Like a legacy, URM, athlete, first generation. Basically something that gives the candidate an edge.
@momofboiler1 I live in the midwest also, and I do know a few that have gotten into Cornell without hooks and my daughter knows plenty as well. It’s just the luck of the draw with who you interview I guess.
Legacies are getting screwed over this Ed season for duke tbh
I think that it is much easier for an unhooked new york student to get into cornell than an unhooked out of state student. While Cornell only expressly gives preference to NYS residents in the land grant colleges, New York students have higher rates of acceptance in all of the colleges when compared to non residents.
While anecdotal, the fact that my school has a 54% acceptance rate for early decision at Cornell say a lot.
Just wanted to wish you good luck @Spades12 with Cornell. Our D is a sophomore in CAS at Cornell and our S is also waiting to hear from Cornell ED. I think the success Cornell had staying open this year has boosted ED applications. If I had to bet I would say you will be admitted ED.
@SkiingIsLife Considering Duke has yet to release their decisions and the fact that their ED applications are not much higher than they were 2 years ago, you can hardly say that is the case at this time.
In a few weeks after they announce their stats, and a lower number of legacies get in than in a typical year, then maybe you can say Duke legacies are getting screwed over.
Lol how did we even get on the topic of Duke again?
Yes could be, but this is most likely related to the number of applicants they receive from NY more so than from Midwest, West Coast, etc. If you look at the breakdown of applicants and percentages admitted each year you’ll see they generally keep the percentages the same. About 1/3 from NY, 6-1/2% from Midwest, etc. I would definitely expect this year for NY to be higher than 1/3 but know they have quotas for some of the schools that actually let students in with lower stats than some of the other colleges there so wonder what that means for this cycle. Will some of those students now not get in this year because the quality of students within NY overall are now much better?
There’s a post somewhere in one of the threads stating that elite colleges were supposedly reporting that their in state applicants were of much better quality this year and OOS were not as high quality as before. You’re a high quality candidate IMO.
You’re well rounded, not just in your interest of History, but really in many areas, and have the scores to back it and the rigor and grades. You can’t fake that. It’s not like you have that 1500+ SAT and crap grades, or a 4.0 GPA and a lousy score which would make a school wonder if your GPA as you put it earlier is inflated or based on some bogus class. It all matches.
The rest is just how your essays and LORs read, etc. And god only knows what the metrics are for that! To be a fly on the wall, right?
Some people are just infatuated by Duke, period. ANd I don’t know where that person’s comment about Duke legacies came in but it’s not relevant to being screwed because their results aren’t even out yet and their applications aren’t even up that much when you look at their data from 2 years ago. Last year was their “off” year. Not this year.
Wdym by off year what happened
I honestly believe that my essays were the strongest part of my application. I really hit home on them. My recs were pretty strong. As mentioned in my original post both of them were very enthusiastic, especially the one who herself is a Cornell alum.
In 2018, Duke had 4,852 ED applicants. In 2019 they only had 4,300. This year about 5000. They had been increasing steadily every year until last year (2019). If you take last year out of the equation altogether, there is only about a 3% increase from 2018 so basically flat and last year one can construe as an anomaly perhaps.
So basically them going to 5k is not anything outrageous and I certainly wouldn’t be a student freaking out about their numbers relative to a student who applied to Harvard that had a 30% increase or UVA or Cornell each with a 36% ED increase.
Why again are people bringing up duke which is completely unrelated to any of the three early schools mentioned in the original post
@Spades12 I also applied Cornell and just finished a virtual meeting with their “alumni ambassador”. If you have one I suggest you talk to one you can ask as many questions as you want. One of the questions I asked was are most students submitting SAT/ACT scores. She told me all 11 students she talked to had their scores submitted.
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Why again are people bringing up duke which is completely unrelated[/quote]
Good question. 
I had a meeting with an alumni ambassador about a month ago and it went swimmingly!
I also have a strong feeling that only students who cornell is more likely to admit are being offered these alumni interviews as they simply could not do it for all applicants.
Yes I brought up many questions related to Meinig BMEN and how many focus areas Cornell offers.
I have to admit their undergraduate programs on BMEN are underwhelming and dated on their web site (only traditional BS Major and Pre-med path). Long established programs like UT Austin has different focus areas such as biomaterials, physiology, instrumentation, biomechanics and engineering design.
The ambassador told me more in depth structure of Cornell’s curriculum so I feel more comfortable with the strength of their education (that I will get what I pay for…)
Only 27% of all ED applicants submitted test scores this year.
Also, applicants can no longer contact their alumni “interviewer” again until after the decisions come out after today, per the alumni that my son spoke with.
@Spades12 Anyone who wanted an alumni informational meeting could have had one. When my son submitted his application it was right there on the portal to fill out a form if he wanted one. I think they may have changed this at some point during the cycle because in the past applicants didn’t choose if they wanted one.
Also my friend who does the interviews told me they are trying to reach more people because it turned out they were only doing about 50% of the applicants so this way they reach everyone. There’s no advantage or disadvantage to having an interview as the alum doesn’t submit anything on behalf of the candidate. It’s really only for informational purposes only for the applicant.
Cornell’s Biomedical Engineering is one of their most difficult programs. I know many people who start in that and quickly change due to the intensity and difficulty of the major.
Good luck!
Committee chairs assigning interviews have no access to a students application. It’s a matter of having enough alumni to contact each applicant. Has zero to do with a students chance of admission. Zero.
Hi, maybe I missed something, but you applied to Regeneron Science Talent Search right? I feel like that’s a pretty big thing to gloss over on your application, because it must have required a lot of research. Did you discuss it in your app because that could really help, esp. if you’re applying as a history major bc you can stand out?
Overall, I do think you have a really good chance, especially with your scores and consistent ECs. Good luck with STS too!