Cornell University New Student Orientation Guide: A Comprehensive Introduction to Life on the Hill

Welcome to Cornell University! Embarking on your academic journey at Cornell is an exciting chapter, and the New Student Orientation (NSO) is designed to provide you with the resources, connections, and information needed for a successful transition. This guide offers a comprehensive overview of the orientation programs, important dates, and essential information to help you navigate your first steps on the Hill.

Introduction to Orientation

Orientation at Cornell is a multifaceted program comprising required and optional events. These events are designed to introduce you to life at Cornell. You'll meet fellow students, staff, and faculty who will help you make the most of your time here. You'll learn about campus resources that support your academic and career goals, interests, and well-being; ways to engage on campus; and a whole lot more about life on the Hill. Orientation offers both required and optional events designed to introduce you to life at Cornell and to the fellow students, staff, and faculty who will help you make the most of your time here. This introduction to life at Cornell is only the beginning of what we hope will be a continued exploration of the many opportunities Cornell offers.

Cornell is committed to offering resources and support for families of new students; please check back in early May for more information on our family orientation program.

Building Your Orientation Program

Your orientation program will be personalized, consisting of:

Required college programs
Required university programs: Community at Cornell; Orientation Leader meetings; Cornell's Caring Community
Optional activities: All of the optional college and university programs that you wish to explore. This includes fun events created by the Orientation Student Lead Team designed to help you meet other students.

Orientation Leaders (OLs) are student mentors who meet with small new student groups during Orientation to share the student perspective on life at Cornell. They are here for you; don't hesitate to ask them questions. As you plan your orientation program, you may find you can't do everything you would like.

Read also: Immersive Pre-College Experience

Important Orientation Dates

Mark your calendars with these key dates for New Student Orientation (NSO):

First-Year Student Move-In: August 17, 2026
Transfer Student Move-In: August 18, 2026
Family Orientation: August 18, 2026
New Student Orientation (NSO): August 18-23, 2026

The Role of Orientation Leaders (OLs)

Current students play a major role in planning your orientation experience. These students serve as Orientation Leaders (OLs), whose role is to serve as your Cornell GPS as you make your way to campus. You will meet your OL at NSO and will engage with them in a variety of ways, most notably, in your required Small Group meetings.

Prepare: A Pre-Orientation Program for International Students

Prepare is our pre-orientation program for degree-seeking international first-year and transfer undergraduates.

Why Attend Prepare?

Past participants have called Prepare a foundational part of their experience as new Cornell students. and at Cornell, and it gave them friendships that continued throughout their Cornell career. This year, we expect to welcome approximately 150 students! Prepare gives you a chance to ask questions and discuss issues with staff from across the university.

Adjusting to Cornell

Cornell New Student Orientation takes place just before classes begin. before plunging into other orientation activities and academic tasks. academic system, Cornell's student life and campus opportunities for the international community.

Read also: Cornell University Semester Guide

Meeting Upper-Level International Students

Prepare mentors will serve as your guides to life as an international student at Cornell. You will meet with your mentor virtually in a small group of fellow international students before arriving to campus and daily during Prepare 2026.

Prepare Participant Testimonials

"Prepare was an amazing opportunity that helped me adjust and adapt to college life in the United States. Being surrounded by other international students, who were feeling the same emotions I was, made me feel confident about college. The Prepare organizers and mentors did a great job to ensure our transition to Cornell was as smooth as possible. It was a great start to college; I am glad I was a part of Prepare."

"I appreciated Prepare a lot because it gave me the chance to get to know the school earlier and have more time to plan for classes before the rush of orientation week and classes started.

Important Prepare Dates and Logistics

Friday, August 14. Prepare participants (living on or off campus) will not be allowed to move into their residence hall before that time. We cannot accommodate early arrivals. There are no exceptions. Friday, August 14.

Dorm Bedding

When new students move in to their on-campus living, rooms will not have bedding or towels. Prepare will take participants shopping for dorm essentials on Saturday, August 15 at a local mall.

