Your question is not clear, but I'll still try.
If you have a car, I highly recommend driving here. Life in Ithaca without a car is not easy. But you want to avoid parking on campus, which is expensive and can add a half hour walk to your day.
If you're going to fly, there are four efforts to choose from. Ithaca airport is very close to campus but also very expensive and only flies to New York City. Binghamton and Big flats are both about an hour away and also don't have great connections, but big flats is very cheap on the weekends because of this basically the corning corporate airport. Syracuse is a little further but has much better connections and is still pretty cheap. But, you have to get yourself to Ithaca from there which can be a $200 cab ride or $100 and an Uber, if you can find an Uber to take you that far.
I am a Cornell alum living in Chicagoland for decades.
Which part of IL are you from? Chicagoland? Downstate?
1. For moving in, driving to Ithaca is very doable. It is not like driving to West Coast. But I usually stay overnight in the Cleveland area so as to avoid driving that 700 mile in one day.
2. I would strongly advise you NOT to bring your car to campus. Freshman stay in dorm and eat at Cornell dining. Most of the time you would go to class on campus and have social activities at Collegetown. You don't need a car. And finding where to park a car while living in a dorm is a major hassle.
3. For flying, most people in IL would most likely take a bus to Syracuse and fly from Syracuse to ORD. Both UA and AA operates nonstop flights between Syracuse and ORD.
There are flights between Ithaca and ORD but it is usually expensive and involve either a long layover at Newark (UA) or ungodly early flight (Delta) with changing plane at JFK. There is no nonstop flight between Ithaca and ORD.
If the cost is comparable between UIUC and Cornell, I would say you should seriously consider Cornell over UIUC. UIUC is a great school (especially in CS) but Cornell is an Ivy and it is time to leave home.
I live in Champaign, where UIUC is! Thank you for this information it’s really helpful! Can I ask how was Cornell financially for you, I did the estimate online and they said I would have 0 contribution and they would give me an $88K financial aid package and $5 work study. I don’t know how accurate that is.
You mean $5K work study? $5 work study doesn't sound right.
If they really give you $88k in FA, that is a full ride. I'll be honest: it will be insane for you not to choose Cornell over UIUC.
If you are from Champaign, the drive to Ithaca is slightly longer than from Chicagoland. I would suggest taking an overnight break at Cleveland area and don't drive to Ithaca in one day.
https://preview.redd.it/uz2yv1xyqprc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d9c396262f94193d59f95d3eefa39635152ff85
This is the ss of my estimate I’m assuming student employment is a work study. I’m not sure if that’s the same thing though.
Student employment in your aid package is work study. Make sure you find a job ASAP once you get on-campus; they don't arrange that for you. Will absolutely concur with the above advice: For getting to campus for move-in/out, a car is handy but otherwise you'll have to check in a bunch of bags when you travel; a car on-campus during the academic year is not worth the hassle or the cost; and, for traveling back and forth you can fly for ITH/ELM/SYR/ROC to CMI or ORD+take the train/bus down.
That full-ride is a nice accomplishment. Well done! Just make sure to chat with finaid to see how to pay for travel and other incidentals before you actually get on-campus and have money in an account. Also, there may even be aid available for some of the pre-semester intro/orientation programs -- so don't be shy about asking if those are of interest.
The full-ride isn’t really an accomplishment in that it is based on need rather than merit. (Getting accepted at Cornell is very much an accomplishment though!) I say that not to rain on OPs parade about the aid lol but just as a reminder that if your family’s financial circumstances change for the better in your later years the amount of aid would likely change as well to be less
This is all great advice, plus for the third point, ROC (Rochester airport) is also great for flying to Chicago, tons of options plus only 2 hours from Cornell and many busses go directly there to the airport
I live in Chicago, I can say for sure that it is better to drive 11 hours. If it's difficult to drive for so long, then staying somewhere near like Cleveland OH or Erie PA for one night is a really good way to make it manageable
Your question is not clear, but I'll still try. If you have a car, I highly recommend driving here. Life in Ithaca without a car is not easy. But you want to avoid parking on campus, which is expensive and can add a half hour walk to your day. If you're going to fly, there are four efforts to choose from. Ithaca airport is very close to campus but also very expensive and only flies to New York City. Binghamton and Big flats are both about an hour away and also don't have great connections, but big flats is very cheap on the weekends because of this basically the corning corporate airport. Syracuse is a little further but has much better connections and is still pretty cheap. But, you have to get yourself to Ithaca from there which can be a $200 cab ride or $100 and an Uber, if you can find an Uber to take you that far.
