percytruffle Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Dd will be finishing up her associates degree in biology at the cc next year and is looking into transfer colleges. She is a very strong student. Her bio professor has suggested Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as a transfer school for her. Cornell is only about an hour away from us, a rather nice bonus feature. I know that Cornell in general is a wonderful school. Dh applied and was accepted there way back when, but went elsewhere. Do any of you have experience with th Ag/Life Sciences school at Cornell? I would love to hear any info you can share. Also, if you have other suggestions for transfer schools we'd love to hear them. Her specific interests are geared toward bio-psychology, genetics, and zoology. She is also a very strong writer. She'd like to stay in NY or at least the Northeast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Any input on Cornell (at all)? Other transfer school suggestions for a biology major are more than welcome. We are researching options right now. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staci in CT Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 The College of Agriculture is one of the state funded colleges and of particular interest to you lucky ones who live in NY. Biology majors can attend the Ag School or Arts and Sciences, but the price would double for her to attend the private side. The campus is gorges (sic) as anyone who has been to Ithaca well knows. Cornell also accepts a plethora of transfers so I recommend your dd go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 The campus is gorges (sic) as anyone who has been to Ithaca well knows. Cornell also accepts a plethora of transfers so I recommend your dd go for it! Yes, Ithaca certainly is gorges! Thanks for the input. I'm glad to hear about their acceptance of transfer students. Several of dds' classmates at the community college are headed there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 If possible- find a biography about Barbara McClintock, the woman scientest who discovered the "jumping gene" theory using corn. She grew up locally in the Cornell area, and went to college there. Her dad believed that kids should go ice skating if the weather was nice, instead of going to school. He was a very respected doctor in the town, but unique. Her mom got her into Cornell, she said she never knew how! (I don't think she really finished high school) She always signed up for a double load of classes and then dropped many of them when she decided they were boring. My dad was a wheat geneticist who almost went to Cornell for his phD. (that was the number one school in this field)Evidently in the 1940's there was a major professor there who was nasty, but somehow he had heard about him, and enrolled at U. of Minnesota instead.(number 2 school) My dad's friend started at Cornell, ran into said professor and then transferred to Minnesota with the wife and two kids.They both worked during the war trying to increase the rubber content of locally grown plants. (rubber was not coming from Indonesia)(my dad did a small rubber plant in California, his friend worked on Russian Dandelion on the east coast and doubled the natural rubber content during his studies) However, artificial rubber was soon invented, and the studies were abandonned. My dad's friend consulted with Barbara McClintock on Long Is. during that time. He said she couldn't think of any thing different to do, to just continue with what he was doing. She led a very solitary life in her lab. Now they said that her theory is what explains bacteria's ability to transfer antibiotic resistance to subsequent generations. (all these people are gone-but their quiet, unsung work in plant genetics has been a foundation for the genetics of the future) I always sort of wondered who the professor at Cornell was! (the rest of the story....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Nancy, how inspirational! I will share this story with my daughter. I see Dr. McClintock was awarded the Nobel prize for Medicine in 1983. She looks to have been a fascinating individual. I am off to see if our online library system has anything about her. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 After a little searching, I've found a couple of books about her. I thought I'd share the titles in case anyone else is interested in genetics: The Tangled Field: Barbara McClintock's Search for the Patterns of Genetic Control A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock The former is newer, but my library system doesn't have it. It looks like it may go into the basket at Amazon. The latter I placed a library hold on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staci in CT Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Percytruffle, I went to Cornell in the 80s. Here are my thoughts: Pros: It's relatively easy to get in; certainly the easiest of the Ivies The complex is huge and amazing; they offer everything. I took wine tasting, labor relations studies, microbiology, entomology... The campus truly is stunning, as is the surrounding area. Cayuga Lake, Buttermilk Falls, Slide Rock Park, all are great places to laze around on a sunny, warmish day. However, we used to hike when these places were covered in snow and ice too. Greek Peak (smallish ski resort) is only an hour away. Between Collegetown and Ithaca Commons, there is always a great place to hang out. Eateries, coffee houses, and even some shopping are easy to find and enjoy. The on-campus Statler Hotel, completely run by the kids in the hotel school, is superb. Everyone should eat there at least once. There is always something going on. Everyone can find their place: lectures, big name concerts, frat parties, walking through nut farms, orchards, almost anything you can think of is available. Cons: As the