By KATHERINE J. WHITE
Copy Editor
Understanding how to get into the Ivy League is not a skill reserved only for the elite, Dr. Larry Stoneburner stressed Feb. 3 in Bakersfield College’s East Forum 101.
Stoneburner, owner and general manager of KTIP radio in Porterville and former Cornell University student admitted at the age of 16, stated that students, “shouldn’t feel that Cornell is a rich person’s school.”
Along with, Stoneburner said, a “‘needs-blind’ admission policy,” Cornell does not extensively examine a prospective student’s financial status.
Furthermore, Stoneburner said, Cornell , a private institution located in upstate New York in the town of Ithaca about 400 miles northwest of New York City, wants to emphasize cultural and geographical diversity, although the majority of Cornell students come from the eastern part of the United States and 5% come from the west and the southwestern parts.
Cornell has a strong Asian population and a strong bond with Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., Stoneburner said.
According to Stoneburner, Cornell has medical school extenstions in Qatar, Kuwait, as well as in Beijing.
Cornell boasts 120 nationalities and multiculturalism is vital to the university, Stoneburner said.
Cornell is a “four-season campus,”according to Stoneburner, in a town “smaller than Porterville.” Ithaca, Stoneburner said, has 100 restaurants and a”legitimate” opera, as well as “legitimate”symphony and orchestra. Cornell offers 4,000 classes and has extensive athletic programs, which include basketaball, water polo and ice hockey.
Academic programs include philosophy, veterinary medicine and agriculture.
Stoneburner stressed the importance of agriculture students to get degrees.
“Most of the farmers I know have MBAs and carry briefcases,” Stoneburner said.
It is especially important for agriculture majors to return to the San Joaquin Valley agricultural area with a thorough education from Cornell and thereby “give back to the community,” Stoneburner said.
Transfer students from community and junior colleges have a much higher acceptance rate than do high school graduate applicants; only one in 12 high school graduate applicants are accepted, whereas 1 in 4 transfer students are accepted.
“The odds are substantially higher for transfer students than for high school students,” Stoneburner said.
March 15 is the deadline for interested high school applicants to send in high school transcripts, and Feb. 10 was the deadline for financial aid applicants, Stonebutner said. “It takes time to process financial aid information.”
Student applicants must be prepared to write an essay about himself/herself as well as to produce income tax file reports, Stoneburner said.
There is also a $65 application fee, Stoneburner said. However, a prospective student can sign a waiver if the student is unable to pay the fee.
“Do whatever you can online,” Stoneburner said. “It’s instantaneous.” Cost at Cornell for undergraduates is $31,300 per year.