<p>
Wouldn’t it mean that the high desirability was staying the same? It still has the most apps… Why, do you want it to be harder for you to get in?</p>
<p>good point, but why is it that only cornell did not go up by several thousand apps this year like the others (while cornell apps stayed the same) schools like penn, nyu, brown got like thousands more apps this year and cornell stayed the same… what’s that all about?? makes no sense that the others goes up by thousands of applications and cornell stays the same. is it just because of what happened last year or something else…</p>
<p>@billy, no , don’t want it to be harder, but # of apps itself is not what is relevant - the ucs get way more, the question is why only cornell of all the top schools stayed the same, when others like penn brown… got thousands more than last year, what’s up with that??</p>
<p>Cornell is the largest Ivy, so it is expected that its admit rate is highest among Ivies. As for Cornell’s desirability - that is all perception among high school kids, and their perception would have been influenced by last year’s tragic student deaths at Cornell. Besides, Cornell and Dartmouth are the only Ivies with very rural setting - the location many college kids might not like. It makes sense that many city colleges would get more apps.</p>
<p>I get that, but was just wondering why cornell did not see thousands more apps like the others did this year. in the past, they all increased by similar amounts. just trying to figure out why the others this year got serval thousand more apps compared to last year while cornell stayed the same.</p>
<p>Englandern, don’t think twice, it’s alright! One year where applications increased just a bit tells you nothing. Applications soared 80% the prior 6 years. The Cornell campus is gorgeous. And Ithaca is not just the best collegetown in America, but THE best setting to be a student.</p>
<p>I really have no clue why that is. But let’s face it - Ithaca sucks. Maybe high school kids know that they don’t wanna bother with this place.</p>
<p>when the others go up in apps by thousands (not hundreds) and cornell stays the same, something seems odd, you disagree? I could see if cornell did not go up in apps as much as the others, but what happened is that cornell stayed the same and the others went up by thousands and thousands. that does not seem like a coincidence, but maybe it is…
@lazy, ithaca and dartmouth’s campus, and other rural campus are all similar - why did they get so many more applications (this year as opposed to last) and cornell stayed the same.
the campus pretty, rural or whatever seems irrelevant - something else must be causing this, I think</p>
<p>"something else must be causing this, I think "</p>
<p>There is no something else, nothing changed here from last year to this year, except last year’s student suicides. That might have exposed Ithaca to some, and maybe some high school kids discovered that Ithaca is not for them and they aren’t bothering to apply. Campus is nice here, yet the location sucks.</p>
<p>but hanover for dartmouth is probably less appealing - way more isolated and boring than cornell - yet they got more apps, why is that?? many lacs are in very rural areas that make ithaca look like a great city, and they got more apps.
something suddenly happened to cause cornell to stop getting more apps while the others get thousands (not hundreds) more…</p>
<p>@ antiflamer, Thank You for the advice, looks like I’ll have to wait and see (maybe even Cornell has sent out a likely letter, if I’m lucky). I do agree with you on not picking a school based on selectivity, I’m going to pick my school based on opportunities and fit.</p>
<p>@ goosel, I opened my e-mail today and there it was, a link to a page with my likely letter and a video promoting UPenn. Completely welcomed randomness on their part. Note, however, that likely letter are rare and just because you don’t get one does not mean that an acceptance is not on its way, eventually.</p>
<p>@ LazyKid, I am hispanic, yay!</p>
<p>@ englander, thanx, and yes, I will not pick a school based on slectivity, but on more important factos.</p>
<p>And, to answer the tangent question on a stagnation of Cornell apps, I don’t specifically know. Cornell did make an article about it, but I do not have the link. I feel that in my school, however, there are many people that applied to Cornell (so far, only one has gotten in because of ED), so i thought Cornell was increasingly popular. It is true, it’s undesirable to be in a rural area, hence my application to both UPenn and Cornell to see what I thought about rural vs urban later on. I showed the same balance in my other college choices and now all I have to do is wait and see what acceptances and rejections I get and then pick a school.</p>
<p>On a side note: How hard is it to transfer from Arts and Sciences to Engineering at Cornell and/or UPenn? I applied as a physics major, but I’ve been looking more into engineering and have found a great interest there. I’m not quite sure what I want to do yet, but with a little more research I will come to a reasonable choice on colleges and, later on, on majors.</p>
<p>Going to any ivy now is so going to be worth it. Say 20-30 years from now when your kids apply to college, you’ll have that legacy!
