I saw xkcd at Cornell

This one. We were inside the electric and computer engineering building, which was sort of surprising, because usually these doors are locked and only students and faculty can enter. Anyway, they had these huge TVs (sort of like the ones at Paperclip, except larger), and they also had these really cool devices, such as a semiconductor wafer designed by Cornell students (my dad works for a company that manufactures the devices used to make such wafers, so of course he used this opportunity to brag).

We went upstairs afterwards, where we saw numerous computer labs, actual labs (although I suppose a computer lab is also a lab), and the xkcd strip on one of the doors. Then we went across an indoor bridge with lots of red chairs facing away from the center, and two floors below us, there was a study hall with a few people typing away on their laptops.

I have only been inside one other non-library, non-huge-lecture-hall-for-info-sessions academic building, and that was Huntsman at Penn (which I have written about, in part, but it is still in draft mode because I need to add two more schools to it), so I was still fairly surprised that we were allowed inside. There were lots of cool equipment rooms, and my dad even talked to one of the professors there (while my mom and I were outside, so we didn't get to hear what they talked about), and he got a booklet on Cornell engineering projects.

Some other highlights:

• Really helpful people, or at least the ones I've met. So even though it's a predominantly science and engineering school, it's not in any way unsociable.
• Buildings could use some better planning. There are some gorgeous (I still can't stop thinking about the "Ithaca is Gorges" pun whenever I use "gorgeous") buildings, such as the Baker dorms and the really fancy all-glass building, but they're this awkward mix of Gothic-old to contemporary-new that really doesn't mesh well.
• They sell bubble tea in downtown Ithaca. Taro-flavored bubble tea. Definitely a good point. Plus Ithaca's got a small-town feel but pretty busy, yet it's far away from Cornell (which has many of the pretty gorges) that there's no problem with noise or chaos.
• My tour group people are really, really unprepared. This isn't actually a highlight, but I found it shocking when someone asked, "Does Cornell have its own supplement to the Common App?" I mean, really? Just add the school to your list and you'll see. It's not that hard.
• Lake Caguya is really close by, and it's a pretty neat lake. Not Lake Ontario or Lake Michigan nice (I'm pretty biased in that aspect), but the ducks are friendly and don't run away from you. Neither do the squirrels in Cornell. I suppose that reflects on how nice the people there are towards the animals.

My dad joked that he would try to find a job in Albany if I go to Cornell. It is a bit better than his claim that he'll find a job in Chicago if I go to, well, Chicago, because I am not sure how well I can handle the whole commuting to school from home thing when I'm in college. I guess it's nice that I won't have to pay extra room and boarding fees, but I'll probably lose out on several years' worth of experimenting with living on my own.

Besides, didn't my dad say he was going to move back to China once I get into college, and never, ever come back again?

People are fickle these days.

Also, completely unrelated, but I had a dream that I was driving last night. There was something special to it than just driving, though (and it's not the "I crashed into a wall" kind of special), but I don't remember what it was. I was going to write it down but then I forgot.

So... time to finish up that Penn/Princeton (again)/Swarthmore post.