College Scholar Program
The College Scholar Program exists because the college faculty is convinced that some students do not need the usual requirements for the degree as guidelines in selecting courses, and that they will benefit from and feel more satisfied with their experiences at Cornell if they are entirely responsible for their own curricula. The program can be useful to students with different purposes: to explore subjects with a little more freedom than other students enjoy, to develop an interdisciplinary field, to pursue a subject in which they are unusually advanced, or to study two or three distinct subjects. The College Scholar Program is not necessarily for those who know, or think they know, exactly what courses they will take while they are here. It is for students who have an idea of their academic direction, who have formulated questions they can translate into a program, and who possess the necessary skills to carry out the program successfully.
The program frees up to 40 students in each class from all degree requirements except 120 credits (100 in Arts and Sciences), 34 courses, and two semesters of Physical Education. This includes freedom from distribution and major requirements. Its only requirement is the satisfactory completion of a senior project. Scholars are, of course, free to take advantage of all the usual academic options such as majors and study abroad.
Advising
Each new scholar is assigned a faculty advisor from the College Scholar Advisory Board. That person will normally be the scholar's contact with the program and a member of the senior project committee.
Seminars
Each year two or three College Scholar seminars investigate basic problems or texts. The purposes of the seminars are to prepare scholars for interdisciplinary senior projects and to sneak some distribution into their curricula. They are designed to help students become aware of what a "discipline" is and to help them learn how to approach a text or problem from various angles, such as form, the author's approach to the subject matter, or historical and philosophical context.
Honors
A voluntary honors track within the program has been established. Scholars who plan to graduate with honors take two college scholar seminars (or approved substitutes); non-scientists take at least one in some aspect of science, and scientists at least one in the humanities or social sciences. During the senior year, candidates for honors who have good records (3.5 average) complete honors projects. These can be research papers, essays on some important off-campus experience or artistic work. A faculty committee of three, including at least one member of the College Scholar Advisory Board, evaluates the projects.
Application
Due the last Wednesday of classes before final exams, in spring of the freshman year.
- The application essay (not a form) should describe intellectual questions and goals and summarize academic plans at Cornell. These essays are generally three to five pages long. A cover sheet (available in G-55 Goldwin Smith Hall) should be attached to your essay. There is no interview.
- A recommendation from an instructor at Cornell (including graduate teaching assistants) should attest to the applicant's general ability and maturity, and, if possible, to any particular talent in the proposed field of study. The letter of recommendation is due on the essay deadline date. The instructor writing the recommendation may send the letter by campus mail, by email to kag4@cornell.edu, bring it to 55 Goldwin Smith Hall, or give it to the applicant to hand in.
- In addition to the essay, applicants are encouraged to submit any other evidence of competence such as a paper for a course. (You can retrieve this after selection.)
Selection
College Scholars are chosen by members of the College Scholar Advisory Board and the program's director. Along with the material the applicant submits, the selection committee considers the applicant's grades for both fall and spring terms of their first year. The selection committee tries to choose students who will make the best use of the program. It is rarely more than lukewarm to the "I don't know what to do, so let me in" and the "I need to get out of X because I don't like it" applications. It does admit students who have no firm plans but who seem bright, mature, interested, and capable of handling the shock of having no guidelines. Once selected, a student remains a College Scholar until graduation.
Contact Information
Ken Gabard
G-55 Goldwin Smith Hall
607-255-5004
kag4@cornell.edu
Information Meetings
Meetings schedule will be updated before the next semester.