[List</a> of Ivy League Schools | Ivy League University Ranking | American Universities and Colleges Rankings](<a href=“http://www.plant-biology.com/Ivy-League-university-Rankings.php]List”>http://www.plant-biology.com/Ivy-League-university-Rankings.php)
Looks like penn and cornell are still side to side in terms of overall preference. Pick your best bet. You have to decide on a place to stay for four years. Might as well make it enjoyable.</p>
<p>
But why does it matter? Does it make you like the school any less because there are 36,000 applicants and not 38,000? Some mystery “staying the same” makes a big difference?</p>
<p>Chill, be glad that it isn’t harder to get it. There isn’t some giant “reason.” Personally, I thought Cornell did a bad job marketing to be (kept sending me packets about transferring to Human Ecology… I’m a high school student interested in History), maybe they just fell behind in advertising.</p>
<p>But again, doesn’t matter, doesn’t make it less of a good school.</p>
<p>ignore that kid when he’s doing that
he’s trying to find some overarching reason as to why cornell is in general less preferred. then make a bigger deal out of it.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1087352-everyone-cornell-really-smart-5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1087352-everyone-cornell-really-smart-5.html</a>
sums up what he’s trying to do and what type of person he is
pretty ironic considering he ED’d into engineering.</p>
<p>maybe one failed/hijacked thread wasn’t enough for him.</p>
<p>[?Reimagining</a>? Efforts Move Ahead | The Cornell Daily Sun](<a href=“http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2010/03/02/‘reimagining’-efforts-move-ahead]?Reimagining”>http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2010/03/02/‘reimagining’-efforts-move-ahead)
Look at enrollment cutoff. That’s pretty interesting. But I don’t get what he means, or exactly what that would mean for Cornell right now.</p>
<p>@Anti From the Common Data Sets, it seems the relative compositions of the colleges in each freshman class is about constant. So, I don’t know what effect that has, other than giving them a wee bit of flexibility.</p>
<p>@OP If you have any even remote desire to pursue engineering, then I would highly suggest you attend Cornell, provided you are offered that opportunity. The CoE at Cornell is better ranked than at Penn, by a handy margin, and you would most likely be better served by the science facilities in Ithaca, than Philadelphia, in my opinion. I suspect highly that Penn recognizes that you may be better served elsewhere, thus they have sent you a likely letter, which is really just a dirty old trick to try and woo you before someone else can snatch you away. Though it sounds callous, it really is an effective tool.</p>
<p>@ the Number of Apps issue: I really feel that Cornell’s well-enough known that most qualified applicants apply to it. Much moreso than HYPS, people look at Cornell (and Penn for that matter) as an Ivy which “even you can do”. Most people see HYPS as a pie-in-the-sky dream, so they see Big Red as a quality alternative, with a much lower entrance threshold. Also, NY’s not really grown too much in the last year, and since a plurality of Cornell apps come from New York, the state’s atmosphere may well be discouraging applicants from pursuing such an expensive education. However, I feel the real issue is that Cornell has already gotten apps from all the people who are even remotely qualified, thus its stagnation in growth shouldn’t be terribly concerning.</p>
<p>P.S.
I too do believe their marketing money could have been better spent by sending out viewbooks and such, or something to get people really understanding and thinking about Cornell, which is exactly what Columbia did to me, and undoubtedly thousands of other Seniors, which may, at least partially, explain their huge app growth)</p>
<p>P.P.S.
Also, let’s not forget that Cornell’s been on the Common App for a few years, so its applicant pool now is undoubtedly more shared with other schools than it was, so their Admit rate may actually need to rise this year to compensate for the lowered yield.</p>
<p>I think admit rate (overall) would be pretty similar to that of last year’s. They might marginally lower rd acceptance, but the change (+ or -) would be pretty small. Not that many top top quality schools joined common app this year.</p>
<p>Lazykid- not everyone wants to live in a city. Rural campuses tend to have much more loyal alums, more tightknit student bodies, and more campus related activity students actually attend. I personally think city schools offer something different - but in the end students who attend schools in cities miss out on a lot of what makes US colleges so great.</p>
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<p>Have you actually lived in both those cities? I’d take Ithaca anyday over Philly. Much nicer and more vibrant with such a beautiful landscape. Very unique opportunity that probably won’t come around again. You can live in a big city your whole life.</p>
<p>It’s all about personal preference. I heard from several friends that when they drove their kids up to Penn, the kid didn’t even want to get out of the car. My S felt the same. He said immediately that it was a wasted trip…that being said, nothing’s for everyone. Go with what feels right for you. I have a friend whose daughter has been robbed twice at Penn (she wasn’t alone, but with her boyfriend). It’s in a city, so you have to be careful, as you would in any big city.</p>
<p>Many colleges are very aggressive in seeking applications by continually sending letters and emails to high school students. Cornell has hired a search firm to find a new director of admissions. Perhaps Cornell will follow some of its peers and ramp up marketing. Again, Cornell still receives more applications than any other Ivy. I totally echo Applejacks’s sentiments - Ithaca is a fabulous place to be a student. Gorgeous views. Abundant outdoor recreational possibilities, with 4 state parks and Cayuga Lake nearby. Student dominated. Reasonably priced. Educated. A distinct relaxed vibe. Most of us will eventually work and live in big cities. Only as a college student can we live in such a wonderful collegetown.</p>