Cornell selectivity relative to UPenn.

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>It seems quite likely to me that applications were negatively impacted by adverse publicity surrounding the tragic suicide cluster. Even on CC, and on this very subforum, there was much discussion and concern expressed at that time. </p>

<p>Moreover, from 2001-2 to 2009-10 applications to Cornell increased by over 108%; the next greatest increase in the Ivy League was Yale at 77%.</p>

<p>During the prior admissions cycle, Yale applications declined. This followed great publicity about a murder that took place there. These two situations shared: greatest two applications increases previously, and substantial negative publicity regarding tragic events.</p>

<p>The cycle prior to that one, Applications to Penn declined.</p>

<p>Cornell is already getting over 36,000 applicants, and the national pool is no longer growing, so at some point the numbers will be hard to increase. Maybe that time has, or will, come earlier to Cornell than for some other schools, due to its greater increase in applicants during the prior period. Also, when you have more applicants in the first place it gets harder to increase the %.</p>

<p>As for selectivity of Penn CAS vs. Cornell CAS, who can really say for sure since Penn does not release stats by college any more. While data is readily available to show that Cornell CAS is consistently more selective than the overall university taken as an aggregate, the situation at Penn is disguised. It is evident that Wharton has a material effect on their aggregate, but one can only speculate on what their CAS looks like alone. A few years ago I did a back of the envelope and concluded that selectivity at the two CAS’s were probably close to the same. This year, and some other years I looked at, probably Penn CAS is a little more selective.</p>

<p>But “a little” is the operative term here. if one CAS is accepting 14% of applicants, and another CAS is accepting 16% of applicants, it does not necessarily follow that if you get in to one you will necessarily get into the other. There is a decent chunk of subjectivity exercised in admissions when one get to these levels, and every committee will not necessarily make the same choices.</p>

<p>Finally while it is evident that lazykid does not like Ithaca, Ithaca has not moved, or changed much, from where it was during the period 2001 to 2010 when applications to Cornell increased 108%. I loved Ithaca, and D2 is enjoying it there now. Those who think they won’t, will tend to go elsewhere, and that will have been proportionally reflected in the admissions numbers all along, not just this past year. So it has zero applicability to recent events. Ditto for those who don’t prefer to be in South Philly.</p>

<p>Beyond locations, we picked up different vibes at the two campuses when we visited. D1 left Penn quickly after the information session, it did not appeal. Other may have the opposite reaction, to either school.
To each their own.</p>

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<p>@mony, you make a good point, aside from the incidents of last year, there is nothing else to cause the issue with the apps. The OP should not be concerned about selectivity as that really has nothing to do with fit. it’s all about going to a place you will be content at for 4 years. going to a school because it is an “ivy” is also wrong. Heck, stanford and MIT and many of the lacs are not ivy, and are yet super prestigious and successful. I think the best advice for anyone is to go to a school that fits your needs and is a comfortable place. Like my college counselor said, if you are from the midwest and like the big state school feel and are premed, then go to UM Flint Honors - and they have a 100% admission success rate to medical school without screening out anyone.<br>
[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.umflint.edu/majors/premed.htm]Pre-Med[/url”&gt;http://www.umflint.edu/majors/premed.htm]Pre-Med[/url</a>].
If you live in NY and like the city and want to go to law school, Columbia’s success at top law school placement is second to none.
for finance, on average according to the report, williams grads make more money as a starting salary than any other school
You just have to pick the right mix of qualities, and not look at selectivity or ivy or things like that. It is about location and fit of the school for the particular student.
For me, Cornell was about being not too far from home and at a school that offered so many different areas of study, as well as the make up of the student body, etc…</p>

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<p>Glad to be getting out of Ithaca in 2 months, seriously.</p>

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<p>This is credited. Yet, I think that there could be greater number of kids who prefer urban settings to rural settings, despite the benefits of a rural campus. As for me, I thought that living in the middle of upstate NY for four years was not the most ideal choice for early twenties of my life. (That is why I am going to grad school in a city lol) </p>

