<p>...is it? At least from the guys from my school that I saw get in.</p>
<p>The numbers are available online. 20% acceptance rate and about a 2100 SAT score. It's a matter of opinion whether that qualifies as selective or not.</p>
<p>Hey man, don't say that... It sucks for those of us who were rejected...</p>
<p>But I'm kidding; yeah, it's considered a not-as-selective school among top ones, but it still is in the Ivy League. I was rejected with a 2210 SAT, so I don't think I'd call it "not very selective", but those students at your school probably wrote good essays, had good extracurricular activities, and/or had some pretty nice hooks. As far as I'm concerned, though, it is hard for an Asian-American to get accepted into CAS...</p>
<p>I was wait-listed with a 1560/2280.
I don't think Cornell is very test score focused though..</p>
<p>It's often the luck of the draw though.
I think I might have gotten in if Cornell didn't accept three people Early Decision from my school.</p>
<p>3 ED from one school?!? I'd be shocked if they picked more than 2 from my entire district. And I'd kill for one of those to be me.</p>
<p>Tell that to the number of 1500+ applicants who were rejected or deferred ED.</p>
<p>Most schools don't appear to be very selective once you enroll and you realize the number of meatheads who are in your classes.</p>
<p>I think Cornell judges you based on how well you would fit in the program you are applying for, not test scores. I was recently accepted to ILR as a transfer student for Spring 2009 without even submitting SAT's or AP's, which shows that standardized tests mean nothing when transferring. Test scores do not mean much, they just show how good of a test-taker you are. Having a strong knowledge and background for your intended major is what they really want. If your SAT's are very high, but you know very little or have no experience with the major you are applying for, you will get rejected. Cornell does not want students who just get good test scores or grades. They also want students who will actively contribute to the university as well as the community. In my opinion, acceptance really comes down to essays, interviews, recommendations, and overall academic background. Those who get accepted will tend to have a stronger interest in their major than others who were rejected. Simple as that haha.</p>
<p>Cornell is not a monolith, at the undergraduate level it consists of 7 different colleges, with varying admissions criteria and applicant pools.</p>
<p>The stats from last year, broken out by college,which to me is the only relevant way to look at this, are here:</p>
<p><a href="http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000003.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000003.pdf</a>
<a href="http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000176.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000176.pdf</a>
<a href="http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000177.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000177.pdf</a></p>
<p>"very selective" is not a precise term, there is a continuum and reasonable people can apply that label wherever on the continuum they individually see fit. All of Cornell's colleges are certainly a lot closer to the top of that continuum than they are to the bottom though.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is, at many schools not just Cornell, the difference in ED vs RD percentages is significant. As indicated here ( on an aggregated basis):</p>
<p>During a prior college hunt, an admissions person at another prestigious school out and out bluntly said that at his school it was just plain easier to get in ED.</p>
<p>Cornell is very selective. People think that if they have a 2250 SAT and cram a lot of ECs on their resume that they will get in. Cornell looks for a passion for something. They want a well rounded person that can help make Cornell the special place that it is. Not just somebody that spent their life behing their books and padding their ECs just to get accepted to an Ivy.</p>
<p>I really think it depends on the school you're applying for and your suitability for it. So I guess some schools are harder than others. Not sure, I've only really looked at CAS, which does seem pretty selective.</p>
<p>I agree with Screamindv and mhawkjr. My son was accepted ED and his scores were not as high as some listed on CC, but if you seen his resume and essay could see he fit exactly with what ILR was looking for. He just didn't volunteer at location to get his hours in, He organized and delivered for those organizations. So I would say Cornell is Very Selective, its just that they are Very Selective on the type of student that will fit each school, and that may not be just by the scores.</p>
<p>The stats for ED are lower than the states for Regular Decision. Last year i think 30% of ED applicants were accepted while only 18% were accepted from the RD pool. Cornell makes up their freshman class with about 1/3 ED applicants.</p>
<p>There is no need to explain Cornell's selectivity. It is selective. Cornell's mission is, as I understand, very different than its other selective counterparts. </p>
<p>Personally, I applaud it. I think that there have been many very intelligent people who would not have been given the phenomenal educational opportunities of an elite university if Cornell did not have such a mission.</p>
<p>Cornell is also one of the largest under-grad selective universities. When you are accepting numerically more applicants than your counterparts, w/ a limited and over-lapped population, you are bound to go deeper in the barrel.</p>
<p>That being said, there are students at Cornell that make other say, "How did you get in?"
But I bet that is said at every school, no matter the selectivity.</p>
<p>I don't mean to be an ass.. but... Arts and Sciences only has a 37% yield.</p>
<p>Maybe that's why CAS accepted so many more ED applicants than HumEc?</p>
<p>Mondo,
people have different reasons to choose or decline a school. Prestige is possibly one reason. But I think a lot of people decline Cornell for two major reasons: location and the "cold"; and the reputation of being a tough school.."the hardest to stay in". But for the same reasons, Cornell grad get a lot of respect from prospective employers for their "groundedness", "toughness" and work ethics.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't mean to be an ass.. but... Arts and Sciences only has a 37% yield.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not like Duke's is all that much higher at 43 percent.</p>
<p>I'll be completely honest. This thread is very annoying.</p>
<p>The US News has its selectivity ranked at 14...so uh, it's not the most selective college in the country...it's the 14th. But it's not all bad...there are about 2,300 4 year american institutions less selective then Cornell.</p>
<p>The competition for Arts & Sciences students is intense, because this course of studies is available virtually everyplace.</p>
<p>Ironically sometimes a school that is evaluated at least pretty highly by more people,and gets more applicants as a result, can show a lower yield than a school that fewer people like even well enough to apply to in the first place. </p>
<p>There are all sort of reasons people may have for choosing one college over another, but the priorities of other people may not apply equally to you. The challenge of the individual applicant is to establish, and select using, one's own priorities.</p>
<p>Looking at some other quality Arts & Sciences colleges: Vassar had a 35% yield last year, Amherst 40% ,Barnard 43%.</p>
<p>Does that mean Barnard is "better" than Vassar and Amherst ? Or more desired among the population at large, which included people who didn't even like Barnard (same for Amherst, or Vassar) well enough to even apply? Does it have any pertinence to where you as an applicant should attend? Does it mean anything important at all?</p>
<p>If I were an applicant I'd look at the yield#, 'cause I do stuff like that, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't mean too much to me, anyway. No way to determine the motives of the people making all those decisions, and therefore the extent to which their motives apply equally to you. YMMV.</p>
<p>BTW, Hotel school yield was 79%.</p>
<p>IMO, US News doesn't matter because it applies only to some imaginary amalgam of Cornell's individual colleges which does not exist. To have any real meaning the selectivity of each individual college would have to be separately assessed and published. If this were done, the individual colleges would not all be on the same place on the US News list. But then at least the applicant to a particular college would have some more meaningful information to inform their decision.</p>