Cornell is a prestigious private research university and member of the coveted Ivy League. The school is known for offering programs, like hospitality and agriculture, unique to Cornell in the Ivy League and extremely highly-respected globally.
Located in Ithaca, NY, Cornell is closer to Canada than to a major US city like Boston or New York City, but that doesn’t a factor against the school. Instead of leaning on the aura of a large city, Cornell has had to develop a culture that defines the student experience. It is known for offering a ‘big school’ social atmosphere while offering best-in-class academics. The ‘big school’ vibes aren’t just an aura. Cornell has over 16,000 undergraduate students across nine undergraduate colleges. The largest college is the College of Arts & Sciences, with over 1,000 students per class year.
If you are serious about Cornell, you need to get serious about applying Early Decision.
The overall first-year acceptance rate for the fall of 2024, or the Class of 2028, was 8.4%. That same year, Cornell received just under 10,000 Early Decision applications, compared to over 55,000 Regular Decision applicants. The acceptance rate in just the regular decision round was 6.2%. In the Early Decision round that same year, they accepted 1,661 applicants for an about 16.5% acceptance rate.
Historically, Cornell has accepted a very large portion of first-year applicants in the Early Decision round. For the Class of 2027, a third of the first-year class earned a spot Early Decision. However, in 2023 Cornell announced that they would be reducing the portion of first-years admitted ED. This wasn’t a full scale-back. Their intention is not to make ED commensurate to RD acceptance rate-wise (https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2023/11/cornell-reduces-proportion-of-students-admitted-through-early-decision-track). However, they have identified that accepting fewer ED, and more RD, applicants could make for a more diverse class across many metrics.
So, the simple math that the odds are better if you apply to Cornell Early Decision holds true. But what does that really mean?
What is Early Decision at Cornell?
Applying ED is pretty simple. You submit your application, just early. But choosing whether applying ED is a good idea for you is a bit more complicated, and it’s something we are experts at determining. Remember, too, that the ED acceptance rate is boosted by a large cohort of athletes and other students with special consideration who have a pretty good idea that they will get in before they even press submit.
So, the boosted acceptance rate ED is real, but it wasn’t actually 16+% when adjusted for athletes, etc. And, as Cornell adjusts to accept fewer students ED and more RD, the boost will be commensurately reduced.
In order to stand out as an ED applicant who isn’t going in with special consideration, there are a few things that you must do strengthen your application. In this post, we’ll break down the most crucial areas of focus for strong applicants seeking to amplifying their chances of admission to Cornell Early Decision.
If you have your eyes set on Cornell, get in touch. We help students gain admission to their dream schools.
If you are considering an Early Decision application to Cornell but are on the fence, this post will break down everything you need to know about what it takes to be a competitive Early Decision applicant. But first, why even do it?
Why should I apply Early Decision?
We are big fans of early application options, but they aren’t for everyone or every situation. If you are a strong applicant with the scores, grades, activities, and all the other pieces of the puzzle ready in the fall, Early Decision can be a strong strategic option to boost your chances of getting into an extremely selective school. If you aren’t completely prepared to submit, though, applying ED can actually be a huge risk. As is true with so much of college admissions, it’s all about balancing risk with reward. We want your potential reward to be much higher than your risk. Check each box below, and you’ve got a shot. For an even better chance, get in touch.
What can you do to increase your chances of admission ED to Cornell?
Applying to Cornell Early Decision is the strongest way to show your interest and intention. When you choose to apply ED, you choose Cornell. But Cornell needs to see more than just your interest. This is the key list you need to be referring back to:
Grades
This should be obvious given that Cornell is a prestigious Ivy League school with a tiny overall acceptance rate, but they expect to see a transcript packed full of exceptional grades. They know that success can develop over time, but that doesn’t excuse a low grade. And low is relative. For most colleges, Bs are okay. For top schools, and especially in the Ivy League, Bs aren’t. They expect As, nearly, if not entirely, across the board. This is tough, but it’s the truth. Years of hard work add up to a single piece of paper with a cumulative GPA that is, in some ways, a measure of potential. It isn’t the only measure, but when you are up against thousands of applicants who have perfect transcripts, it truly does matter.
If you do have a less-than perfect grade or two on your transcript, today is the day to do the work to help Cornell overlook it. This means continuing to take the hardest classes you have access to in the more than just your area of academic focus. Cornell wants to see excellence, but also breadth. The university is very focused on training future leaders in their chosen field, which is part of why they have so many career-oriented undergraduate colleges, but they also respect and appreciate that deeper understanding can come through interdisciplinary exposure. If all you focus on is what you are already most interested in, that is a potential red-flag for Cornell. Being exceptional is great, but being exceptional and diversified is better.
Scores
Cornell likes numbers, and that doesn’t only apply to grades. Like most schools, Cornell went standardized test optional during the height of COVID, and a bit beyond. Many schools have made that change permanent, but Cornell isn’t one of them. Like a few of their Ivy League brethren, Cornell is bringing the SAT and ACT requirement back.
For students submitting applications in the fall and beyond, and planning to enroll after the fall of 2026, standardized test scores are going to once again be required. This was their norm before COVID adjustments, and it’s back.
Cornell’s decision was driven by a multi-year study by the Cornell Task Force on Standardized Testing in Admissions, which revealed that SAT or ACT scores, when considered within the context of the application as a whole, “provide valuable insight into a student’s potential for academic success while at Cornell.”
