I am currently working on my common app for Cornell University and is stuck on this:
“Applicants to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, and College of Human Ecology may be considered for January 2018 admission. Learn more about the First-Year Spring Admission program online at: admissions.cornell.edu/fysa. In addition to being considered for Fall 2017, I am interested in First Year Spring Admission in January 2018.” - I have to choose yes or no.
So I do understand that FYSA is a chance for those who are waitlisted that gets the opportunity to join in spring, but why do they ask this in advance before early decision results are announced? I really prefer the fall semester, but it is better to attend Cornell in spring than not getting in at all. If I press ‘yes’, am I automatically moved to spring semester once I get in? If I press ‘no’, does this reduce my chances of getting into Cornell?
You wouldn’t be automatically moved to spring semester by clicking yes. It really is as straightforward as the question sounds: Would you like to be considered for spring admission? FYSA exists so that Cornell can accept a few hundred extra people to replace the people who inevitably leave following fall semester. If you say that you would like to be considered, and they reject you for regular fall admission, they will consider you again for spring admission. If you click no, then you won’t be considered. I’m not sure how closely it ties with the waitlist; I don’t know whether you might be waitlisted and then offered spring admission or whether you’re offered spring admission right off the bat (somebody else I’m sure knows the answer). I was a peer advisor to the first group of FYSA students last semester, and I think they were able to integrate well and register for classes and establish themselves as members of the Cornell community fairly easily.
I believe FYSA is not offered to students until the regular decision round, which would incude any ED students who were deferred. In December, ED students will either be admitted, deferred or rejected. Then offers for FYSA or guaranteed transfer will be made in late March when all RD decisions are made. So no, the offer would not be binding, since at that point you will be considered an RD student.
It is interesting though that Cornell is asking the students at time of application if they wished to be considered as a Jan admit. I know that Middlebury also asks students, but their Jan admit group represents a far larger percentage of their freshman class.