The daughter of one of my best and longest client families is almost certainty going to Cornell in the fall. If she doesn't make the cut at Harvard anyway, where she's on a waiting list. Her dad tells me her SATs were 2320. Seems pretty good but I'm guessing it's average for a non-athlete applicant to Stanford, where she didn't make the cut.

Going to study some kind of architecture, which worries me a tad. I've heard it's a tough field to break into.

I saw nearby Cayuga Lake on Google Earth. Wild series of lakes in that area. I'd not been aware of them before. I hitchhiked to Syracuse and on up to Oswego in '73 but didn't get around much.

I'm borderline uncle to this girl, known her for 8 years. Not sure I can glean any useful information but who knows.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Good school for engineering, probably also for architorture. Beautiful area, if a bit boring and depressed. Probably just as well she didn't go to Stanford, what with the Bay Area getting super expensive and pretentious recently, though watching the coming implosion of tech bubble 2.0 from ground zero would be an enlightening experience for a college student.

She'll be plenty exposed to anything happening on the tech front. Her dad is an IT tech. I was hoping for Stanford for her parent's sake. Cross country flights would have to be a drag if done regular. My feeling is UCal Berkeley would make more sense but that's like 5 miles from their house in the Oakland hills. A lot of youngsters want to put some space between Mom and Dad for their college experience.

But yeah, I gather that the Ithaca area is not exactly the exciting big city. Better for a college experience perhaps.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

To provide the automotive link for this thread, I'll ask the question.... What significant contribution to automotive design came out of a joint partnership between Cornell and a major American auto maker?

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Ithaca is a beautiful town. The Finger Lakes are a great remnant of the last ice age as the glaciers moved north. I used to hunt a lot just SE of Ithaca. Cold in the winter. Wineries galore. Not the same as going to university in a big city but good nonetheless. NYC is not that far away but you can't jump on a train and get there from Ithaca. Very good history of the Earth musuem just outside of town heading north. The whole southern tier of NY is economically depressed. Boomed in the 19th century when canals connected it to the East Coast. I'm pretty sure Corning Glass Works, which is just west of there in Corning, moved their whole factory by barge on the canal system from Brooklyn to Corning in the 19th century. The whole area from south of the Finger Lakes down a few hundred miles into northern PA is very scenic with great hiking, hunting, cross-country skiing and canoeing.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Cornell is great, as is Harvard, but the difference is in which has a better school of architecture.

I don't know if it makes a difference in architecture but large companies which have high number of applicants generally recruit from a handful of schools.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Fins?

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

get her some cross country skis.

Summer time, finger lakes region is very similar to the CA napa valley, and is a greener lush area in comparison. Its very beautiful.

Winter it will be cold cold cold for a long long time. Great cheap downhill skiing, fabulous cross country skiing. She needs winter gear and ski equipment.

Ithaca is a hippie-ish culture, and a pretty city. Syracuse is not too far away, and its bigger and grungier. Shes gonna have fun.

I did not enjoy my time in Syracuse, which was a number of years, but I had moved there alone and tried to find a job, and so on, so it was depressing. Going to the area for college is quite a different situation, and she will have a blast

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it is true the field of Architecture is tough at present. I was very concerned that my daughter would not be able to find a job but she did and is thriving at the firm she is with. It is a good general education though and can lead to related opportunities.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Large companies are over-rated anyway

Nice. Cornell was a dream of mine many years ago in a different life...

My brother is an architect as was one of our uncles. I work pretty closely with them in my job, though I'm not one myself. With architecture, as with many fields in fact, I wonder if it really makes a bit difference which school you go to in the end? I'm not talking about the outliers, exceptionally good ones of international renown, and very bad ones that should be avoided at all costs. I mean for the vast majority of colleges it's possibly more about the general educational/college experience than the specific course you major in itself.

Regarding the difficulty of "breaking into architecture". I agree it can be hard as it's a field that seems hyper sensitive to economic conditions to me. But ultimately I think you have to try and do what you love if at all possible.

As a friend of mine at UCLA says, "figure out what your interested in and then find a way to do that for a living. It makes life so much more pleasant if you actually want to get up and go to work in the morning".

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Well there is the thrill of being accountable for a few hundred million in sales. Plus the preferred stock is awesome.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Two of my cousins go there, one for vet school and the other for graduate school, getting a PhD in Physics. I considered that school but decided the remoteness of it made it not ideal, I like a city setting better, and my parents didn't want to deal with the travel. They also wanted me to cancel all of my other applications and I wasn't too sure I was good enough to get in.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

Lot of good feedback here. Thanks one and all. Not sure what I can do for this young lady. I feel a tad responsible as her parents think part of the reason she's going into architecture was her proximity to the two large projects we've done at their house. The kitchen we completed was a big change. We moved the kitchen wall about 8 inches into her bedroom. Her closet, deep but not wide, became much wider as the refrigerator alcove was abandoned, fridge put on another wall, and her closet inherited most of that space.

Her parents were very hands on, I got the job in large part because I don't mind teaching the dad tricks and skills. I taught both of them to do most of the mudding and taping.

The cross country skiing climate will be a big change for her - she's grown up in the Bay Area. She's a bright and adventurous kid, I think it will work well. She's a cross country runner, one hopes the skiing will come natural to some extent.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Not even close!

The issue was safety. Which American manufacturer advertised a safety package, consisting of extra secure door locks ( to retain passengers inside the vehicles), padded dash, and visors, seat belts, and a deeply dished steering wheel to reduce the likelihood that the driver would be impaled by the column. Instead the rim would be contacted first, and would slowly give way, dissipating energy. The year was 1956, and while this manufacturer sold "safety", the competition was selling POWER. Guess which manufacturer the public rewarded with extra sales?

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags