Since I arrived on campus, I’ve been told that I am a part of a top 15 global institution, but these rankings don’t reveal the 3 a.m. smell of burnt coffee in Carpenter Hall or the collective sigh that is heard within Baker 200 when the physics prelim median is a 48%.
There’s a reason why the engineering buildings are open 24/7. Every college major has its challenges, but the workload of the College of Engineering demands your time like no other college does. It is ruthless, yet over 5,000 students subject themselves to the suffering. Why? At other schools, weed-out classes hit engineering students hard and send them packing. Here, we have a 94% graduation rate. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s a result of the hyper-disciplined and high pressure mentality on campus. Quitting isn’t an option and that is why there is never an empty engineering building on campus.
Cornell’s engineering program is world class. Along with our global ranking, we have a one-to-one ratio of men and women engineers and provide funding to 36 project teams — the most in the country. If you can cover the tuition, the college absolutely has its merit. Externally, we break stereotypes and seem to be building the next generation of diverse and brilliant engineers. But what about the internal reality?
My name is Trevor Crouse, I study mechanical engineering and I am a member of the Design, Build, Fly Project Team, which specializes in building small scale radio-controlled aircraft. Outside of engineering, I am involved in Greek Life and play club ice hockey as a goaltender.
There is quite a strange symmetry between my life in the crease and in the lab. In hockey, my job is to be the last line of defense to prevent an entire system failure. As a mechanical engineer, I am learning to build those systems that withstand the same chaos. In both arenas, there is no room for mistakes. On the ice, if I have an ‘off night,’ we lose by 8 goals. In engineering, one overlooked mistake can be deadly — look no further than the 1907 Quebec Bridge collapse.
I spend my afternoons in Upson Lounge calculating lift coefficients for DBF, my evenings calculating matrices and my nights defending a 4x6 goal on the ice. Being an engineering student at Cornell is often treated as a personality trait or stereotype that you cannot shake, but it shouldn’t be a cage. Engineering should involve a love for problem solving and challenges, but burnout is something that we should collectively hate.
Cornell’s administration does a lot — both good and bad — to engineering but so much goes unnoticed when you are drowning in the weekly problem sets that consume every waking hour. The goal of this column is to shed light on the issues and debates within our college that often get buried under the workload.
So, clear the runway and check your instruments. We are about to see the view from 30,000 feet and see if this ‘top 15’ machine is taking flight or just falling with style. Welcome to the first iteration.
Trevor Crouse '28 is an Opinion Columnist and a Mechanical Engineering student in the Duffield College of Engineering. His colomn, "Cockpit Conversations," examines the systems, culture, and decisions of Cornell engineering from 30,000 feet in the air. He can be reached at tjc252@cornell.edu.
