By GLENN MORGAN PARKER
Cornell's Online Precollege Program
I attended Charles O. Dickerson High School in Trumansburg, New York. I graduated in June of 2021. I learned about Cornell's Online Precollege Program through word of mouth and was excited to take a course. So what was my summer online course with Cornell like? I took PSYCH 1990: Sport Psychology, with Dr. Mary Turner DePalma. I was immersed in a class which included both high school and college students. It introduced me to a heavier workload, which I hadn't had the chance to experience in the typical high school setting I was accustomed to.
Lectures were thought provoking and challenging, for my younger mind. I always looked forward to class in anticipation of questions my professor would pose. My Cornell Precollege experience definitely factored into my decision to apply to Cornell for college. I greatly enjoyed Precollege and found connecting through a professor in higher education incredibly rewarding. I desired experience working in the field of scientific research and Cornell, being a land-grant university with many opportunities, was the perfect environment to pursue research in addition to higher education.
As for advice for those applying to the Cornell Summer Online program, I would say as difficult as it may be, I recommend doing all your homework as soon as possible since the courses are very fast paced. Always communicate with your professor and connect with them. Finally, look for a change of scenery—going outside to do my work instead of staying shut in my room often got me through long passages of reading. Today, I am majoring in Biological Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell.
I think my Precollege course prepared me on what to expect from Cornell academics. I currently work in a USDA lab under my graduate student mentor focusing on virology projects. The research opportunity and lab experience has been incredibly valuable. One of the best things at about attending Cornell is working at the USDA Heck Lab where I helps prepare experiments for virology research. Not only has the lab work been amazing, but the people are wonderful, making this hands-on work the best experience I’ve had at Cornell so far.