Read also: Architecture of Donlon Hall

Transportation

You are expected to arrange your own transportation to Cornell’s Ithaca campus in time for move-in and check-in. The International Student Association (ISA) Survival Guide has tips on how to get to campus from nearby airports (including JFK). All Prepare programming is within walking distance of student dorms.

Fees and Cancellation

Prepare participants will be billed $240, with fees appearing on their August bursar bill with payment due in early September. If you receive Cornell financial aid, the cost of the Prepare registration fee will be added to your aid package. Please let us know on the registration form of any accommodations you require in order to participate fully in Prepare. For additional information about student accommodations, reach out to Student Disability Services.

Family Accommodations

If family is accompanying you to Ithaca, please be sure that they make their own lodging arrangements at a hotel, as the Prepare program is unable to accommodate family members.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Prepare and Cornell New Student Orientation?
Prepare is a pre-orientation program specifically for incoming international undergraduate students. New Student Orientation is for the entire Cornell Class of 2030, which follows Prepare.
Can I attend Prepare if I’m a graduate student?
Prepare is for undergraduates only. If you are an international graduate or professional student, you can attend International Graduate and Professional Student Orientation. In addition, be sure to check with the Graduate School and your field of study to see what other programs you can attend.
Can I attend Prepare if I'm an international exchange student?
Prepare is for undergraduate, degree-seeking students only. If you are an international exchange student you can attend the International Exchange Student Orientation. This will be organized by your Cornell exchange coordinator.
Can I attend Prepare if I’m an international transfer student?
Yes!

New Student To Do List

Welcome to the New Student To Do List! This essential resource will help you stay on track as you prepare for your transition to Cornell. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive list of all key steps for new students-please note that not all tasks will apply to every student, as requirements vary based on specific enrollment details (college, program, student type). We encourage you to review your New Student To Do List carefully and check in regularly to ensure a smooth start to your Cornell journey.

International Student Orientation begins Friday, Aug.
Each One Teach One begins Friday, Aug.
New Student Orientation begins Wednesday, Aug.
Returning students move in on Aug.

Move-In and Welcoming Events

New students will be moving to campus with exciting talents and interests. To help our new students have the best experience during the first year, Cornell offers a wide variety of programs, services, and events during New Student Orientation (NSO). It’s a tradition for athletes who are already on campus to help first-year students move into their residence halls, which makes moving a quick and easy process. New students will be assigned to a group called a Flock, and each Flock has a Flock Leader. on Saturday, Aug. 23. on both Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. Following the orientation programs and move-in, all students will start their Block 1 classes on Aug. 25.

Saturday, Aug.
Sunday, Aug.

Transfer Student Information

This section applies only to transfer students. First-year students can skip to the next section. The credit evaluation lists which of your courses from your previous institution fulfilled Cornell’s degree requirements. You received your credit evaluation shorty after you received your admission letter to Cornell. The credit evaluation will be used to create your DUST record, the college’s tool for helping you keep track of your college requirements. In future semesters, Cornell courses that fulfill college requirements will appear in your DUST record.

How Credits Are Transferred

Residency (full-time study) is the major criterion for awarding credit. The College of Arts & Sciences awards no more than 15 credits per semester and 30 credits per year for full-time study at another institution, regardless of how many credits were awarded by that institution. We award credit course-by-course only for part-time students. Only courses passed with a grade of C or above and comparable to courses at Cornell will be eligible for transfer credit.

Unless a course is not comparable to a Cornell course or you have received less than a 'C’ grade, you may assume that the course has transferred. The credit evaluation will also indicate which courses do not receive credit. All of your previous credit has been translated into 15 Cornell credits per semester. Look near the bottom of your credit evaluation sheet to see if any courses are listed as “no credit.” If no courses are listed, you can assume that all your courses transferred.

