I need help making a decision on whether to apply ED to Cornell or not. For reference, I have a 34 ACT, am 1/~450 at my non-competitive public high school (sends one kid to t20 every year and they usually have a hook i.e. sports or URM) and have taken the hardest classes at my high school and am now taking half of my classes at my state flagship. I will most likely be a national merit semi and have decent ECs but nothing insane. I plan on majoring in either physics, engineering, or economics. I am deciding whether or not to apply to Cornell ED with a secondary legacy. Cornell only considers legacy in ED and not RD. On the other hand, the coach at MIT for my sport said they’d offer me support in admissions but obviously, it is not guaranteed. I would definitely rather go to MIT but Cornell is in my top 5 schools. Which hook boosts chances of getting in more? On one hand, if I apply ED to Cornell and get into both, I’d be super mad at myself because I’d rather go to MIT. On the other hand, if I apply only to MIT early and don’t get in, then I’d be mad at myself for pissing away a good shot at an Ivy that has insane physics/engineering programs.
What are you considering as secondary legacy?
My grandfather went there.
OK. Then that definitely counts, but is far from a guarantee.
I guess it comes down to which one is your absolute top choice, because any advantage for either will only apply in the early round.
We know lots of direct legacies, including 2nd and 3rd generations that were rejected from Cornell. If MIT is your top choice, ED there.
I think that you also need to understand how much pull a coach has in admissions. I think the general consensus is that it isn’t much at MIT.
Doesn’t affect the decision here, but MIT has EA, not ED.
MIT doesn’t care if you ED another school, so technically you could ED Cornell while applying EA to MIT, as long as you’re willing to commit to Cornell if you’re admitted to both. Since you need MIT coach’s support, it isn’t a viable strategy, however.
🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦
Sorry posted on wrong thread.
If MIT is your first choice, then don’t ED Cornell, EA MIT, maybe a public flagship and see what happens. What are the other colleges you’re applying to?
I think this is what I am going to do. I will EA MIT and not worry about applying ED to Cornell. MIT is indeed my first choice school. In addition to MIT, I’ll be applying EA to my state flagship ofc, case western, Notre Dame, and maybe a few other reaches or safety schools that offer full rides due to NMF. I don’t really know about RD yet haha.