Dartmouth sent an e-mail a couple days ago saying they have a full class before going to to the waitlist. It was the same situation with Dartmouth the last few years, they may not use their waitlist at all.
Itās quite possible that Cornell filled up their spots and are taking very few people from the waitlist. Other schools already released their waitlist, Cornell should be no different.
By sending the top of the list email, they got the hopes up of lots of students just so that they could keep their acceptance rates lower.
This was a sh*tty job from Cornell. The admissions office really handled this situation awfully. Iām considering leaking what Cornell did to a news outlet or something. They canāt promise so many students a high chance of admission so they could retain interested students, only to reject the majority of them.
Although this is an unfortunate situation, I donāt think anything that manipulative is going on because
- I don't think Cornell is releasing admissions statistics for this year, so a slight change in acceptance rate would not be seen by anyone.
- Even if they did release stats, giving applicants false hope does not change the acceptance rate at all because they take the same amount of people either way.
- IMO it's more likely that Cornell anticipated low yield when they sent the email due to low number of RD deposits. However, a flood of deposits may have come right before May 1, taking up most spots that they had intended to give to waitlisters.
However, it could be that the admissions team is split up right now, so it takes them longer to accept people at a slower rate.
Itās not like they knew that everyone on this thread would see the small number of acceptances and assume that was it. It is possible they are just sending acceptances as they go, especially consider the calls and email reslonses we have received that suggest a āsporadic, careful, and measuredā approach.
It is still possible that most of us get off in the next 2 weeks.
@Themilkman4828, I understand your frustration, but I think you read too much into their letter and got your hopes up too high.
Cornell saying that you are top on their list, isnāt the same as saying that you are guaranteed a spot. If you are in the top 20, and they only pull 5 thatās the way it works out. Donāt you feel better at least knowing you were on the top of the list?
Making a stink about it, wonāt get you in or change anything other than maybe next year Cornell wonāt send a letter letting people know they are on the top of their list.
Take solace in one of my favorite Randy Pausch quotes:
āItās not about how to achieve your dreams, itās about how to lead your life, ā¦ If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.ā
To be fair, I think a lot of our hopes were sky high. The email is worded similar to a likely letter. But even a likely letter isnāt a guaranteed admission. They make the wording vague to cover their backs in case something doesnāt go according to plan. And it just so happens that in this āuncertainā time, things arenāt really going to plan for the Cornell admissions team.
I agree! Trust me - I understand the frustration. However, at this point letās just hope for the best and prepare for the worst (which isnāt bad at all!) Even if things donāt work out, letās just use that as motivation to work even harder moving forward.
@daisy57 did you send an email to the regional office?
@blossom1239 I never had to. I applied to the College of Engineering, which luckily hasnāt been as problematic as CAS and CALS. They respond quickly to emails too.
@daisy57 got it! thank you so much! have you committed?
Hi! Has anyone sent an email after May 1 restating interest in CAS? How helpful/unhelpful would that be? Unless they have not been responding of course, given that their inboxes might be overflowing right now?
^ Same question as above. I didnāt get the ātop of the listā email and donāt want it to be over for me.
@blossom1239 not yet, havenāt gotten my financial aid package yet.
@purplebinders @zokaitlyn I sent an email reiterating my interest in cornell on may 5th saying something like āeven though may 1st has passed and I have committed to another college, I am still extremely interested in CoEā. I got offered admission may 6th, so I say do it. itās a powerful statement to make especially after the may 1st deadline.
@purplebinders @zokaitlyn I emailed CAS and they said:
āweāve begun taking students off the waitlist in very small numbers, and will continue to do so throughout the next couple of weeks.ā
They do reply back, but I donāt think it affects your chances that much. I didnāt get the ātop of the listā email either.
@daisy57 oh ok, thanks for your help!
@blossom1239 when I emailed them on may 5th, they said:
āThank you for your continued interest in Cornell Engineering. We do not yet know if we will go to the waitlist in May. We appreciate your patience through the coming weeks.ā
Their response may not sound great but trust me, I got in the next day so they do keep track of your interest.
@daisy57 I wonder if they were already planning on admitting you though
@blossom1239 who did you email? I canāt find my regional AO.
@zokaitlyn maybe, never thought of that but I did express interest a couple of times before so I definitely believe sending emails will help.
CoE had an email specific to them, but I think they have regional admissions representatives you can contact.
https://admissions.cornell.edu/contact/contact-admissions-representative
this is a link my friend sent me.
@zokaitlyn i emailed the cas admissions office at: as_admissions@cornell.edu