Contents
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Intro
Welcome to Information Science at Cornell! This guide has been created by current PhD students to help orient you in Ithaca. It covers basic information such as finding housing, buying groceries, and using the bus system.
Useful Websites
You probably already know this one. It is the most accurate and up-to-date source of relevant information with regards to your formal status in the university.
Cornell's more global version of this site.
View your payslips and get your tax forms. Also, update your bank account information for your salaries to go into, etc.
Cornell gives you the choice of putting e-mail to your netID address into either CMail (i.e. GMail) or an Exchange account (i.e. Outlook; if you activate it), or forward it to an arbitrary e-mail address you give them. This page is where you configure that. You can also configure how you show up in Cornell's electronic directory here.
Housing
We recommend using Craigslist and/or word-of-mouth to find housing in Ithaca.
The most popular neighborhoods for graduate students are downtown (on or near the Ithaca Commons) and Fall Creek (located north of downtown). Both of these neighborhoods are a short bus ride or a 20 minute walk to campus. Fall Creek is a quiet, residential neighborhood that is close to both the Cascadilla Gorge and Ithaca Falls, but only a 5 minute walk from downtown. Downtown has larger, newer apartment buildings, but it can be a bit noisy because of bars and restaurants.
Collegetown is closer to campus, but it’s quite loud on the weekends as more undergrads live here. Not recommended.
Some students choose to live farther from town, often north of campus. In this case, you will either need to drive or take the bus. These apartments tend to be quieter and cheaper than those in town.
Shopping
The biggest grocery store in Ithaca is Wegmans. They also have some home goods (dishes, beauty products). However, Wegmans is outside of downtown, so you’ll need to drive or take the bus (unless you’re up for a longer walk). Downtown, there is the Greenstar Co-op, which has organic, local food. It is smaller and tends to be more expensive than Wegmans, but it’s also much more convenient.
There is no Ikea in Ithaca 
. However, there is a Target and a TJ Maxx, both of which have some simple furniture and lots of home goods. You can also find nice used furniture at Mimi’s Attic in downtown Ithaca or on Craigslist.
Transportation
Walking
Ithaca and Cornell are very walkable, as long as you’re not afraid of hills.
There are beautiful walking trails all over Ithaca. Most importantly, the Cascadilla Gorge Trail leads from Fall Creek to campus. This route (which includes bridges, wildlife, and giant waterfalls) could be your daily commute!
Biking
Biking around campus or around town are both great, but getting between them involves a big hill. Of course, if you’re strong and brave, go for it!
There are no bike lanes in Ithaca and on campus.
There is a new bikeshare program on campus: https://bigredbikes.cornell.edu/
You can buy used bikes on Craigslist or at the Old Goat Gear Exchange downtown.
Buses
The bus system is fast, reliable, and free your first year! We recommend this is as your primary mode of transport.
You can view bus schedules at the TCAT website: https://www.tcatbus.com/
The stop for Gates is Sage Hall.
Ithaca Car Share
If you don’t have a car but would like to occasionally use one for groceries, day trips, etc., the Ithaca Car Share is a great option. They have discounted rates for students, and the cars are located all over Ithaca and the Cornell Campus.
Taxis
- Uber and Lyft have finally arrived in Ithaca! Be careful though—there are only a few drivers, and the prices can get expensive during busy times.
- In general, the taxis are expensive and unreliable, but sometimes you have no other option. In that case, the most popular is College Town Cab: http://collegetowncab.com/
If you take a taxi, It currently costs $17.50 to go to or from the airport. The driver will make multiple stops along the way to pick up other passengers, so it can sometimes take a while to get to the airport (even though it’s actually very close).
Courses
You can find the list of courses for Fall 2017 here: https://classes.cornell.edu/browse/roster/FA18
Information Science has four required courses. You can read more about the core courses here:
http://infosci.cornell.edu/academics/phd/requirements
Most PhD students take 0-2 courses each semester. If you are TAing or doing research, we strongly recommend to take no more than two courses. Some students take three courses, but it is a lot of work---be warned!
It’s common practice at Cornell to “shop” for courses during the first week of the semester. You can sign up for a course and then drop or change it after attending the first meeting. Feel free to sign up for classes and change your schedule during the first week.
There are also some fun courses available to all students at Cornell. Some courses that have been popular with IS PhDs are wine tasting and sailing.
