Lauren H.
Yelp
I went back for my *coughcough* Reunion this past weekend, and I started crying upon driving onto campus. Happy tears though, as the beauty of the place overwhelmed me and the memories came flooding back (exiting through my tear ducts, apparently). There has been a lot of new construction since I left, and while I do not necessarily think it all fits in to the old architecture (I am old school and like the old fashioned feel of a campus, such as the Arts Quad here), I applaud the efforts to stay modern, such as having Gold LEED certified buildings, free wifi, and building atriums in many buildings.
The campus is set on hills overlooking a lake (Cayuga), so exercise is a plenty, and they offer some great physical education classes, from yoga to skiing to just about any sport you could want. It is an Ivy League School, so while some of our sports may suffer, others such as hockey, lacrosse, polo (among others) are quite good.
There are actually seven undergrad schools (Arts & Sciences; Agriculture & Life Sciences; Industrial & Labor Relations; Engineering; Architecture, Art & Planning; Human Ecology; and Hotel Administration), as well as many graduate schools such as business (the Johnson School), veterinary studies and law. Looking back, I wish I had taken advantage of more course offerings and had paid more attention to my studies.
The campus sprawls over 700 acres, and there is a working hotel, a dairy barn, plantations, a high caliber art museum (see my separate review) and probably anything else you could hope to find (except good weather for too many months, but hey, nowhere is perfect). We have something called the Hot Truck, which legend has it devised the idea for french bread pizzas and then sold it. All I know is after carousing or late night studying, those things tasted good; however, I realized last weekend when I am sober and older with more refined tastes, not so much (but I still revere it as an institution). The town is across a bridge and offers some restaurants, bars, and small shops--your typical college town. Within a few minutes' drive are more offerings (and on the other side of the hills is another school, but really, we are the only one that counts in Ithaca) ;) There are waterfalls and gorges (Ithaca is Gorges!) and greenery galore; it truly is one of the most beautiful campuses.
I only applied to 4 colleges and thought I really wanted to go to a different one. But looking back now, I realize my belief that everything happens for a reason is further confirmed by my winding up at Cornell. *Coughcough* years later, it still has an effect on my life, whether it be the people with whom I still share special bonds, the locale which instilled a love of nature in me (despite the cold and the Ithacation) and which when I am there evokes a feeling like no other (even when I am not there too, I guess) or the education which I believe has prepared me to accomplish nearly anything to which I set my mind (despite my verbosity and imperfect sentence structure here, I really was educated well!). If I were to have the opportunity to do it all over again, I would eagerly choose Cornell.
I could write a review as long as the day and still not be able to put into words how proud and how grateful I am to be an alum.
"Far above Cayuga's waters
with its waves of blue
stands our noble alma mater
glorious to view
Lift the chorus
speed it onward
loud her praises tell
Hail to thee o' alma mater
Hail all hail Cornell."
GO BIG RED!