President said when we first arrived, "Cornell has two seasons - winter and August." It's somewhat true. Although not terribly difficult to be accepted, it is difficult to stay in. My biology 101 class had 800 kids and was purposely curved to a C. They need kids to drop out. Your can hear the professor during lecture, but you will almost never meet him (only TAs). I don't think I ever met with or even knew I had an advisor. Frats and sororities play a big role as there isn't enough housing for everyone (I suppose this doesn't have to be a con). There are so many distribution choices, and no core curriculum, so that you can graduate and never read Shakespeare, take History, learn about our Constitution, or write an English paper. It is incredibly PC and was even when I was there. There are private housing choices offered for all sorts of "groups," none of which did I belong to. In short, I am glad I went but I would never send my kids there. It is too large and impersonal and easy to remain anonymous. Staci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Cons:As the President said when we first arrived, "Cornell has two seasons - winter and August." It's somewhat true. Although not terribly difficult to be accepted, it is difficult to stay in. My biology 101 class had 800 kids and was purposely curved to a C. They need kids to drop out. Your can hear the professor during lecture, but you will almost never meet him (only TAs). I don't think I ever met with or even knew I had an advisor. Frats and sororities play a big role as there isn't enough housing for everyone (I suppose this doesn't have to be a con). There are so many distribution choices, and no core curriculum, so that you can graduate and never read Shakespeare, take History, learn about our Constitution, or write an English paper. It is incredibly PC and was even when I was there. There are private housing choices offered for all sorts of "groups," none of which did I belong to. In short, I am glad I went but I would never send my kids there. It is too large and impersonal and easy to remain anonymous. Staci Thank you, Staci. These are some of my concerns as well. I am glad you voiced them from personal experience. Dd is thriving in her small, though very good, cc community right now. She has a wonderful relationship with her professors, more so than the student body. I'm afraid she will be disappointed in the environment at Cornell or someplace similar. I can't imagine her in a class of 800 students with a TA. It may be a different scenario as a transfer student though. She would be transferring with an AS. Hopefully, a lot of the weeding out is done by the junior year. This path is a bit of a 180 for her. She was all set to apply for transfer to a wonderful Christian school until her professors began suggesting other transfer schools :) I am not in favor of a pc oriented school, but dd is a strong individual who will not be swayed by the views of others, so she would weather it fine in the end. It is so difficult for some kids to know which path to take, dd has always been one of those. For others it seems so cut and dry. At least we have some time to sort it all out. Of course, she may very well not be accepted even if she decides to apply, and there would be no decision to make! Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niebski Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hello, I graduated from Cornell in 90 and 92 with a couple Engineering degrees. I largely agree with what's been said so far, except I view the size as a huge advantage... you meet people from all over, interested in all kinds of subjects, from arts to engineering.... if you change your mind, you can find a new major. I roomed with Aggies, Engineers, Liberal Arts types, Hotelies, you name it! Being an engineer, perhaps I found the PC thing to be much less of a factor. Freshman and some sophomore classes can be huge, especially the popular ones (Psych 101, which was so cool my boyfriend went to lectures, too, even though he wasn't enrolled!) Some are small (freshmen seminars). By junior year in engineering, by and large classes were small and personal. Advisors were there if you needed them (I didn't). Anyway, I'm taking my 7th gr daughter to Cornell for a week this summer where we'll both take classes. It'll be her first into to college and just cool for me :) I'd encourage her to go there unless she really wanted a specialty they didn't have, got a scholarship elsewhere, etc.... Feel free to email if you have any questions.... Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 This path is a bit of a 180 for her. She was all set to apply for transfer to a wonderful Christian school until her professors began suggesting other transfer schools :) I am not in favor of a pc oriented school, but dd is a strong individual who will not be swayed by the views of others, so she would weather it fine in the end. This isn't completely related to what you originally asked, but I have a friend who runs an international Christian fellowship group there - she has been doing this since around 1993. We get newsletters from her about once or twice a year, and it's always fascinating to read the stories of the students who are involved in the group - they seem to have such a great time together, praying together, doing Bible studies together, meals and discussions together, etc.. Plus it's so international, so they really get close during the school year. If you're interested, I can PM her name and other info. to you, if you want to get in touch with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Thank you, Colleen. I pm'ed you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Thank you for your first-hand input, Sue. Best wishes for your college adventure with your dd this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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