Leina M.
I am a Cornell University Diversity Admissions Ambassador, Cornell Undergraduate Admissions Intern, Social Perception and Intergroup (In)equality Lab (Krosch Lab) Research Assistant, and part of Cornell Undergraduate Research Board and Cornell Psi Chi.
I am a psychology and information science (with a concentration in data science) double major, and my primary interest is decision-making and modeling using both algorithms and qualitative data. For example, I am constantly interested in the pathing of elevators — it's the perfect example of data science and psychology intersecting. How do you tell an elevator which floor to prioritize if it needs to run in the fastest order and in a way that frustrates the least people? Think about a 50-story building with a CEO who wants to be picked up within two minutes of pressing a button on floor 50. Meanwhile, maintenance on the first floor needs to be delivered first to any problem on any floor. Now, there's an interpersonal aspect mixed into the algorithm. Beyond logical prioritization, I am also interested in decision-making impacted by subliminal biases, ingroup vs outgroup alignment, and cognitive dissonance.
I wish I knew how much admissions officers care about getting to know each applicant and their passions. When I was applying, I was so worried about grades and test scores getting me in the door that I didn't realize how important my essays were. All the admissions officers I've spoken to express how much they care about students' life experiences and excitement to grow and make change within their field of interest. There is no reason for applicants to dull themselves down or apply to an "easy" major, especially at Cornell; there is no "easy way in." The only path is explaining who you are, what experiences formed you, and how you want to change the world or field of your interest by getting to attend Cornell.
One of the non-school-related reasons I chose Cornell was Ithaca's location. I love hiking, and there are hundreds of trails near Cornell. Some of my favorites are hikes around Cayuga Lake, the Black Diamond Trail, and Treman State Park, which has a two-mile uphill hike called the Gorge Trail that takes you to Lucifer Falls, the biggest and fastest-moving waterfall I've ever seen (and I've hiked all around Oregon and Hawai'i)!
I chose Cornell because I wanted an authentic college experience at a school that would set me up for success with connections and course programs. I genuinely believe there's no other school where I could go crazy at hockey games and Slopefest, watch horror movies with my best friends at 2 AM, and then wake up and go to a lecture from the professor who invented the field of Computational Sustainability (Carla Gomes' INFO2770 was AMAZING). The duality of this school is unbelievable, even when you're the one getting to experience it. It's what makes Cornell stand out against any other institution.
My friends joke that I'm always on the bus. First-year students at Cornell get a free bus pass, so during my first year, I made it a goal to ride every route the TCAT bus has. On free weekends, afternoons, and even mornings before class, you could find me riding to more random locations, but I discovered many hidden gems from my adventures! Basically, my favorite thing to do in Ithaca is explore! I found incredible hiking trails and lake viewpoints, the cutest tiny cafes in the middle of nowhere, and the best food in the town. I'm also just a walking Apple Maps now: my friends will text me and ask how to get from point A to B because I'm more reliable than an app at this point.
I wish I knew how much admissions officers care about getting to know each applicant and their passions. When I was applying, I was so worried about grades and test scores getting me in the door that I didn't realize how important my essays were. All the admissions officers I've spoken to express how much they care about students' life experiences and excitement to grow and make change within their field of interest. There is no reason for applicants to dull themselves down or apply to an "easy" major, especially at Cornell; there is no "easy way in." The only path is explaining who you are, what experiences formed you, and how you want to change the world or field of your interest by getting to attend Cornell.
One of the non-school-related reasons I chose Cornell was Ithaca's location. I love hiking, and there are hundreds of trails near Cornell. Some of my favorites are hikes around Cayuga Lake, the Black Diamond Trail, and Treman State Park, which has a two-mile uphill hike called the Gorge Trail that takes you to Lucifer Falls, the biggest and fastest-moving waterfall I've ever seen (and I've hiked all around Oregon and Hawai'i)!
I chose Cornell because I wanted an authentic college experience at a school that would set me up for success with connections and course programs. I genuinely believe there's no other school where I could go crazy at hockey games and Slopefest, watch horror movies with my best friends at 2 AM, and then wake up and go to a lecture from the professor who invented the field of Computational Sustainability (Carla Gomes' INFO2770 was AMAZING). The duality of this school is unbelievable, even when you're the one getting to experience it. It's what makes Cornell stand out against any other institution.
My friends joke that I'm always on the bus. First-year students at Cornell get a free bus pass, so during my first year, I made it a goal to ride every route the TCAT bus has. On free weekends, afternoons, and even mornings before class, you could find me riding to more random locations, but I discovered many hidden gems from my adventures! Basically, my favorite thing to do in Ithaca is explore! I found incredible hiking trails and lake viewpoints, the cutest tiny cafes in the middle of nowhere, and the best food in the town. I'm also just a walking Apple Maps now: my friends will text me and ask how to get from point A to B because I'm more reliable than an app at this point.
I am fortunate that upper-level students set incredible examples for me. I look to the more senior research assistants in my lab as inspiration for my future honors thesis. Shoutout to Hya and Izzy: Their hard work, dedication, and overall knowledge about psychological research are beyond inspiring and help me see where I want to be in a few years. Alex and Emily, the current co-presidents of the Cornell University Diversity Admissions Ambassadors, motivate me in my ambassador work, and their ability to problem solve even in the most stressful situations is not only inspiring but comforting because I can go to them with any problem and they help me unpack it. Finally, Alhassan was my Cornell Undergraduate Research Board Chair and is the perfect example of doing it all; I watched him lead our team flawlessly while taking 20+ credits and holding about a million other positions and commitments. I wouldn't be half as confident and put together without each of these inspirations!
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