During the 2024-2025 Cornell admissions cycle, the acceptance rate was 8.41%. While not a record low, this number is still sub 10% – meaning it’s a reach for everyone applying. But what does 8.41% actually mean? How does that translate? What numbers go behind these numbers? And how can you take advantage of these stats to help you gain a strategic edge? Well, thankfully for you, we dive into these statistics every single year to help our clients make the best decisions. And we’re sharing that intel with you.
The Common Data Set (CDS) is a standardized set of statistics and information that helps publishers such as U.S. News & World Report, the College Board, and Peterson’s provide the most accurate data when ranking and reviewing colleges. Not every school fills it out, but Cornell does. Today, we’re going to look at one of 10 sections of Cornell’s 2024-2025 CDS, Section C: First-Time, First-Year Admission.
Trend Spotting: Five Years of Cornell Admissions
Before getting into the 2024-2025 numbers, let’s look at the five-year trend at Cornell. This is particularly interesting, because while they did see record-high numbers of applicants and record-low acceptance rates in the wake of COVID-19, we’re starting to see them balance out – but not when it comes to their ED acceptance rates. This is fairly uncommon amongst their Ivy peers, and it makes us wonder why students are seemingly cooling on Cornell.
| Year | Total Applicants | Number of Admitted Students | Acceptance Rate | ED Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 65,612 | 5,516 | 8.41 | 11.64% |
| 2024 | 67,846 | 5,358 | 7.9% | 17.55% |
| 2023 | 71,164 | 5,168 | 7.26% | 19.16% |
| 2022 | 67,380 | 5,852 | 8.69% | 21.4% |
| 2021 | 51,500 | 5,514 | 10.71% | 24.04 |
Why This Matters: Cornell is reaching a kind of homeostasis when it comes to their overall admissions numbers, but ED is getting much harder every year. What seemed like a sure-ish thing in 2021 and 2022 is almost as hard as getting in RD this year.
Now, don’t let these numbers lure you into a false sense of safety. Cornell is still hard to get into – it has a sub-10% acceptance rate, after all. You’re still competing against 60k+ highly qualified applicants for a limited number of spots, and in order to be a strong contender, you need to put in the work to see the results.
C1: First-Time, First-Year Admission, Applications
The very first subsection of section C gives us the hot, juicy data you all want to see, the pure admissions numbers. In 2025, 54,008 students applied to Harvard, and 1,970 were admitted. But Harvard doesn’t just leave it at that – they also give us the breakdown by gender (more women are admitted than men, but not by a lot), in-state, out-of-state, and international student status.
| First-Time, First-Year Applicants | Total | Admitted | Acceptance Rate | Enrolled | Yield Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 33,387 | 2,529 | 7.57% | 1,648 | 65.2% |
| Women | 32,195 | 2,987 | 9.28% | 1,877 | 62.8% |
| Another Gender | 30 | 0 | 0% | n/a | n/a |
Why This Matters: More men applied to Cornell than women – a rarity in both Ivy League and overall college admissions.
| First-Time, First-Year Applicants | Total | In State | Out of State | International |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applied | 65,612 | 11,722 | 37,032 | 16,858 |
| Admitted | 5,516 | 1,556 | 3,372 | 588 |
| Acceptance rate | 8.4% | 13.27% | 9.1% | 3.49% |
| Enrolled | 3,525 | 1,104 | 2,025 | 396 |
| Yield rate | 63.9% | 71% | 60% | 67.3% |
Key Takeaways for Acceptance Rates:
International acceptance rates are much lower than their counterparts
In-state admissions is high – most likely because NY is the 4th most populous state
In-state and international students have the highest yield
Looking at this breakdown, you can see that their international student acceptance rate really helps bring that overall acceptance rate down. This isn’t uncommon, but the disparity between in-state and out-of-state compared to international is much larger than a lot of Cornell’s peer institutions.
C9-C2: First-Time, First-Year Profile, or Scores and Grades
For next admissions cycle, Cornell will be returning to a test-mandatory policy. From Cornell Admissions:
“After a multi-year study conducted by the university’s Task Force on Standardized Testing in Admissions, data showed that when reviewed in context with other application materials—such as GPA, academic rigor, extracurricular engagement, essays, and letters of recommendation—test scores help to create a more complete picture of an individual applicant.”
A lot of schools are bringing scores back, but we’ll be honest – we’re surprised Cornell is. The increase in applications under their test-optional policy meant they could reject more students, lowering their acceptance rate to its lowest level ever. Keeping in mind that they’re moving to test-optional, let’s take a look at the testing data in the 2024-2025 CDS:
| Percent | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Submitting SAT Scores | 44.9% | 1,583 |
| Submitting ACT Scores | 14.6% | 513 |
Why This Matters: Cornell might be test-mandatory now, but a majority of enrolled students (59.5%) were still submitting test scores. This percentage may be lower than a lot of Cornell’s peers, but it’s still significant.
