Cornell College
Mount Vernon, Iowa
Cornell College (not to be confused with Cornell University) is as unique as you are. In fact, everyone who goes there is pretty special. And it’s designed to be that way. It’s small and tight knit, set in the lovely midwest town of Mount. Vernon, Iowa where the sky is big and the sunsets are more like a light show than anything else. Best yet, it’s one of the Colleges That Change Lives, so you already know it has a special something to it.
Cornell is one of the very few schools to work on the Block Plan. Since 1978, Cornellians have been learning, one Block at a time for 3 ½ weeks at a time. There are 8 blocks a year, and with the Pandemic they have worked in an additional 2 mini-blocks so that students have an opportunity to complete 10 classes a year. This has been great for students because it ensures that they can graduate on time, something some colleges have not been able to promise.
Cornell’s Blocks are unique because they include regular academic classes, but also experiential learning as an option. The Block allows you to focus on one thing instead of the chaos of multi-tasking your courses. This is terrific for students who want to really engage with their classmates, professors, and materials and dig deep. Classes are intense and they do run until 3:00, but then the rest of the day is free to do all the things you want to do in college.
Cornell places a huge emphasis on what they call Ingenuity and how it works into their unique curriculum. This is what makes up their Core Curriculum. But if hearing Core Curriculum makes you think of the University of Chicago (as it will always make me do as I silently shake in the corner), think again! The Cornell Core is very different indeed! You will do a First Year Writing Seminar with topics like COVID and the Natural Environment, Fairytale Creative Process, Geological Disasters and and Sustainability, The Morals of our Stories, Magic and the Occult, The War to End War, Science Fiction, Science Fact, Snip, Snip, Potentials and Limitations of Gene Editing, or Art & Culture. You will also take a discussion based class that explores the issues of knowledge and inquiry like How do We Know What We Know or The Beauty and the Joy of Computing. Your second year you will also take a foundational seminar based on growing your understanding of the interconnectedness of the world and your learning.
In your second year, the focus of your Core is Citizenship in Action and there are many ways to do this. Maybe you will engage in a community service project exploring sustainable farming and food insecurity, or homelessness and health. Maybe you will be 3.5 hours away in Chicago and working on an internship. Or you could be doing interdisciplinary work with a professor looking at water pollution and its impact on child welfare. Whatever you choose to do, you will be expanding your learning both in and out of the classroom.
Junior year you will continue with your Explorations which include interdisciplinary work like what you began your second year, and experiential learning. This is when you do things like engage in internships, explore the liberal arts curriculum, and read widely. Students at Cornell personalize their learning all the way through their time there, carefully choosing their courses to help them design a path that allows them to learn through many different perspectives. There will also be a focus on problem solving and critical thinking skills within these courses. Students at Cornell take classes specifically in the realm of Building Essential Abilities and these include things like languages, quantitative skills, writing, and intercultural skills.
Finally, all of this learning must be put into practice. Cornellians are expected to do no fewer than two internships in their time there. It’s one thing to learn these skills, but it’s essential to put the Ingenuity into practice.
So what does Ingenuity and Explorations look like:
One of the things I tell students to look for when looking at schools is how do students describe themselves? Would you describe yourself the same way? Choosing a school means choosing your friends as much as it is choosing your education. Cornellians describe themselves as hilarious, ambitious, empowered, curious, happy, present, resilient, positive, unique, and as advocates. They come from across the state and major in everything from Playwriting and Directing of Marginalized Populations to Physics, to Chemistry and Archaeology. Because of the unique curriculum, students can combine interests so one young woman from Illinois who describes herself as a passionate person is majoring in International Relations, German, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, while another smiling student from Colorado is majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with a minor in Psychology and a driven Texan majors in Theater for Social Change and minors in Geology.
About 92% of students live on campus at Cornell. You will find there is a lot of choice when it comes to housing despite the size of the school. All women’s dorms are available as are themed housing and living/learning communities. STEM students can living in housing for those who are interested in that field. There are dorms for those who wish to be substance free and also those who are looking for a health and wellness community or social change. These are for first years only which creates a close community for them. The Living Learning Communities are designed by students and reflect student interests. Currently there are communities centered on arts, sports, Black Awareness Cultural Organization, Health and Wellness, and Feminism.