The credit evaluation shows how your previous college work fulfills our distribution requirements. If any course is not listed, it likely means that 1) it does not fit into any of our categories for distribution, 2) other work you have done has already fulfilled that requirement, or 3) without a course catalog, it is impossible to determine into which requirement it fulfills.

If you think you took a class at your previous institution that should fulfill a college requirement, please contact Savannah Williams.

Class Standing

Class standing (first-semester sophomore, first-semester junior, etc.) is determined by full-time semesters of study, not the number of credits you have. All students graduating from the College of Arts & Sciences are required to meet the residency requirement. Students who wish to graduate early should refer to the policy.

Arts versus Non-Arts Credits

The College of Arts & Sciences requires 100 Arts credits and 120 total credits. Credits at your previous institution that are liberal arts courses (English, physics, economics, etc.) are listed as Arts credits on the credit evaluation. At Cornell, Arts courses are courses taken in our college. "Non-Arts" refers to courses not taken in the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell. It includes non-liberal arts courses, whether taken elsewhere or at the other colleges at Cornell (e.g., engineering, drawing, painting, business, accounting, etc.).

AP, IB, and A-level credit will not count toward the 100 liberal arts credits required for the degree but will count as "non-Arts" credits.

Once you matriculate at Cornell, any course taken elsewhere (e.g., in the summer) will NOT count towards the 100 required liberal arts credits, nor will they count toward college distribution or language requirements.

Quarter-Hour Courses

Quarter-hour courses are eligible to transfer. If the course is 5 or more quarter credits, it will equal a 3-credit semester course. If the quarter courses are equal to 1 unit (and the official transcript does not indicate the semester equivalent), then normally 3 quarter courses are equivalent to 2 semester ones. To complete a Cornell requirement, a course must be at least 5 or more quarter hours. Courses which are fewer than 5 quarter hours may be combined to fulfill a Cornell requirement.

First-year Writing Seminars

Only composition courses which correspond with Cornell’s First-year Writing Seminars guidelines may be used for this requirement, not simply any English course or a course with a significant amount of writing.

Language Requirement

To compete the requirement, transfer courses must be at the level of an intermediate-level course at Cornell (Option 1, typically this is the fourth course in sequence) or total language study must be 11 credit hours in one language (Option 2). Courses taken at your previous institution before you transferred to Cornell may be applied toward either option. We do not put transfer language courses you transferred on the credit evaluation (unless you completed the requirement). To complete the requirement using courses taken at your previous institution and at Cornell, you will need to complete 11 credits in sequence. In other words, if you completed French I and II at your previous institution and you place into French II at Cornell, you would need to complete French II and III at Cornell to complete Option 2.

Distribution Requirements

Courses you transferred may be eligible to complete college distribution categories. Click here for description of distribution categories and the types of courses which fall under each category. The focus of the transfer course must be on the distribution category for it to be assigned to that category, Note: a student only needs a minimum of 8 courses that meet the 10 requirements. Some courses fulfill more than one requirement. Once a student meets a distribution requirement, we do not list additional transfer courses for that requirement on the credit evaluation. This does not mean the course(s) didn’t transfer, simply that it is not fulfilling a college requirement (because the requirement is already fulfilled).

Courses for the Major

While it is likely that all of your courses have transferred (unless indicated otherwise on the credit evaluation), it is the prerogative of each department to decide whether any courses taken at other institutions count towards the requirements of its own major. When you arrive on campus, you will need to talk to your major advisor (if you are a junior) or the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) to find out whether specific courses fulfill individual requirements of the major. You can also contact the DUS during the summer about major course taken at your previous institution.

AP and IB Credit

Refer to the Credit and Placement page to learn how credits are awarded. The rules may be different from those of your former college. You can place into courses on the basis of your AP or IB scores. If you repeat an introductory course, you will not receive credit for both the course and the AP or IB exams that cover the same material. AP credit will be added to your record and credit totals only after we receive the official report of score(s) from ETS to Cornell University.

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