Freshman Summer Start
June 21-August 5, 2008
Program description
You're invited to begin your college career under ideal circumstances. As an incoming freshman at Cornell University, you're eligible to take part in Freshman Summer Start, a program that can provide you with a rich academic, social, and personal foundation for the years that follow.
As a Freshman Summer Start participant, you'll begin college during the summer before formal matriculation, when the campus is more open and relaxed and days are longer. You'll become familiar with the academic rigor and complex social scene of Cornell life as part of a small, highly motivated group--under conditions of maximum opportunity and support, and minimum confusion. Although many of the pressures that accompany a regular semester are present, you'll have immediate access to help from the program director and resident teaching assistants.
In addition to taking one course of your choosing, you and your fellow participants will take a special writing seminar together. This freshman course will teach you how to improve your writing skills through practice, discussions, and lectures, showing you what to look for in terms of future writing requirements and faculty expectations.
By the start of the fall semester you'll be well acquainted with the Cornell campus and libraries; you'll have gained confidence in meeting and talking with professors; and you'll know a close-knit circle of freshmen from your own college and from other Cornell colleges. Past participants have emphasized the advantages of being less intimidated and better prepared for college life, with more freedom to take higher-level courses during the fall and spring, and with less pressure on their course load. On a more personal level, they stress that strong bonds tend to form within the Freshman Summer Start participant group—bonds that last throughout the college years and often beyond.
Academic advising
Several times during the program, you'll meet individually with Marilyn Migiel, professor of Romance studies and director of the program. She will discuss your aims, interests, and background, and provide you with substantive guidance at the beginning of your academic career.
Faculty in residence
In addition to the director of the program, the program staff includes graduate students who are in residence as teaching assistants.
In all phases of the program, you'll have close contact with the faculty: from residence-hall living to classroom discussions, softball games to writing tutorials, and barbecues to after-dinner discussions.