As you’ll see, despite ~60% of students submitting scores, those scores were high. And yes, some of this may be because the students submitting scores are the ones with higher scores, but in reality, you need nearly perfect SAT and ACT scores to be competitive for any Ivy.
| Test | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT Composite | 1510 | 1540 | 1560 |
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading + Writing | 730 | 750 | 770 |
| SAT Math | 770 | 790 | 800 |
| ACT Composite | 33 | 34 | 35 |
First-time, first-year students with scores in each range:
| Score Range | SAT Evidence-Based Reading + Writing | SAT Math |
|---|---|---|
| 700-800 | 93.3% | 97.09% |
| 600-699 | 6.51% | 2.91% |
| 500-599 | .19% | 0% |
| 400-499 | 0% | 0% |
| Score Range | ACT Composite |
|---|---|
| 30-36 | 96.90% |
| 24-29 | 2.70% |
| 18-23 | 0.40% |
| 12-17 | 0% |
Standardized Test Score Takeaways:
A 1550+ or 35+ on your tests is the best way to ensure you’re a competitive applicant
Getting under a 700 on your SAT sections or a 30 or less on the ACT greatly reduces your chances to an almost impossibility
Do not look at the 0.19% or 0.4%s here, or even the 6.51% or 2.91%, and think “I have a shot with a low score!” These are the ultimate exceptions, not the rule. Same goes for class rank, which is below:
| Class Rank | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Top tenth of HS graduating class | 85.60% |
| Top quarter of HS graduating class | 95.50% |
| Top half of HS graduating class | 99.40% |
| Bottom half of HS graduating class | 0.60% |
| Percent reporting class rank | 18.30% |
Key Class Rank Takeaways:
Not many students submitted class rank – but many schools don’t even publish that information
Almost everyone submitting scores was in the top half of their graduating class, and the 0.6% that weren’t are the exception
Looking at the lower percentages and scores might make you think you have a chance with lower grades and scores – we want to reiterate that this is not the case. You have no idea the background of the students submitting those stats. Sure, they could be legacies or athletes, but it’s more likely they’re students from rural or low-income areas, refugees, teen start-up geniuses, or just someone who impressed Cornell with something else.
TL;DR? For the best shot at admission, you need perfect grades and scores. That’s it.
Early Decision
Cornell used to be a safer shot for ED, but as we covered in five-year trends, this is no longer the case. They’ve gone from 20%+ ED acceptance to 11.6% in five years. While that’s still a bit of an edge compared to their overall acceptance rate, it’s lower than their in-state acceptance rate.
| Number of ED Applications | 9,973 |
|---|---|
| Number of ED acceptances | 1,161 |
| ED acceptance rate | 11.60% |
Why This Matters: Cornell ED might be the right strategic move for you in some situations (hyper-competitive programs, legacy, recruited athlete, etc.), but it also may not be the move for you. Reach out to us for guidance on what to do.
Waitlist
Cornell publishes waitlist data, which many schools do not:
| Students placed on waitlist | 8,103 |
|---|---|
| Students accepting a spot on the waitlist | 6,190 |
| Percent of students accepting waitlist spot | 76% |
| Students admitted off the waitlist | 388 |
| Waitlist acceptance rate | 6.27% |
Why This Matters: Less students accept waitlist spots at Cornell than at other schools, but their waitlist acceptance rate makes sense to us. It’s not as high as some would assume, but 388 students isn’t anything to sneeze at.
Getting off the Cornell waitlist is not impossible, and we help students do it every single year. If you’ve been waitlisted, reach out to us! We can help you craft a waitlist letter to increase your chances of success.
Considerations
When it comes to the Common Data Set, and college admissions more broadly, one of the murkier areas is the “Considerations” section. Sure, there are clear-cut academic benchmarks like test scores and GPAs. But beyond that, schools also weigh less tangible, nonacademic qualities that are harder to define and even harder to predict.
| Academic Factors | Very Important | Important | Considered | Not Considered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rigor of secondary school record | x | |||
| Class rank | x | |||
| Academic GPA | x | |||
| Standardized test score | x | |||
| Application Essay | x | |||
| Recommendation(s) | x |
Key Takeaways for Academic Factors:
It is interesting that rank, GPA, and scores are not considered “Very Important”
You need to be taking the hardest classes your school offers and write a killer essay (we can help with that!)
| Nonacademic Factors | Very Important | Important | Considered | Not Considered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interview | x | |||
| Extracurricular activities | x | |||
| Talent/ability | x | |||
| Character/personal qualities | x | |||
| First generation | x | |||
| Alumni/ae relation | x | |||
| Geographical residence | x | |||
| State residence | x | |||
| Religious affiliation/commitment | x | |||
| Volunteer work | x | |||
| Work experience | x | |||
| Level of applicant's interest | x |
Key Takeaways for Nonacademic Factors:
Cornell does not track demonstrated interest
Extracurricular activities are super important to Cornell
These should be taken with a grain of salt – all factors, beyond those listed as “Not Considered,” should be taken seriously
This section outlines a mix of academic and nonacademic criteria, ranging from the clear-cut (like where you live) to the far more ambiguous “personal qualities.” While it’s easy to check a box for where you live, it’s a lot less obvious how they’re assessing things like resilience, kindness, or character. We believe that essays and recommendations are part of it, but extracurriculars tell people how you spend your time and thus what your values are.
We appreciate that Cornell lists extracurriculars as “Very Important,” because they are! The strongest Cornell applicants aren’t just doing the standard trifecta of sports, student council, and clubs; they build out thoughtful, distinct extracurricular profiles that align with their academic curiosities and long-term goals. That kind of cohesive narrative is what helps an application stand out, and it’s what we help students craft every single year.
Conclusion
There’s no question that Cornell is an incredibly competitive school. That’s not news – but now, you’ve got a clearer sense of what benchmarks you should be aiming for if you want to be a strong contender.
Of course, statistics only get you so far. The data doesn’t reveal the full picture of what matters to Cornell, or more importantly, who you are. Whether you’re a legacy applicant, applying ED, being recruited for athletics, or just navigating the process on your own, our strategic approach always starts the same way: by customizing the plan to match your individual strengths, interests, and goals. Every student’s story is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for getting into Cornell. But there are smart, tailored steps you can take to maximize your odds. And we’re here to help you make those moves.
One way to increase your odds? Working with college consultants who are experts in the field and have a high rate of success getting students into Cornell. We help countless students gain admission to top universities every single year – reach out to us today to get started.