hacp

Gorgeous Campus in Decent Weather; Green Buildings; Decent Library

There are gyms available- I live off campus and don't use them though, so I couldn't really provide much information on them. However, I do know that they have just built a giant new gym/graduation building that looks pretty gorgeous from the outside- even if it doesn't quite match the rest of the campus aesthetics. The library is decent, and the staff is excellent. The campus is on a big hill. Parking isn't great and it can be irritating in the winter. The weather is horrible, and the campus is not really built to deal with it- that's on you here. However, when it is nice out the campus can be truly gorgeous. IC is fairly good about environmentally conscious buildings.

People Smoke Pot a Whole Lot, Underage Drinking Happens. More Serious Druguse Is Less Popular.

People smoke pot. Nearly everyone. It can be irritating, but you can ignore it most of the time. The police love to circle around any and all places people may be having fun on weekends, but you have to be pretty stupid to get into serious trouble. They're laid back about it to say the least. You'll encounter some people that would expect you to do what they do, but I think there's way less peer pressure at IC than at other schools.

Good School for Some Things; Bad for Others; Miserable Weather; Excellent People

I love IC for the amazing people, classes and programs (depends on what you are studying). They're abroad programs are also incredible, and it is full of amazing international students. I have met incredible people (including professors) from every inch of the globe. That's not to say that the students are not mainly from the tri-state area or San Francisco, but nearly everyone is lovely and there is a genuine appreciation for other cultures. The students, faculty, and staff are generally some of the greatest people you will find anywhere (minus the frequent pot problem). The park school and the music school are exceptional, where the web and art programs are seriously lacking. They are good about having few gen-ed requirements and relatively reasonable major requirements.

Overall, IC is a great school- save its location. It is NOT near anything. Shopping is seriously, seriously limited (learn to love the web now). It takes an hour to get to Syracuse which is still fairly shopping deprived. The local hospital and health center are bad (if you are sick and can get anywhere else I would recommend it), and with the miserable weather and close quarters people tend to get sick a lot. It is a small town far away from civilization and plagued by lake effect snow- you just have to come prepared for beyond cold temperatures and months deprived of sunshine. That said, you can have truly amazing experiences at Ithaca that will change you're life.

Quality Academics in Most Areas; Less Quality Academics in the Rest

The quality of the class depends a lot on the school it is in (aka Park & Music school tends to have better offerings, the Art school is a joke). However, academics are pretty good overall. I think that if IC does not update their web program//create a proper one ASAP they can no longer truly provide quality communications and computer science degrees, but I am hopeful that they will improve that quickly. Their combination of multiple pursuits into one degree can be frustrating. They allow you to concentrate in one area, but there will still be requirements in the others, which are often only loosely related. I have had incredible professors (particularly in the Park School of Communications, but in the school of Humanities as well), but I have also encountered one or two people who were truly not qualified to teach anything (even the over-crowded intro classes to which they were assigned). Their grading system is slightly flawed.

Cheap, Convenient, Semi-Varied College Food Readily Available Off-Campus/Delivered to Campus & Surrounds

As far as varied, affordable off-campus dining is concerned Ithaca is pretty good. College students being the primary target audience, most are satisfied with the selection. Only one proper restaurant (would ever see anyone but college students, etc. dining at in a bigger town) and one proper bakery though. Nowhere near the variety in a big city, but there are places that will deliver food until 4 AM in the middle of a snow storm.

Better Parking Could Happen

Permit costs are WAY over-priced, particularly for freshman, who get the unpaved lot furthest away (because naturally the school should punish them rather than improving their parking options). Ticketing happens, often, $20 everytime you are somewhere you shouldn't be (they don't check after 5 or on weekends or in really bad weather). You can theoretically survive without a car if you know someone who has one of the generous variety, and won't feel stranded in the middle of nowhere if you are dependent on campus offerings for your every need. It's hard to move them in the snow, but they're generally pretty necessary (at least from my perspective).