Hey shred4life!
I'm currently a senior in CALS at Cornell. I transferred to Cornell the beginning of my Junior year into the Animal Science program. Applying to vet school next year. Transferring to Cornell was an awesome decision to make, and I would highly recommend the program to anyone interested in pursuing a career with animals.
There are a lot of pre-vets in the Animal Science program, but I wouldn't say that veterinary medicine is the primary focus of the program. It's actually kind of hard to define the goal of the Animal Science program, as there aren't really any degree requirements for AnSci majors, leaving tons of flexibility for you to study pretty much anything you want. There is so much potential to learn about animal production, management, and business, as well as animal biology or medically related topics for all types of species. In particular, there's a big dairy program (Dairy Fellows) in the animal science program, which I would recommend getting involved in if you're into cows, milk production, or dairy farm management. (You'll soon find out Cornell faculty are really into dairy cows =P)
All of the faculty members (some of our professors are world renown) are very friendly, most are involved with research (many opportunities to get involved, if that's what you're interested in), and truly make it their goal to build close relationships with the students and to see you personally succeed.
If you're interested in vet school, graduating from Cornell as opposed to another NYS college won't (technically) help you. 5% of Cornell's vet school application formula is based on "degree quality"... or something like that. They don't officially favor NYS Cornell graduates over other NYS residents who graduated from another school (though some could argue that the numbers don't lie). Cornell Vet School admissions staff say that the high number of Cornell students accepted to the vet school is due to the sheer number of Cornell students who apply to Cornell Vet School each year.
Nevertheless, I would say that by simply being at Cornell and being around faculty members and advisors who are familiar with the Vet School is an advantage. There are always opportunities to get involved in research at the vet school, or to meet with the admissions staff, or to talk with vet students themselves. Not only will you be able to see and learn all about Cornell's Vet School, but I think that the faculty advisors here can really help you prepare yourself for applying there.
I guess that's Cornell in a nutshell. If you have any other questions, let me know!
P.S. I found the academics at Cornell to be much harder than my old university. My GPA actually dropped by an entire point (1.0) the first year after I transferred (other transfer students I knew had no problem keeping up with the work). Something to keep in mind.
