd say follow your interests and hope you get get into the College of your choosing.
@@Trump20-24 Thanks Erik, how would you describe the online course work and load and also did your job offer salary outweigh the cost paid?
@@calmkwame I'll find out this weekend if I get the job if not I'll try again next time it comes available because its not the end of the world if l don't get it this year because there is always next year and the course work was difficult and challenging for me but l finished the course projects and work were laid out in a straight line beginning to end each Module was 5-7 separate parts with 5-10 individual Modules for each section
Lol. I am also a 2020 grad.
개인 생각이니 욕은 하지 말아주세용 하지만 다른 의견은 좋아요! 이 클립만 보고 생각한거니 다를 수 있음!
1. 남자분 코넬대 나오신것 같은데 고등학생때까지 영어 회화 사교육 1도 안받고 미국가가지구, 동아리 활동 한번도 안하고 기숙사에 박혀서 공부만 하고 온 듯한 느낌이네요. 4년 공부했다고 생각해도 발음이 너무 아니에요.
2. 그리고 조기졸업은 간혹 동시간대 같이 진행하는 수업 신청해서 (성적 좋아야하고, 두 과목 교수가 다 승인 해야함) 듣고, 써머에 들을 수 있는 과목들 다 땡겨서 듣고 하면 되는건데 저 여자분이 말한 교수가 Dean이 아니였을까요? 물론 저 여자분이 학교에서 정한 최대 수강가능한 크레딧 이상 들으려고 오피스에 자주 찾아갔고, 저 남자랑 같은 과를 나왔다는 전제 하에요.
My Biography realsed By Former Governor of West Bengal And Present Vice President of India
Respected And Honble Mr Jagdeep Dhankar
My name
Included in Indian Constitution
I am member of international Court of justice
The Netherland s
And
Writing
Regularly
On
International judiciary system
Either
On
Constitution
Or
On
Crime
I am member of international Sciences Council France
I am member of
Security Council International
I am member of NASA
I am member of
IMF
I am member of
Science and technology Congress
International
Excellent honest review. Mental health section is disqualifying enough. It should have been first section. The weather combines with the mental health is why it’s bad.
Also as far as the reputation did the school reputation pay for itself? Doubtful.
Also the wokeness and vaccine mandates show the school leadership could care less about the students. A private school should have easy scheduling of classes and clubs.
Your review makes it clear what I’ve heard elsewhere: Cornell is a big mistake.
and remember everyone, those high tuition fees are paying for that unsympathetic therapist.😊
I want corruption free
India
My
Dream
lol hi darren
lmao hey there
No, no it isn’t. Who the hell wanna spend 4 cold ass years in Ithaca?
patronizing when these ivys pretend to be humble
Wow! Very depressing!