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<p>I don’t know where your assumption comes from - that all athletic recruits apply ED. I personally knew a kid from my high school who was a heavily recruited athlete, and he applied RD to all schools he was recruited to. He had like 1800 SAT and top 25% class rank, but ended up getting into Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth RD. (He goes to Harvard now) </p>
<p>Rather than engaging in pointless speculations, I urge you to apply ED to Cornell if you really are set on increasing your chances of getting into Cornell.</p>