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<p>Yet, better than attending Columbia, go to an easy cheap state school if you are surely a “prelaw”. Why not get the same result with less work and less money spent on your UG degree. Although, many kids today thinking of law school should probably reconsider their career plans.</p>

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<p>Lazy - I feel badly for you. You’re obviously miserable. I hope your 4 years at Cornell weren’t all horrible. You know - you have control over your happiness. You can make the best of something or just shut down and be miserable. I hope you can look back on college with some positive feelings in the not-so-distant future. If you’re this unhappy at grad school, my guess is that you need to look at yourself for solutions and contentment.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your worries and wishes. Fortunately, I am not miserable here. I made many good friends and enjoyed classmates here, and education has been good. Yet, I contend that Ithaca is not an ideal place to spend a chunk of your young days. I had a high school friend visit me at Cornell, and he jokingly said that I should’ve tried to graduate in 3 years so that I can get the hell out of Ithaca sooner. I know that I will be happy at my law school, because I really like its location and employment prospects that it boosts to its students within the legal field.</p>

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<p>@lazy, no one should be unhappy. transfer is always an option - for anyone.
rural v city is a matter of personal preference
nothing is more rural than dartmouth, and that is one hot school with their grads having great success
@mony, you make a good point, aside from the incidents of last year, there is nothing else to cause the issue with the apps. The OP should not be concerned about selectivity as that really has nothing to do with fit. it’s all about going to a place you will be content at for 4 years. going to a school because it is an “ivy” is also wrong. Heck, stanford and MIT and many of the lacs are not ivy, and are yet super prestigious and successful. I think the best advice for anyone is to go to a school that fits your needs and is a comfortable place. Like my college counselor said, if you are from the midwest and like the big state school feel and are premed, then go to UM Flint Honors - and they have a 100% admission success rate to medical school without screening out anyone.
<a href=“http://www.umflint.edu/majors/premed.htm[/url]”>http://www.umflint.edu/majors/premed.htm&lt;/a&gt;
If you live in NY and like the city and want to go to law school, Columbia’s success at top law school placement is second to none.
for finance, on average according to the report, williams grads make more money as a starting salary than any other school
You just have to pick the right mix of qualities, and not look at selectivity or ivy or things like that. It is about location and fit of the school for the particular student.
For me, Cornell was about being not too far from home and at a school that offered so many different areas of study, as well as the make up of the student body, etc…</p>

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<p>No transfer for me, I am graduating in 2 months. And, if I was a high school student, I would cross out Dartmouth and Cornell off my list immediately.</p>

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<p>@lazy, what is it about cornell (aside from its rural location) that makes you feel like that? also, if you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you just simply transfer out a few years ago - anyone can transfer and get into a school, state school or something else. I mean if you hated it that much, why stay instead of just simply leaving</p>

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<p>“@lazy, what is it about cornell (aside from its rural location) that makes you feel like that? also, if you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you just simply transfer out a few years ago - anyone can transfer and get into a school, state school or something else. I mean if you hated it that much, why stay instead of just simply leaving”</p>

<p>I didn’t transfer out because I had made good friends here and I would be starting over with new cum GPA at another school. Also, in hindsight, I didn’t hate it enough to leave for sure. Yet, all I am saying is that there are better alternatives compared to Ithaca for college. I am sure Cornell is great for many who come here, but for some, it is not the best decision for them. And, unfortunately, I’ve met plenty of people who say that Ithaca sucks. I know some people at Cornell who crossed out the possibility of Cornell Law School (myself included) because spending another 3 years at Ithaca would be no fun.</p>

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<p>… and my D2 left school in NYc to transfer to Cornell, for her NYC was not the best decision for her. </p>

<p>You would like to portray that everyone feels as you do, misery loves company, but the predominance of posts here, corroborated by my own experience, suggests that this is not the case. However there are some who do not like it so much, for sure. As well as some who do not like other locations where they happen to end up. Your biases are legitimate for you, your attempt to project them to represent some large proportion is unfounded.</p>

