Cornell is a nice place to be a grad student - Graduate Researcher Cornell University Employee Review

4.0
Dec 2, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Overall Cornell is a pretty good place to be a grad student, although of course your experience will heavily depend on your research group and your advisor. WIthin Engineering, most of the faculty are top notch and really know their stuff, and quite a few are literally the world leaders in their fields. Ithaca is a cool little funky town to be in for a few years, with lots of outdoorsy things to do and many good restaurants. The winter is pretty long and cold, but that helps you focus on your work. Also, go watch a hockey game while you're here.

Cons

Cornell's administration is known for "Big Red Tape." If you have an administrative problem it can take several trips to several different offices around campus to get things figured out. Also there is not much in terms of campus housing for grad students, so most live off campus.

Explore other reviews about Cornell University

5.0
Jul 2, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

great place to work. Beautiful campus

Cons

out of no where location.

2.0
Jun 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Time off, subsidy for children for college, small grant for childcare, and remote work ability.

Cons

Heavily bureacratic, top-down structure with zero creative ability unless it's around AI. No performance reviews from the bottom-up tell you a lot. Cornell is going through very tough times and employees are overworked, underpaid and have no room to grow or advance and heavy negative sentiment regarding all of the changes happening and further budget cuts. You need to move to another unit and apply to a higher position that way to get any type of promotion, despite your performance, goals and achievements. We get annual SIP that is below inflation and never any performance bonuses.

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