Student Experience

The campus and community provide countless opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Clubs
There’s not much you can’t do at Cornell, as we have 1000+ student organizations with new ones created every year. Given their exposure to leadership and team management principles in our curriculum, ILR students are known for successfully obtaining leadership roles in organizations throughout the University.

Research
Students can obtain research experience by assisting Ph.D. students or faculty with their projects, pursuing summer research opportunities or creating their own independent study or honors thesis. Recent undergraduate projects have examined the experience of people with disabilities in the workplace, criminal records and employment discrimination, corporate policies on social media usage and the role of microlending on women’s empowerment in Pakistan.

Community
Often ranked as one of the smartest cities in America, Ithaca, New York is filled with non-profits, activists, award-winning performers, politicians and thought-leaders who all love to work with students. Recent ILR students have run local political campaigns, hosted a community radio show, helped organize some of the many music and food festivals held throughout the year and become entrepreneurs through the help of a business incubator.

In addition to the over 1,000 student organizations found across Cornell University, ILR offers students its own distinct set of organizations to get involved in. These organizations express and advance the interests of students and the issues studied within the school. 

Find out more about current student organizations here.

ILR provides unique opportunities for undergraduate students to collaborate with professors within their research areas or to pursue independent research. Students involved in research develop close relationships with faculty, become authors or coauthors of published articles, and present at conferences and meetings.

Senior Honors Thesis

Outstanding ILR seniors who want to conduct an independent research project can receive course credit for a two-semester honors thesis research project. Students are supervised by an ILR faculty member, write a thesis that will be examined and defended before the faculty supervisor, and may receive funding to defray research costs.

Recent thesis topics include:

“The Psychological Impact of AI on Workers”

“Zooming Through the Day (and Night): The Impact of Increasingly Remote and Hybrid Work Arrangements on Attorney Mothers' Work-Life Balance and Career Prospects”

“The Effect of Social Networks on Crime Participation”

“Compounding Disadvantages: Exploring Intersectionality and the Experiences of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education”

“The Burden of Perfection: Exploring the Struggles and Consequences of Female Athletes as Role Models”

“The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Women's Social, Political, and Economic Activity”

Rawlings Scholars Program

The Rawlings Scholars program supports up to 200 undergraduates each year from across academic disciplines and colleges to work with faculty mentors to design, plan, and carry out individualized research projects. Students who are selected as scholars receive a research support account, along with an annual need-based loan replacement.

The Rawlings Presidential Research Scholars program is part of The Cornell Commitment, which also includes the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars program and The Cornell Tradition.

ILR offers a variety of opportunities to experience new cultures and learn what it means to be a global citizen.

Credit Internships
Disney and the EEOC in Florida. JPMorgan Chase, IBM and the International Rescue Committee in New York. The Southern African Institute for Policy and Research in Zambia. Unique to the ILR School, the Credit Internship Program provides a chance to gain substantive experience at these and other for-profits, non-profits or government agencies around the world. It allows juniors or seniors to work and explore their career interests during the fall or spring term while earning a full semester of academic credit.
Credit Internships

Exchange Programs
Partnerships with schools in Italy, Ireland, Australia, Spain and the UK provide students with the opportunity to gain an international perspective on human rights, management, political science, economics, law and other ILR-related topics.
Exchange Programs

Cornell in Washington
Live in a Cornell-owned apartment building in the heart of D.C., gain practical work experience and take Cornell classes. During a semester or summer, you’ll learn from the experts who influence and make policies, and have opportunities to visit museums, the I.M.F. and State Department, Senate offices, and many other locations throughout Washington.
Cornell in Washington

Engaged Learning
Practice conflict resolution in Vietnam. Conduct research on pressing economic or political issues in southern Africa. Work with a top-rated non-governmental organization in India to help indigenous and rural people get access to healthcare and education. Through ILR’s Global Service Learning program, students can spend the summer or winter break in another country learning to use skills from the classroom to address real-world problems.
Engaged Learning

International Opportunities
Whether your goal is to improve language skills, explore your family’s heritage, engage in service learning, participate in an internship, or conduct research, you will have many options to choose from, as Cornell offers countless opportunities for a meaningful international experience.
International Opportunities