What is it like to be an engineering student at Cornell (esp a female student)?

First let me say that I am a male, junior ORIE major.  It all depends on what type of engineering you want to do as to the quality of buildings and teachers. The buildings are all quite nice that I have been in, however.  And I believe the chemical engineering buildings are Pretty nice as well The social scene exists and is very possible to balance both engineering and social life. Greek life is very prevalent at cornell but it is difficult for some engineers to find that much free time outside of class. That being said, there are plenty of clubs and groups that offer a social outlet for the weekends.  I personally am in a fraternity and find time to go out three nights per week (sometimes more), and i still do quite well in class.  It is possible to do that as long as you have or develop very good time management skills As for the low number of girls in eng: it is true, there arent that many girls in engineering(especially social ones), but there are enough. My engineering friend group is actually mostly girls and we are all quite social and hang out outside of class.  Some people assume the girls arent quite as good as the guys or as smart as the guys, but that is clearly a dated view and is not held by many people.  I dont believe the learning experience is any different in the classroom. As for the more rural life: it never bothers me. Theres always something to do, especially if you have a car or a frend with a car. Sometimes you have to drive places but there are awesome wineries and hiking spots and lakes and all kinds of beautiful places around that you wouldn't find in cities.  In the winter, people tend to just bunker in and hang out with their closer friends indoors, but there are plenty of awesome places indoors as well. Over summer breaks people usually get internships especially in eng. but some people hang around and take summer classes. It is absolutely amazing here in the summer. Over winter breaks, people will usually go home and see their families. Some people go on trips together to somewhere warm. I forget about any of your other questions but I hope this helps and good luck with admissions and your decision!

http://cornellsun.com/blog/2014/02/14/female-enrollment-in-cornells-college-of-engineering-reaches-record-high/ This might be of interest to you. However, it is true, after you read the article, that majors like Biological Engineering and Chemical Engineering tend to have more women. Majors like ECE and CS tend to have more of a skewed ratio, and this isn't too obvious in your freshmen and sophomore years (in my opinion anyways) because you'll be mostly taking intro Engineering classes, so you will be with all your engineering friends until you all start diverging in your course schedule into classes specific to your major. Depending on what major you eventually affiliate with (usually your sophomore year), it might determine how skewed the gender ratio is in your classes. Here are some numbers for Fall 2013: http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/resources/registrar/upload/EN-FA13-Frozen-enrollment-summary.pdf Regarding my own personal experience as a female engineer, I was a bit intimidated by engineering classes because some people seem to get things on the spot, and that's not always the case from me since I don't really learn much through lecture; I learn mostly from doing the problem sets. I've come to learn that it's ok to have a different learning style from other people, and that learning differently doesn't make you inferior. You got to do what you got to do. So as far as learning experience, I do think my male counterparts tend to be more confident. This wasn't too big of a problem in my mechanical engineering classes, but it was perhaps more pronounced in my Computer Science classes where you have guys who have been coding since who knows when. I have to admit, there were a couple of times where my friends (female) and I were like, maybe guys are better at math and science. I think it's completely an issue with my mentality, because in retrospect I look back at some of the classes I did badly in and realize there were many things I could've done to have done better and many impediments seem to stem from my lack of confidence. My friends are also all engineers, and they tend to be guys, but I think that just kind of happened. I guess I never really thought it was weird all my friends are guys because we're all just really good friends and we just never made a deal about it.  I think being a female engineer at Cornell is not bad at all. I don't think I've really faced discrimination; it came mostly from myself, and it gets a lot better as I've matured here. There are lots of resources here for women in engineering such as Society of Women Engineers, Diversity Programs in Engineering, and Women in Computing at Cornell. Ok now regarding Ithaca: I came from Southern California, where it is literally sunny every day so the bleakness of Ithaca gets to me sometimes. If someone asked me what my favorite thing about Cornell is, I'd have to say it's my friends. As long as you have a solid friend group, there's always something to do and you'll be just fine. It is really beautiful here, and when will you ever live somewhere rural (unless you already do) and experience what it's like? Sometimes I wish I were in the city, but I think it really depends on the person. It is a bit inconvenient to go grocery shopping and the like, but there are buses that take you there and hopefully as an upperclassman you'll have friends with cars. I would definitely say the isolation is Cornell's main downside, but I think it's up to you how much you let that affect you. The engineering buildings are kind of old, but not bad. Most people hang out in Duffield hall between classes, which is quite a new building (though I would like more plugs). I kind of have something against Upson Hall because it just feels dusty and cramped, but we also just got a new building, Gates Hall, so that's brand spanking new. Chemical Engineers will mostly be in Olin Hall, which I think is not bad. There are tons of labs and classrooms there and it's kind of what separates the art quad from the engineering quad so you get the best of both worlds. Winter break is when everyone goes home. And I mean everyone. There will be some people who stay, but that's rare. Ithaca is so cold during winter break I think everyone wants to go home anyways. Summer break is when engineers will be doing their internships and/or co-ops. Some people do take classes here, but I suggest trying to do that at some other University if possible. It is nice in the summer, but it is also a bit too humid (remember, I'm from California).  Despite all this, I definitely encourage you to try and come visit if you can. You can get all the input you want from students, but I think the best way to really get a feel for the place is to visit. If money is an issue, I believe Cornell offers grants to help students in need, so do try and visit.

Cornell's male to female ratio is certainly not skewed. I would check the validity of your source. Cornell is about 51% female school-wide, and about 43% female in the engineering school. I don't know the national university average, but I do know that 43% was significantly higher than every other top engineering school I visited. Most of the time I do not notice any difference in being a female engineering student. I have plenty of friends both male and female. This is my fourth semester at Cornell, and in only class since I've come to Cornell has it been predominately male. And it's not even the actual class, just my lab section which is just due to which sections people enrolled in. One thing I have noticed though is that potential employers love women in engineering (the national average of women in engineering is around 18%). I have had female interviewers tell me how happy they were that I was a woman in engineering. This usually surprises me since at Cornell I don't feel special for being a woman in engineering. It doesn't feel significant. Nearly as many women as men study engineering at Cornell so it feels like you're just another human. I love it.