Cornell University

Located in Ithaca, New York; Cornell University is a private tier one research university founded, as a result of a New York State Senate bill that named it as the state’s land grant, in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, with the motto and popular Ezra Cornell quote: “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” Since the beginning, Cornell has been co-ed and non-sectarian.  Its reputation as an elite Ivy League school is reaffirmed with the number of Rhodes Scholars (28) and Nobel Laureates (41) .

The school is highly diverse, though Asians make up most of the minorities.  On our campus tour we did notice some obvious voluntary segregation – one group after another of racially similar students.  The two sides of the 745 acre campus are bound by gorges, rumored to be the site used by academically over-stressed students driven to the point of suicide to meet their doom, hence the saying, “Cornell is gorges.” The current students we encountered deny being stressed, but admit to a challenging curriculum.  Classes are graded on a curve, encouraging students to be super competitive in order to receive the few As distributed.  The tuition seems to vary based on the school you attend.  Out of the seven undergraduate colleges, some are endowed colleges charging private school rates, while others are contract colleges charging public school tuition with discounts for in-state students.  Each of the seven colleges admits their own students, provides their own faculty, and in almost every sense, operates independently from the rest.  We found some engineering students studying at the library and some agricultural and life science students throwing frisbee on the quad – naturally.  The admission rate of 18% for the over 30,000 applicants each year makes Cornell highly selective. 

Students who applied to Cornell University, also looked at Brown University, Harvard University, and Carnegie Mellon University.  For more information on Cornell University, visit http://www.cornell.edu/.

Cornell University is located at 300 Day Hall, Ithaca, NY  14853 (607) 255-2000