<p>In my personal opinion I think it's great that the admissions rate is dropping. This tells us at least 2 things: (1) the quality of students is most likely increasing, and (2) the publicity of Cornell is increasing. Although this may sound arrogant, I must agree that a lower acceptance rate helps the appearance of Cornell. In fact, I hope it gets even lower (yea... I said it). Many of us pride in ourselves that we choose schools based on academics but from all the friends and peers I know only a fraction of students pick schools based on academics and fit. I even know people who apply only to the top 10 or so schools and a few safeties for the sake of prestige. It's sad, but what can you do when prestige has a correlation with job interviews, graduate school acceptances, and general increase in future quality of student applicants to the school? In a perfect world we would all choose a school based purely on academics, but some people need the education as a stepping-stone to bigger and better things.</p>
<p>teamzissou22, the schools that belong to the Ivy League aren't elitist or bad just because they won't accept you. That seems to be your only basis for deriding these schools since you apparently have never attended them. I think everyone on this board would appreciate if you take your bitterness somewhere else.</p>
<p>A lower acceptance rate IS something to be proud of...come on, no one wants Cornell to accept 30% of applications like it did a few years ago. Getting into a tough school is awesome.</p>
<p>I agree. It's only a reflection of the quality of the school. Obvisouly not BECAUSE of it, but it's an indicator, no doubt. There was an interesting post a while back that explained how Brown used used very interesting tactics to lower their acceptance rate and rise to a higher ranking (this was a while ago). They attracted better students, and then more money and ultimately better faculty. Do people respect a Brown degree more than they did 40 years ago? Point being, prestige DOES matter. Of course, people should always go to a school for other factors besides prestige, but in the end, it matters.</p>
<p>so hopefully cornell won't be the "easiest to get in, the hardest to get out"
but "hardest to get in, and the hardest to get out" haha</p>
<p>that'd be cool to drop the whole "easiest ivy to get into", but unfortunately unlikely to happen. Cornell's goal is not to be the next Harvard. Come to think about it, that'd be horrible if Cornell turned into a place like Harvard!</p>
<p>Too many of you guys are too concerned with the percentages and the rankings of the ivy leagues. Who the hell cares what rank Cornell places among the top schools, the fact of the matter is that IT'S A TOP SCHOOL. Just because you go to Cornell over Penn doesn't mean you are a failure at life and won't get a decent job because Penn is "ranked higher" or seen as "more prestigious." Cornell always has and will be a great school, you guys ALL know that, regardless of whether it takes in 30 or 20%... keep in mind that a lot of you guys probably got in because of the 30% admission rate!</p>
<p>We may know that, but our future employers may not.</p>
<p>That doesn't mean that you're not going to get a good job (though good is relative). Uou know, people who don't go to dare I say it top 50 schools still end up getting good jobs and living comfortable lives... you are much more than your school. Cornell, as I said before, is an excellent school and the world knows it. Nobody looks down on Cornell as inferior because of it's 30% acceptance rate</p>
<p>Yeah, but it still helps.</p>
<p>cornell students all know they go to a fantastic institution. I've never ever questioned that. </p>
<p>I think it's just nice to be appreciated for becomming tougher to get into. I think alot of people discredit Cornell for being the "easiest" when in fact most students here never took the easy route to anything. I worked my balls off to get into this place and it sucks to hear people call it a joke when it comes to admissions.</p>
<p>I am bummed that the admission rate dropped..only because it lowers my chances of getting in!! I think a main point that a lot of people are missing is that most acceptances rates will drop this year. College is becomming uber-competitive now-a-days, as we can see from the 3000 or so increase of applications from Cornell alone. A teacher of mine went to Yale quite some time ago and onyl scored a 1340 or something on his SAT. If he were to apply now, his chances of acceptance would be much lower.</p>
<p>We have to face that we live in the Baby Boomer's kids generation. There are sooo many of us and it is making college so much more difficult to get into. I don't think, however, that the decline in aceptance rate is denying anyone of Cornell who deserves to be there. Maybe a lot of people who weren't qualified applied, or those with the high test scores without any true passion who just applied to all the ivies. I think that if you belong at a college or university, you will get accepted, and I think that the admission office sees that as well. If people get rejected it's because the ad.com. didn't see them contributing to the campus community, not because too many people applied and they didn't have room (that is what waitlisting is for!! ;) )</p>
<p>Sorry that I am babbling, but I think that the lower acceptance rate means nothing--it doesn't "lower" Cornell to the standards of other Ivies, nor does it increase the rank of the school, because most rates will decline this year. Another thing people have to remeber is that Cornell has the lowest SAT range because of their amazing programs--what other Ivy has a school of AAP? or ILR? or Hotel Admin.? I am not saying that these schools are less "worthy" or easier to get into than CAS or Eng., but they require more pure artistic talent than the others. AAP, for example has the lowest acceptance rate and the lowest SAT range. </p>
<p>I love Cornell, and I think that the lower rate expresses simply the increase in interest and the larger applicant pool. Go big red!!</p>
<p>dont forget that the increase in applicants aren't all cream of the crop students. I bet a sizeable number of applicants applied just to see if they could get in, not because cornell is their #1. This was one of the concers admissions had before switching to the common app.</p>
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We may know that, but our future employers may not.
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<p>CU is one of the most highly regarded institutions in the world, let alone the country. Trust me, any place worth being employed at "knows."</p>
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dont forget that the increase in applicants aren't all cream of the crop students. I bet a sizeable number of applicants applied just to see if they could get in, not because cornell is their #1. This was one of the concers admissions had before switching to the common app.
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<p>a sizeable number of applicants apply just to see if they can get in to places like harvard and princeton too-- not just cream of the croppers, so im not quite sure what your point is. the drop in aceptance rate simply means cornell has become more visible and "known" across the country, as it should be. it's a very good thing for us! :)</p>
<p>this is pretty simple; applicants (like me) do not like this, as it decreases our chances, but students will like it because it increases prestige of the college and makes them feel better about their school... obviosuly there is going to be a bias either way</p>
<p>well said carmello...you're thinking and communicating like a Cornellian...best of luck to you come 3/30!</p>
<p>I'm going to have to agree with carmello211 on this one. Honestly, there's really no point in arguing this, because each side will always have a bias. Applicants who don't know their decisions yet (like me) think this blows; those who have already been accepted, however, will love the fact that they were accepted to an extremely competitive school (not to say that Cornell wasn't competitive before).</p>
<p>Personally, I don't think that rankings like USNews should ever be used as the sole factor in determining the quality of education at a school. With that being said, hypothetically speaking, if Cornell were to jump in the rankings from #13 to #8 or so, what accepted student wouldn't be proud to say that their school is ranked as one of the top ten in the nation?</p>
<p>I hope I offended nobody with this...just contributing my two cents.</p>
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the drop in aceptance rate simply means cornell has become more visible and "known" across the country, as it should be
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<p>That's precisely my point.</p>
<p>thank god the scores are "embarrasing". at least mine are not so crimson in comparison.</p>
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Thanks to Gomestar, however, for the first response that actually made a point. I do apologize for my intensity, I was simply trying to point out the absurdity among much of the conversation. I've talked with many professors from all over the Ivy League, and most of them have told me that they respect Cornell students the most because they are not as pretentious as the students from the rest of the Ivy League. It kind of makes me sad to see Cornell sinking to the level of the rest of the Ivy League.
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<p>It's just a message board. The vast majority of people that post here are Type A and uber neurotic. Plus, a sampling of a few people is hardly an accurate cross-section of the student body :)</p>