There is a lot to love about Cornell. The Ivy League Research University has a whopping seven undergraduate schools and is only one of two Ivies that offer an undergraduate business school. Plus, they have even more unique programs like the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the School of Hotel Administration. Cornell sits between waterfalls and forests in Ithica, New York. They also are big on school tradition with yearly events like Dragon Day, Big Red ice hockey games, and Slope Day.
If you are dreaming of joining the Big Red community, you might be asking yourself, “Can I get into Cornell?” We aren’t going to lie; it’s competitive. Last year, they had an acceptance rate of about 7%. If you are serious about going to Cornell, you have to be a great candidate. Let’s break down how to do it.
How does Cornell review your application?
Cornell is great at FAQs. Seriously, they have a ton of information on their website. They even have a section called “What does Cornell look for when we review your application?” They also publish how they rate the importance of different factors as part of a document that they publish yearly called the Common Data Set.
By looking at both of these these two documents, we can see what Cornell is hoping for in applications. Let’s start by going through the points they outline in their FAQ.
Intellectual potential. Have you challenged yourself in the curriculum and opportunities available to you? How have you demonstrated your passion for learning? Has your coursework prepared you for your academic interests at Cornell?
So, each school at Cornell has different requirements and recommendations when it comes to academics. You should meet all of these. Full stop. But more than that, they ask an important question here, “Have you challenged yourself?” The answer should be yes.
This speaks to academic rigor, which is something that they are looking for. You want your transcript to be full of advanced classes. This might mean accelerated, AP, IB, Honors, Dual Enrollment, etc., depending on what your school offers. Cornell needs to see you challenging yourself with your coursework. But it's also more than that. They also want to see you preparing for your academic interests.
Let’s say you want to study biology. Are you in AP Bio? Are you in the science club? Did you take a summer course on Bio at a local college? Ideally, all three. They want to see that you are passionate about your academic interests inside and outside of class.
Another way Cornell looks at your intellectual potential is through class rank. It’s less important than the other ways above, but let’s talk about it. 82% of accepted students from schools that rank were in the top 10th of their high school graduating class.
If your school doesn’t rank… don’t worry; only about 19% of applicants came from schools that ranked last year. But it's a good data point. Cornell wants top students, and you need to show them that you are.
Intellectual potential also includes test scores. Cornell is still test-optional, but they can help you, and Cornell considers them if you choose to submit. But should you submit? The short answer is yes if your scores are impressive.
Ideally, you want to be in line with or higher than the majority of accepted candidates. Usually, this means a higher score than the 50th percentile of admitted students (It's not quite the same, but think about it like the average if this is confusing). For example, for the ACT, the 25th percentile was 33, the 50th was 34, and the 75th was 35. And for the SAT, the 25th was 1470, the 50th was 1520, and the 75th was 1550. So ideally, if you are submitting scores, they should be around or better than a 34 on the ACT or a 1520 SAT. Super ideally, they would be closer to the 75th percentile.
Character. Honesty. Open-mindedness. Initiative. Collaboration. Empathy. Curiosity. Your values are important to Cornell. Do your application essays and recommendations reflect your strongest personal attributes?
Ok, they list some things here, but you can ignore them. That sounded bad; don’t ignore that being empathetic is good. What we mean here is you need to showcase your best character traits even if they aren’t listed here. You can do this through your essays and recommendations.
While you can’t really control what teachers say about you, try to ask teachers who like and know you. Also, a little tip: ask them early. They will appreciate you for appreciating their time. However, you can control your essays. You need to write a Common App essay that eats.
We have a ton of blogs about how to write a great essay, and think this one is especially helpful. However, if you need a crash course, great Common App essays do a couple of things. They tell an engaging story, showcase a couple of excellent personal characteristics or values, and they should be creative. It’s a tall order for 650 words, but we would be happy to help. Reach out.
Cornell also has a supplement. However, we will talk a little more about that later.
Involvement. Community engagement. Extracurricular activities. Work experience. Research. Leadership. Family responsibilities. What interests, special commitments, or talents have you developed? What have you spent time outside of the classroom doing?
Here is where your resume and activities section comes in. They want to see that you do something you care about outside of class. Whatever your interests are, you should be pursuing them outside of school. There is no “one perfect resume,” but there are a couple of things you should be doing. The first is commitment. Cornell will not be impressed with your involvement in a club for 1-2 hours a week. You want to commit to your interests. The second is leadership. You can do this with titles; for example, maybe you were elected team captain or made manager. Or you can do this by taking on responsibilities in the activities that matter most to you. Likely, it will be a mix of both.
Also note they call out specifically community engagement, work, and research. It’s not a bad idea to try to get involved with volunteering, a summer job, or even a research project. However, if you are going to do this, make sure you commit… they are still looking for commitment here.
Your Reasons for Choosing Cornell. How do you plan to take advantage of Cornell's exceptional learning environment? Why is it the right place for you?
This is mainly where that supplement we talked about earlier comes in. The supplement question(s) changes from school to school, but you should also strive to knock this out of the park. We also have a blog about it if you need more on the supplement. This should also come through in your interview (if you have one.) Slaying in this category starts with research. You want to find specific classes, programs, professors, clubs, etc. that appeal to you.
If in your interview you find yourself answering “Why do you want to go to Cornell?” with “It’s a really good school…” you have failed this category. Take some time to get to know the school and its offerings.
This is also probably a good time to talk about applying early decision. It's not exactly a part of this point, but it's related. If you are sure Cornell is the place for you, consider applying ED. We said earlier that Cornell’s acceptance rate is around 7%. However, that acceptance rate is made out of two acceptance rates. The early decision rate is around 19%, and the regular decision rate is more like 5.4%. You still need to be a great candidate, but it will help to apply early if you are super motivated to get in.
Your reasons for choosing the specific college/school you’re applying to. How is the college or school a good fit for your academic interests? How are you a good fit for the specific college or school
Ok, so how you do this is pretty much the same as number 4 and partially number 1. Pretty much you need to research the school. Also, your academic interests should already be well established through your transcript and activities and fit with a major in the school you choose. However, we want to say something here. And we aren’t trying to be mean; we are just trying to be honest.
You might see online that some of the schools at Cornell are “easier to get into” than others. We hear this all the time about the Labor Relations School and School of Hotel Management especially. Some students think it’s a good strategy to apply to one of these schools, even though they don’t really care about hotels or labor, so that they can get into Cornell. This is a bad plan, and we have never seen it work, so we advise heavily against it. Cornell is not dumb. They can tell when people are trying to do this.
While some schools at Cornell have higher acceptance rates than others… they all have low acceptance rates. We haven’t seen one over 20% in years for any of the schools. All of them are competitive, and they aren’t going to choose someone whose interests don’t align or aren’t super well established. TLDR: you are not sneaking into Cornell.
Getting into Cornell is tough. They ask for a lot from an applicant. You want to rise to that challenge. Try to make sure that you have a great resume, fantastic essays, a killer transcript, and even more. It will take some hard work, but if you are stressed out, we can help.
Reach out to us here!