Cornell is DIII and has a few sports. It does field a football team as well as most standard sports students play: lacrosse, basketball, baseball, cross country, track, volleyball, softball, wrestling. It has some club sports as well worth noting like equestrian, ice hockey (it’s the midwest, kids), skiing, and rugby. It also has some niche sports to take note of including yoga, kickboxing, and ever popular, e-sports!
AS far as clubs are concerned, there is no dearth of ways to get involved. Community service is a major activity at Cornell, obviously and there are plenty of ways to engage with the community like Lunch Buddies, Middle School Mentoring, Writing Studio, Alternative Spring Break, Sustained Dialogue, Campus Compact AmeriCorps, or Brunch Buddies. Creative outlets are also plentiful and you can participate in everything from dance performance to fine arts clubs, poetry slams, to podcasting. Write for the literary magazine, perform in a theater production, sew quilts for the local fire department or shelters, or create hand made bowls filled with soup that you can sell to fight homelessness. Get involved academically with the French, German, Math, Engineering, or Philosophy Clubs. Attend Bible study or Hillel. Join the Environmental Action Club, Third Wave, National Alliance on Mental Health, or Rotaract Clubs. There is a lot to do once 3:00 hits!
Is Cornell for you? Cornell is for people who are confident in who they are. It’s a place where it’s ok to be yourself, genuinely. Students are engaged there and they are curious. Having fun is important there but learning is too. If you like who you are but aren’t sure where you’re going, Cornell is a great place to start. You don’t have to have any answers there because questions are the best way to start.
Pros:
Cons:
Mount Vernon, Iowa
Cornell College (not to be confused with Cornell University) is as unique as you are. In fact, everyone who goes there is pretty special. And it’s designed to be that way. It’s small and tight knit, set in the lovely midwest town of Mount. Vernon, Iowa where the sky is big and the sunsets are more like a light show than anything else. Best yet, it’s one of the Colleges That Change Lives, so you already know it has a special something to it.
Cornell is one of the very few schools to work on the Block Plan. Since 1978, Cornellians have been learning, one Block at a time for 3 ½ weeks at a time. There are 8 blocks a year, and with the Pandemic they have worked in an additional 2 mini-blocks so that students have an opportunity to complete 10 classes a year. This has been great for students because it ensures that they can graduate on time, something some colleges have not been able to promise.
Cornell’s Blocks are unique because they include regular academic classes, but also experiential learning as an option. The Block allows you to focus on one thing instead of the chaos of multi-tasking your courses. This is terrific for students who want to really engage with their classmates, professors, and materials and dig deep. Classes are intense and they do run until 3:00, but then the rest of the day is free to do all the things you want to do in college.
Cornell places a huge emphasis on what they call Ingenuity and how it works into their unique curriculum. This is what makes up their Core Curriculum. But if hearing Core Curriculum makes you think of the University of Chicago (as it will always make me do as I silently shake in the corner), think again! The Cornell Core is very different indeed! You will do a First Year Writing Seminar with topics like COVID and the Natural Environment, Fairytale Creative Process, Geological Disasters and and Sustainability, The Morals of our Stories, Magic and the Occult, The War to End War, Science Fiction, Science Fact, Snip, Snip, Potentials and Limitations of Gene Editing, or Art & Culture. You will also take a discussion based class that explores the issues of knowledge and inquiry like How do We Know What We Know or The Beauty and the Joy of Computing. Your second year you will also take a foundational seminar based on growing your understanding of the interconnectedness of the world and your learning.
In your second year, the focus of your Core is Citizenship in Action and there are many ways to do this. Maybe you will engage in a community service project exploring sustainable farming and food insecurity, or homelessness and health. Maybe you will be 3.5 hours away in Chicago and working on an internship. Or you could be doing interdisciplinary work with a professor looking at water pollution and its impact on child welfare. Whatever you choose to do, you will be expanding your learning both in and out of the classroom.
