Tangerine1

Fantastic Facilities, Stunning Campus

Though the college has been around since the late 1800's, the campus was moved to South Hill in the 1960s, and as a result, the facilities are, for the most part, modern. The gym is equipped with all kinds of new workout gear, and the three dining halls each have a bit of flair. As for educational buildings, most of them were built quite recently, and some have won awards for environmental friendliness. The business school, especially, is very beautiful and modern and affords an amazing view. Facilities are always very clean, and technology is kept updated.

Sports?

Students who are involved in sports make a lifestyle of it; the people from my dorm who play for varsity teams are rarely around. Fan support is lacking aside from at football games, where it varies. The Cortaca Jug is the only really big sporting event, and that's mainly an excuse to have a party, from how I've seen it. However, students will get decked out in school colors and "F*** CORTLAND" t-shirts. Aside from that, spirit is lacking...I'm still trying to figure out whether or not our school has a mascot.

Greek Life?

not much greek life, an underground frat and community-service sorority is all.

Perfect Setting

Great place, all kind of people. Perfect setting for my major. Lots of hiking, skiing, the lake is right there.

Lots of Variety

Ithaca has a lot of everything... unless you're looking for something mainstream. The vibe is largely ultraliberal/ progressive, and it does have a reputation as a hippie city with plenty of hipsters sprinkled in. While a fair number of students seem to quickly adopt the hippie lifestyle, there are plenty that don't, so it's really up to personal choice. Ithaca also has a reputation for being a well-educated city; 7% of residents hold a PhD. (Most are Cornell professors and graduates.) In general, people lean toward the extremely open-minded and artistic. That said, not everyone is especially sophisticated. Even for all the mansions, and a few celebrity residents, there's a fair amount of poverty, hard drugs, and shady characters. (Ladies, be careful when you're out downtown at night.) For shopping, there's The Commons, which has some funky boutiques and vintage shops, about a mile from campus. There are also a number of shops that sell bongs, and Ithaca does have a bit of a reputation for that. There's also the mall (difficult to get to if you don't have a car) which features some more mainstream (in comparison, boring) choices like AE and PacSun. The mall also has a pretty big movie theater, and there's a well-known indie film theater just off the Commons. There's a bit of a theatre scene downtown (in addition to IC's big-deal drama student productions) and some smaller clubs, some shadier than others. Go on college event nights... not just random nights out. The bar scene is popular with the 21+ crowd. Cornell's collegetown is a scene later at night, full of mostly drunk kids roaming the streets looking for something yummy and calorie-dense. Though Cornell features a few big concerts during the year, few large acts come to the city. (Medium-range indie acts do come around though, and Ithaca in general has a much more hippie vibe.) Dining options are countless; Ithaca has more restaurants per capita than NYC. There's lots of greasy student fare, plenty of great places to order in from during snow storms, and quite a few fancier restaurants for when your family is in town. When it's nice out-- especially the end of the summer-- be sure to check out the gorges and waterfalls. They're a feature that's pretty unique for a collegetown, and they're one of the best things about the city.

Definitely Apply.

If there's even a slight chance you might get financial aid, definitely apply. IC is a pretty expensive school, but they tend to help out people who need it. Beyond that, they give away a lot of merit scholarships to kids who worked hard in high school. If you earned a high GPA and/or did well on standardized testing, you stand a good chance of receiving some sort of scholarship award without even needing to apply. For some of the largest awards (full tuition in some cases) there are rigorous application processes, and they base the award more on full personality and accomplishments. Many of these awards require interviews to qualify you, and from what I've seen, from the people I know who received major awards, charisma seems to be a factor. Definitely worthwhile to apply for.

Common Sense

In general, IC itself has a safe campus, and has enough of a community feel that people watch out for one another. That said, things happen. Watch out for yourself at night downtown. The winter is long and vicious, and that can be dangerous, especially for students that party heavily. Know your limits and stick with your friends when you go out. IC does have a medical amnesty program for students that overindulge in alcohol or run into trouble with drugs, so you won't get in trouble if you call for help if it's needed. Campus police keep an eye on things, but in an uneven way.

Unpredictable.

Weather changes quickly and often doesn't make sense. The only thing you can really expect is to have very cold weather, and snow-- a lot of it-- from late December to early April. Long winters contribute to cabin fever and cattiness. Blame the lake effect, but Ithaca is known for getting more rain than Seattle. When it rains, it rains hard. That said, when it's nice out, it's the most beautiful thing ever, and fall in Ithaca is gorgeous.

Freshman Housing

If you're going into your freshman year at Ithaca, do everything you can to wind up in freshman housing. Current options include Talcott, Rowland, Boothroyd, and East Tower. Each has its own perks-- Rowland and Talcott are located just off the main quad, the tower is connected to a dining hall, TC lounge, Subconnect, and is dead center of campus (but requires climbing a LOT of steps), and Boothroyd's rooms are just doubles, but they're ridiculously huge. (It's off in an inconvenient corner of campus though.) Living communities exist in the Terraces, and are good if you're really interested in what they're about. Hood Hall is home to the Wellness floor (drug and alcohol free) and while kids do choose to live there for that reason, others just wind up placed there and don't abide by that at all. Rooms are basic white cinderblock, but in theory you're allowed to paint them approved colors.

Friendly People, Alternative Culture

The people at IC tend to be really friendly and creative, and for the most part are extremely liberal, but there are always plenty of exceptions to that. To describe the general student body, there are a lot of hippie kids, a lot of kids into indie music, and then a very distinct and separate group of athletic "biddies and bros". An alarming number of people are obsessed with musical theatre. The drug scene is rather prevalent and the school is somewhat known for this, but that's by no means every student, and if you're friendly, you're bound to meet some cool people that you'll like, no matter what you're into. For the most part, kids here are very into individuality, so there's a bit of an art school vibe, though not overwhelmingly so. Plenty of piercings, dreadlocks, and interesting hair colors to go around. Preppy kids are less common but not a rarity. Many students come from the East Coast, but there's a fair number from all over the country and Cali especially. Students are generally middle and upper-middle class. There are no frats and it's not quite the traditional teen-movie college experience, but a lot of us like it better this way.