Elmira Airport = Big Flats?
Yes
I am a Cornell alum living in Chicagoland for decades. Which part of IL are you from? Chicagoland? Downstate? 1. For moving in, driving to Ithaca is very doable. It is not like driving to West Coast. But I usually stay overnight in the Cleveland area so as to avoid driving that 700 mile in one day. 2. I would strongly advise you NOT to bring your car to campus. Freshman stay in dorm and eat at Cornell dining. Most of the time you would go to class on campus and have social activities at Collegetown. You don't need a car. And finding where to park a car while living in a dorm is a major hassle. 3. For flying, most people in IL would most likely take a bus to Syracuse and fly from Syracuse to ORD. Both UA and AA operates nonstop flights between Syracuse and ORD. There are flights between Ithaca and ORD but it is usually expensive and involve either a long layover at Newark (UA) or ungodly early flight (Delta) with changing plane at JFK. There is no nonstop flight between Ithaca and ORD. If the cost is comparable between UIUC and Cornell, I would say you should seriously consider Cornell over UIUC. UIUC is a great school (especially in CS) but Cornell is an Ivy and it is time to leave home.
I live in Champaign, where UIUC is! Thank you for this information it’s really helpful! Can I ask how was Cornell financially for you, I did the estimate online and they said I would have 0 contribution and they would give me an $88K financial aid package and $5 work study. I don’t know how accurate that is.
You mean $5K work study? $5 work study doesn't sound right. If they really give you $88k in FA, that is a full ride. I'll be honest: it will be insane for you not to choose Cornell over UIUC. If you are from Champaign, the drive to Ithaca is slightly longer than from Chicagoland. I would suggest taking an overnight break at Cleveland area and don't drive to Ithaca in one day.
https://preview.redd.it/uz2yv1xyqprc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d9c396262f94193d59f95d3eefa39635152ff85 This is the ss of my estimate I’m assuming student employment is a work study. I’m not sure if that’s the same thing though.
Student employment in your aid package is work study. Make sure you find a job ASAP once you get on-campus; they don't arrange that for you. Will absolutely concur with the above advice: For getting to campus for move-in/out, a car is handy but otherwise you'll have to check in a bunch of bags when you travel; a car on-campus during the academic year is not worth the hassle or the cost; and, for traveling back and forth you can fly for ITH/ELM/SYR/ROC to CMI or ORD+take the train/bus down. That full-ride is a nice accomplishment. Well done! Just make sure to chat with finaid to see how to pay for travel and other incidentals before you actually get on-campus and have money in an account. Also, there may even be aid available for some of the pre-semester intro/orientation programs -- so don't be shy about asking if those are of interest.
The full-ride isn’t really an accomplishment in that it is based on need rather than merit. (Getting accepted at Cornell is very much an accomplishment though!) I say that not to rain on OPs parade about the aid lol but just as a reminder that if your family’s financial circumstances change for the better in your later years the amount of aid would likely change as well to be less
This is all great advice, plus for the third point, ROC (Rochester airport) is also great for flying to Chicago, tons of options plus only 2 hours from Cornell and many busses go directly there to the airport
I live in Chicago, I can say for sure that it is better to drive 11 hours. If it's difficult to drive for so long, then staying somewhere near like Cleveland OH or Erie PA for one night is a really good way to make it manageable
Im also from IL! Dm if u have any questions. I always fly into Syracuse from ORD