Junior year you will continue with your Explorations which include interdisciplinary work like what you began your second year, and experiential learning. This is when you do things like engage in internships, explore the liberal arts curriculum, and read widely. Students at Cornell personalize their learning all the way through their time there, carefully choosing their courses to help them design a path that allows them to learn through many different perspectives. There will also be a focus on problem solving and critical thinking skills within these courses. Students at Cornell take classes specifically in the realm of Building Essential Abilities and these include things like languages, quantitative skills, writing, and intercultural skills.
Finally, all of this learning must be put into practice. Cornellians are expected to do no fewer than two internships in their time there. It’s one thing to learn these skills, but it’s essential to put the Ingenuity into practice.
So what does Ingenuity and Explorations look like:
- Civic Engagement:
- Alternative Break
- Civic engagement internship
- Social activism
- Direct Services
- Community advocacy
- Creative Expression:
- Art Capstone
- Internship in a related field
- Involvement in an art interest group (Mural project, etc.)
- Recital
- Art class
- Global Connections:
- Semester abroad
- International Internship
- Service Learning
- Approved courses
- Leadership: 60 Hours within 2 semesters
- Leadership programming
- Resident Assistant in the dorms
- Officer for a student group
- Athletics team leadership
- Professional Experience:
- Internships
- Student Teaching
- On-Campus work experiences
- Certain work for credit
- Research:
- Faculty/Student research
- Senior Capstone
- Certain courses
- Cornell Summer Research Institute
One of the things I tell students to look for when looking at schools is how do students describe themselves? Would you describe yourself the same way? Choosing a school means choosing your friends as much as it is choosing your education. Cornellians describe themselves as hilarious, ambitious, empowered, curious, happy, present, resilient, positive, unique, and as advocates. They come from across the state and major in everything from Playwriting and Directing of Marginalized Populations to Physics, to Chemistry and Archaeology. Because of the unique curriculum, students can combine interests so one young woman from Illinois who describes herself as a passionate person is majoring in International Relations, German, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, while another smiling student from Colorado is majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with a minor in Psychology and a driven Texan majors in Theater for Social Change and minors in Geology.
About 92% of students live on campus at Cornell. You will find there is a lot of choice when it comes to housing despite the size of the school. All women’s dorms are available as are themed housing and living/learning communities. STEM students can living in housing for those who are interested in that field. There are dorms for those who wish to be substance free and also those who are looking for a health and wellness community or social change. These are for first years only which creates a close community for them. The Living Learning Communities are designed by students and reflect student interests. Currently there are communities centered on arts, sports, Black Awareness Cultural Organization, Health and Wellness, and Feminism.
Cornell is DIII and has a few sports. It does field a football team as well as most standard sports students play: lacrosse, basketball, baseball, cross country, track, volleyball, softball, wrestling. It has some club sports as well worth noting like equestrian, ice hockey (it’s the midwest, kids), skiing, and rugby. It also has some niche sports to take note of including yoga, kickboxing, and ever popular, e-sports!
AS far as clubs are concerned, there is no dearth of ways to get involved. Community service is a major activity at Cornell, obviously and there are plenty of ways to engage with the community like Lunch Buddies, Middle School Mentoring, Writing Studio, Alternative Spring Break, Sustained Dialogue, Campus Compact AmeriCorps, or Brunch Buddies. Creative outlets are also plentiful and you can participate in everything from dance performance to fine arts clubs, poetry slams, to podcasting. Write for the literary magazine, perform in a theater production, sew quilts for the local fire department or shelters, or create hand made bowls filled with soup that you can sell to fight homelessness. Get involved academically with the French, German, Math, Engineering, or Philosophy Clubs. Attend Bible study or Hillel. Join the Environmental Action Club, Third Wave, National Alliance on Mental Health, or Rotaract Clubs. There is a lot to do once 3:00 hits!
Is Cornell for you? Cornell is for people who are confident in who they are. It’s a place where it’s ok to be yourself, genuinely. Students are engaged there and they are curious. Having fun is important there but learning is too. If you like who you are but aren’t sure where you’re going, Cornell is a great place to start. You don’t have to have any answers there because questions are the best way to start.
Pros:
- Block Plan
- Ingenuity Curriculum
- Explorations
- People who go there
Cons:
- It’s small (about 1,000 students)
- Iowa is cold in the winter
- You have to be independent
- Block Plan may be too intense for some