Beggining of the end or the history of rock
My final semester schedule is mostly set. It is pretty easy, as was this semester. I will continue my research for starters. I am taking one engineering course, as I have fulfilled the rest of my requirements, ORIE’s Introduction to Game Theory, it should be pretty fun and apparently game theory can be applied to pretty much anything. Outside of Engineering I am taking a one credit nutritional science seminar, a one credit preparatory course for my FE, Fundamentals of Engineering, exam, Wines and History of Rock. I will tell you all about the FE and becoming a Professional Engineer later. Some of these courses, Wines and History of Rock, are very hard to get into and are usually populated by seniors.
Your last semester in Cornell engineering is usually pretty light, where you type up lose ends, or start work on your Masters of Engineering. Most students graduate Cornell Engineering in four years, something north of 90% I am told.
It was kind of sad waking up to enroll in courses at 7am knowing it was the last time I would. Hopefully it was all worth it and I will have a fantastic Final semester.
In the world of cycling Cornell had a very well attended cyclocross race this past weekend, I did very well, especially considering it was my first cross race ever. Plans are in place to have the race be an annual event, so if you want to do cyclocross in college why not come to a school that will host races.
Have a good one,
Sean
I'm famous or you don't have to eat 4 pines burgers
I made the PAPER!!: http://cornellsun.com/section/sports/content/2009/10/22/club-cycling-trains-successful-season In yesterday’s printed version of the Cornell Daily Sun, one of Cornell’s newspaper publications, I had a quote bubble. If you have been keeping up with my blog, it should be no surprise that the article was cycling related. So instead of boring you and talking more about cycling, I’ll tell you a bit about the Cornell Daily Sun.
The Sun, as we refer to it, is a student run newspaper. It is published every weekday; there is also a weekend section, the Red Letter Daze, on Thursdays. The paper covers news, sports, and the arts on a daily basis. Today there are some articles on the Student Assembly Finance Committee, or SAFC, the group that gives money to clubs (like Cornell Cycling!). There are also classified ads for housing and parking, which become useful if you decide to move off campus.
In my opinion, the most important part of the paper is pretty much in the middle: the comics page. The Sun is one of two papers to carry Mr. Gnu. It also syndicates the popular Doonesbury comics. On the same page are puzzles to help you pass the time, such as Sudoku and the Los Angles Daily Times crossword puzzle. Both are great time fillers for, uh, between classes.
If you would like to learn more about the Sun or keep up with what’s happening on campus, check out the Sun’s main page: http://cornellsun.com/
Have a good one,
Sean
The perfect score or things i did not do in high school
First off, my fall break did not go as planned. Exactly 0:1:20 into a 2:00:00+ race I managed to break the fork on my bike. I had fun cheering on my friend Ethan, and watching some cool mountain bike races. I also got to go home. It was nice to see family and get away from the stresses of Cornell. And of course to see the not so much kittens any more.
The office has been receiving, like it always does this time of year, lots of questions. One of the most popular questions is regarding testing. I went through it, so did everyone here at Cornell. I took the SAT 3 times, it was only going to be two but they added the writing section after my first two tests and it was required for me. I also took both levels of the Math SAT II, an SAT II in physics, and one in US history. This might have been a little overboard, but Cornell does not count it against you. In fact, as was the case with me, if you take the SAT twice and get a 750/690 split one time and a 730/700 split the second time, we only look at the 750 and the 700. We do not use the writing portion, but it is required. Also we look at your best SAT II’s, so if you took both Math’s and chemistry and physics then we look at your highest math and your highest science. There really is no need to use score choice for us.
Another question is when are the deadlines. If you are applying early then the last test date we accept is the tests offered in November. For regular decision the last tests we accept is form the January date.
Don’t freak out about not getting 800’s, I certainly did not. Cornell reads your application holistically, so one test is not going to make it impossible to get in.
Have a good one,
Sean
How i spent my fall break or why is vermont so far away.
If you read some of the other student’s blogs over yonder you might hear some talk about these strange things called prelims. Unfortunately you will not hear me talk about any of those this semester. I had a true midterm yesterday, but it was open book, open note, and open homework. That midterm and a final for that course will be my only exams this semester, just one perk of being a senior. You may be asking how I am graded then, lab reports, around one a week ranging from five pages to 25 pages.
But enough about boring school stuff; today is that start of fall break. How am I spending my final fall break? I am hoping in a car in 2.5 hours and driving to Northern Vermont, to go race my mountain bike. And the best part of this trip is it will only cost me food. How does that work? Well Cornell ahs a lot of club sports, and a lot of these sports travel to compete at various competitions. The university gives the clubs a budget and the club is allowed to spend it. So I will be representing Cornell at the ECCC Easterns Conference Championship. Personally I think the cycling club is the best one on campus, but at any rate as I have said before club sports are a great distraction from your course work. After I finish my race on Saturday I will head back home for a day, maybe two with my parents, obviously I will have some dirty laundry from mountain biking.
Check back next week and I will let you know how the racing went and hopefully give you a little more incite into Cornell. As always if you have anything you want to hear about just drop me a comment (down there \/).
Have a good one,
Sean
I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane
Unfortunately I did not actually go anywhere on jet plane while at Cornell, but I have had close friends that have. Yes despite how beautiful Cornell is some students choose to study abroad. I know of a few engineers that did it, as well as people outside of engineering.
While it may be a bit harder for engineers to study abroad because of required courses it can be done. It takes planning and if you know it is something you want to pursue you should talk to advising as soon as you get to campus your freshman year.
Everyone I know that studied abroad will graduate on time, and never had to take summer courses. They put some courses off until they went abroad and took some early or late here. No one ever regrets it when they go abroad. Many people find the classes to be easier, and it is fun to see them adjust back to Cornell after.
Two of my friends went to Hong Kong for one semester and I know another person who is spending a year in Spain. Depending on where you go it will either be a semester or a full year. You are also sometimes limited by your major as to where you can go, but usually you can go somewhere. For most programs you are taught in English, which is nice because I know my high school Spanish did not involve the word derivative let alone proportional integrated derivative control. Unfortunately grades do not transfer, but credit does.
Cornell is even so nice, that it helps you pay for studying abroad, it was my understanding that Cornell paid for one flight overseas and one flight back. They will also give you financial aid if you qualify.
For those people who Co-Op, or take internships, sometimes you can even do this abroad. There is an organization at Cornell run by students, to help students get internships abroad, http://www.rso.cornell.edu/aiesec/.
I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know that two of my fellow admissions office student workers will be starting blogs very soon, Ashley: http://cornellengineeringadmissions-ashley.blogspot.com/ and Darlin: http://cornellengineeringadmissions-darlin.blogspot.com/ . They are both freshman, and Ashley has her first prelim tonight. They also live in the coolest dorm on campus, although neither is in the best hallway, 2-6. Check out there blogs and be sure to ask them and my self any question you may have, or even give us ideas for topics for us to blog about.
Have a good one,
Sean