While it takes years to build a strong transcript, the SAT and ACT are a potentially powerful way to amplify your application, boosting it above similarly situated applicants or making up a tad for a weak grade early in your high school career. With a few months of focused effort, smart students (which you are) are able to make things happen on standardized tests. Now, we often hear students say, “I’m not a standardized test person.” That’s a big myth and, ultimately, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Nearly anyone who is academically qualified for a top-tier school can be prepared to do exceptionally well on the SAT or ACT if they give it time, attention, and call in help for test prep and strategy. We’ve seen students raise their score substantially based on one decision: they decide that they deserve to excel. So, make that choice for yourself.
What does exceling look like for Cornell? We advise our students to achieve a 1540 or above composite score on the SAT, or a 34 or above on the ACT composite. These aren’t easy scores to achieve, but they are possible and put you, score-wise, in at least the middle of the pack among other Cornell applicants. If you are applying ED, these scores are nearly mandatory.
Activities
When it comes to the activities that Cornell wants to see on an Early Decision transcript, they aren’t prescriptive. The school doesn’t tell you want to do, but we do know what they want. After years of supporting students through successful Cornell Early Decision applications, we know what works. So, what works? Strategy.
Just how Cornell wants to see you taking the hardest classes you have access to; they aren’t attracted to coasting through school clubs and maybe picking up a “club head” title only in senior year. Instead, they want to see hunger and drive. They look for applicants who see the options in front of them, and who push for something else, something harder, a big beyond what is immediately in reach.
In our experience, this means emphasizing independent research, internships, employment, and entrepreneurship, early. If something can come with a “trophy,” even better. This includes awards, recognitions, publication, and experiences with big name and well-known companies or non-profits within your chosen field. For example, if you are interested in robotics, it’s good to be leading a robotics club, but you should also be on a competitive (and winning) team, volunteering with a non-profit that introduces younger students to STEM, and working or interning at a robotics or related tech company.
If the humanities are your thing, it can be a bit harder to figure out how to stand out. Simply “loving history” or writing a lot in your free time does not translate into an impressive Early Decision application. Humanities minded students should be pursuing publication in journals that spotlight young writers and researchers, they should look for research assistant opportunities or internships at publications, and they should also volunteer with a nonprofit or in a library and work at a bookstore. This is all aimed at the same type of full-immersion in the field that STEM students are able to access in a bit more straightforward way.
No matter your area of interest, a key piece is stacking up leadership experience. You don’t always need to have a title to be a leader, but on a Cornell application it does help.
Essays
If you are applying to Cornell Early Decision, you need to start your writing early. We work with our students to begin writing their main college essay shortly after summer break starts. Is this very early? By some estimations, yes. But we have our reasons.
The main college essay is your opportunity to spotlight a few (2-3) aspects of who you are in a way that makes a college application reader fall in love with you. A strong college essay does a lot for your application without trying to do too much. If you try to pack everything into it, the essay becomes muddy and diluted. Instead, we love Cornell applications that are focused, targeted, and narratively clear. Students working on an ED application to Cornell need to accomplish this by first identifying their why for Cornell, and then developing an application that leans into that why across every piece of the application, from the main essay to the supplements.
For example, we worked with a student a number of years ago that dreamed of running a hotel and restaurant group. The Cornell School of Hospitality was an obvious pick, as the Nolan School of Hotel Administration is an iconic leader in the field. In developing her application, we knew that we had to amplify one thing in particular: she needed to show on the ground experience and skin in the game. So, the summer before senior year we focused on one thing: a summer job hosting and waiting tables at a popular high-end local restaurant. To be honest, her parents were skeptical. “Really? Waiting tables?” But our strategy was grounded in a knowledge of Cornell. Her summer experience developed into an outstanding main college essay about teamwork, collaboration, creativity, and one-the-fly decision making. This piece of writing paired with strong scores and grades, and stellar supplements that dialed into her why for Cornell, and ultimately led to an acceptance.
This same logic can be applied across any academic or professional interest. Cornell wants to see you getting your hands dirty, so show them that you don’t just want head knowledge. You’re actually doing it.
Last, Apply Early
When you apply Early Decision to Cornell, you can be admitted, denied, or deferred.
If you are admitted, awesome. If you are denied, that’s a bummer but now you need to focus elsewhere and consider an EDII option. And if you are deferred, the best course of action is to tap an expert. Turning a deferral from Cornell into an acceptance in the regular decision round is possible if you play it right. At the same time, you should also seriously consider an EDII option and, of course, a full regular decision roster of schools. If you didn’t go into Cornell with a back-up plan, you need one: and we can help.
As you are deciding whether to take the ED risk on Cornell, there is something to strongly consider if you are a New York student. A full 25% of students across the Ithaca campus of the university come from New York, and the school prioritizes cultivating New York students. We advise all of our New York students who are strong contenders for Cornell, and for whom Cornell is the first choice, to apply Early Decision.
Work with Us
If you are reading all of this and feeling motivated, excited, but overwhelmed by how much there is to do, we can help. We start working with our students as early as possible, often in the first year or two of high school, to craft applications that lead to Ivy League acceptances. What is most exciting to us in this process is to see the students grow into themselves and develop their interests alongside their applications. This process is strategic, but it’s also deeply personal. Getting into an exceptional college requires not just an exceptional student, but an exceptional human. We help those humans shine, so get in touch.
If Cornell is your dream, get an expert on your team.