Cornell University - Ithaca, New York

Living the Life at Cornell
Cornell is quite selective in its admissions, admitting only around twenty percent of its applicants. Once in though, there are over 13,000 undergraduate students at Cornell. These students are said to come from all fifty states and over one hundred and twenty other countries. Approximately thirty percent of these students are ethnic minorities, and diversity in terms of interests, religions, sexualities, and many other features abounds at Cornell.
These students certainly know how to study—that’s how Cornell maintains its reputation—but they know how to have a good time, too. With nearly 1,000 different student organizations (yes, for real) there are always multiple activities on campus to choose from. Whether it is Salsa dancing, speaking Swahili, or taking on the role of a Medieval knight, there is definitely at least one group for you to join, if not ten to twenty! Cornell is also home to the second largest Greek system in the United States. The Greek system at Cornell is very involved in community service, and the system has received national recognition for the active and philanthropic nature of the sororities and fraternities on campus.

Minding the Mission
In the nineteenth century when Ezra Cornell founded Cornell University, he did so with the hope that any person would be able to study anything. Although the university is more selective than it once was (it used to have an open admissions policy), there is such a breadth of programs available at Cornell that the original mission of being able to study anything is essentially still true today.
The university is divided up into fourteen different colleges, seven of which are for undergraduates. The schools emphasize different fields from the more general College of Arts and Sciences to the New York School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Within those colleges there are plenty of specialties and niches that students may find for themselves.
There are some university-wide requirements (like passing a writing requirement and taking some physical education classes) but in general each college designs its own programs and helps students meet specific needs.

Cornell’s Bragging Rights
Cornell’s Ivy status is well known. Not everyone realizes just how academically successful Cornell is though—they have a lot to be proud of! Some interesting facts about Cornell and academic success: More Cornell graduates go on to become doctors than any other school. Their pre-med and life sciences programs are incredibly well respected. Medicine not your thing? Cornell also has more graduates go on to get Ph.D.s in the life sciences than any other school.
Life sciences not your niche? Cornell is fourth in the whole world for students who go on to pursue doctoral degrees at American universities. Some of these students are studying English, some are studying History, and others have entirely different fields—no matter though, the number that go on to pursue Ph.D.s is astronomical!
If you plan on pursuing advanced degrees, then doing your undergraduate work at Cornell will certainly set you up well to go on—you will be amongst peers who are doing the same thing!

"Ithaca is more rural than anything I'm used to. You'll soon grow accustomed to it. On the flip side, the quality of student life at Cornell is great partly due to our location. Because Cornell is in a more rural area, the focus of both the students and the surrounding community is on Cornell. Students don't go off and get lost in the city for the weekend - they stick around and do things at Cornell. People are here because they want to be here."