<p>Anyway you’ve gone on and on about this for zillions of different threads now, putting it everyplace you can whether it fits or not, for example here where it does not fit since its location has not changed since the period 2001-2010 when applications to Cornell increased more than any other school in the Ivy League.</p>

<p>Point taken: lazykid did not like Ithaca. Some people may not like it. An applicant should carefully consider location and setting when making a matriculation decision. Whichever way that may cut, one way or the other. Lazykid feels that only cuts one way. The predominance of other posters here do not agree with lazykid.</p>

<p>For the seven zillionth time…</p>

<p>I do agree with the last paragraph though, there are likely many people who enjoy it well enough for their four years, but would prefer a different location thereafter. That is fair enough. Though, again, off-topic. And people who attend undergrad elsewhere often would also prefer a change of scene.</p>

<p>Myself, I stayed at Cornell for a master’s degree and had my best time ever there.</p>

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<p>My view is directly opposite that of Lazykid. Love Ithaca. Couldn’t imagine spending my college years stuck in a crowded, expensive city, with all of the urban baggage.</p>

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<p>My older daughter loves Cornell, best 4 years of her life. She has travelled around the world, lived in NY, lived in a suburb, and will be living in NYC when she graduates. She talks about how much she will miss her 4 years in Ithaca. I will be going up to Ithaca next weekend to watch her perform. I have done it for 4 years straight. It will be her last performance at Cornell. She and I will do a spa weekend after her performance, and Ithaca has one of the nicest spas I have been to, NYC included.</p>

<p>My brother graduated from Cornell, his son will be attending this fall. I am hoping my younger daughter will be there following year also. She will most likely be pre-law.</p>

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<p>I agree with behappy. I have a tendency to lose things in big cities. Life there seems so loud, cramped, noisy, and tiring. Things also seem a bit unsanitary. I have no problem going to big cities once in a while, but I can’t imagine living in one.</p>

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<p>I like the metropolis setting and the rural setting; not so much in between.</p>

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<p>Monydad:

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<p>I thought applications were going to increase this year due to the March Madness run Cornell had last year. It’s rare that it gets that much national exposure, but obviously I was wrong. Not that people would go because they had a good basketball team, but in the sense of, “Oh yeah, I should look into that Cornell school.” Maybe the boost in basketball exposure was offset by the exposure from suicides.</p>

<p>In terms of a place to pontificate the meaning of life and all that college should be about, I find Ithaca’s purposely remote location to be stellar for that. </p>

<p>Anyway - this thread seems to have answered the OP. There’s no guarantee one way or the other with these two schools.</p>

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<p>I doubt any school would get a lot more than 36k apps a year besides state schools. I can pretty much promise you that apps will definitely be higher (probably lot higher) next year though. There’s always been a steady increase in applications, and i bet next year is going to be a big one.</p>

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<p>Colene I was thinking the same thing. Maybe that 36k level is where the pool for IVY applicants</p>

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<p>very well could be that 36K is simply a max #</p>

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<p>It is unbelievable that Penn is so selective, btw. It is ranked like #4 by U.S. news. It has come a long way. But, it lacks prestige among the general public. People just think of it as a regular state school, not Ivy. </p>

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<p>So you went to Cornell for both undergrad and grad? You must be a big fan of Ithaca… Did your daughter transfer from Columbia? Why didn’t she like her old college.</p>

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<p>I believe that penn is overranked (seriously, above MIT? But then again, a wharton grad is in charge of the usnwr rankings) but its standing has slowly but surely improved, at least among those who can name the ivies individually and know that there are 8 schools. I’m sure the rise in applications this year is quite related with its usnews rankings this year, just like how cornell’s app # stayed about the same because it got bumped down this year. Penn is for sure at its peak selectivity in history this year.</p>

<p>I’m just guessing but maybe she doesn’t like the city life, like colene.</p>