Things to do in Ithaca
Ithaca Farmer’s Market
Open on various days of the week and various locations.
Tons of food, drinks, fresh produce, plants, local arts and crafts. Great people watching. You have to go!
Ithaca Falls
This is a bit waterfall just a 15 minute walk from downtown.
Buttermilk Falls
10 minute drive from campus.
Lots of hiking trails and beautiful waterfall to explore. Multiple picnic areas and especially nice in the summer.
Cornell Botanic Gardens
An enormous and gorgeous park that is part of the Cornell Campus, with walking paths and ponds full of turtles and colorful fish.
You can walk from Gates, but it’s a long walk -- budget at least an hour or two, but you’ll have to make multiple trips to fully explore.
Nearby towns
Trumansburg (some nice restaurants, bars, and music)
Indian Creek Farm
Apple picking in the fall, and other fruits and vegetables available to pick in different seasons
Only a 10 minute drive from Ithaca
Also has a nice produce stand, with apple juice, fruits and vegetables, and apple cider donuts
Places to eat
On campus
Temple of Zeus
Maybe the best lunch on campus, but crowded and hard to find a place to sit.
5-10 minute walk from Gates.
Soups, sandwiches.
Terrace
Popular lunch place for Gates inhabitants. Closes at 3.
Good salads, burritos and bowls.
Gimme Coffee
Located in Gates.
Pastries only.
Duffield
Located near Gates.
Food isn’t great, but this is the closest option to Gates. Soups, pre-packaged sandwiches, yogurt, etc.
Trillium
A short walk up from gates to the Ag Quad
Food is really nice, lot of options and good portions. Mexican, Chinese, American.
Cornell Dairy Bar
Satisfy your ice cream cravings with imaginative flavors made at Cornell.
15 minute walk from Gates, and highly recommended!
Cafes
Gimme Coffee
Located in Gates and in two locations downtown. Delicious coffee that will fuel your long afternoons of research.
College Town Bagels (CTB)
Located both in Collegetown and downtown. Bagels, sandwiches, smoothies, pastries, coffee, ice cream… Everything you could ask for!
Coal Yard Cafe
A 20 minute walk from Gates, nice for a brunch outing. Delicious coffee, cinnamon rolls, crepes…
Restaurants
Just a Taste
$$ Tapas (small dishes) and wine bar. Highly recommended!
Cent Dix
$$$ French food, delicious but expensive.
Northstar House
$$ Located in Fall Creek, casual place for brunch or dinner
Healthcare
Cornell Health (formerly called Gannett) will probably be your main resource for healthcare. They are located on campus at 110 Ho Plaza.
You can use their website to make appointments and order refills of prescriptions.
Their website is: https://health.cornell.edu/
Working in Gates
Gates Hall houses both the Computer Science and Information Science departments. Below is some information specific to Gates.
Wifi
Use eduroam instead of RedRover whenever you can. eduroam is more secure, and as a bonus you automatically get internet at many universities across the world (especially in Europe). Just log on with "[NetID]@cornell.edu" as your username and your NetID password. Warning: free Internet usage for students is capped at 100GB. After those 100GB, you'll have to pay for your usage. This does not apply to machines plugged into the CS network (i.e. your desktop, or also your laptop when using a wired connection in Gates), so you should largely be fine.
Software
Cornell offers lots of productivity software either for free or with large discounts. In particular, you can get a free Microsoft Office 365 license.
Getting out of Ithaca
Getting to NYC
The best way to get to NYC is the Cornell Campus to Campus bus. This bus will pick you up at the Sage Hall bus stop (very close to Gates) and drop you off at the Cornell Club near Grand Central Station in Manhattan. It has wifi, snacks, and relatively comfy seats.
If c2c is too expensive for you, you can take the Shortline or the Big Red Bullet, both of which can be booked online and have multiple pick-up stops around town.
Booking flights
Flights out of Ithaca only go to Philadelphia, Newark, and Detroit.
These flights can often be VERY expensive, especially at times when the undergrads will be traveling (just before classes start, the day that spring break starts, etc.). You should plan your travel months in advance, if possible.
You can also fly to nearby airports, such as Elmira, Syracuse, or NYC and take the bus or rent a car to get to campus. There is a shuttle service (no, not a limo) to Syracuse: http://www.ithacaairlinelimousine.com/to-syracuse