Transitions & Connections

Summer Program for New Students

Looking to meet other incoming and current Cornellians before coming to campus?

Transitions & Connections is a summer program that pairs small groups of new students with an upperclassman facilitator to make connections, build community, and ask questions about what it’s really like to live and learn at Cornell before classes start.

Hear about your facilitator’s experiences, learn about campus resources, ask all the questions about transitioning to Cornell you didn’t know you had, and get to know other incoming students.

The program consists of four, weekly 50-minute virtual meetings throughout the month of July and an ice cream social event during orientation. 

Sign up by June 30, 2023, to be matched with a group of incoming students and an upperclassman facilitator. 

Sign Up

This program is limited to incoming first-year and transfer undergraduate students.

Please contact transitionsandconnections@cornell.edu with any questions.

Here's what some of our summer 2021 participants had to say about the program:

I think my [facilitator] is a really compassionate person, so I’m glad I got to meet her! The other mentees in my group are also really nice, and we had nice conversations together during the mentoring program! I’m excited to meet everyone in my group on campus.

The sheer amount of connections I got out of this program was powerful enough to make me feel confident in my ability to adjust to the new environment at Cornell. Overall it was a great experience that helped me feel much more prepared.

Hearing other students’ perspectives helped me feel less alone in my fears about moving onto campus and assured me that I am going to have a supportive community at Cornell.

Being able to talk to my [facilitator] has helped take away a ton of stress and uncertainty I’ve felt towards adapting to college, and has improved my sense of belonging immensely. I no longer feel like Cornell is made of a ton of strangers… I now feel certain that I’ll be able to find people to talk to, and the idea of doing so is way less daunting.

I made connections with people that I wouldn’t have made if I never joined this program. Having connections with just a few people goes a long way when it’s your first time going to college, especially one that is far from home.

[My facilitator] has been incredibly kind and helpful to me! She’s helped me understand how I might achieve my goals at Cornell… I feel like my goals are doable and that Cornell is the right place for me to achieve them!