<p>Say you have a student interested in business with very good business ECs (not specifically economic ECs)... does this student stand a better chance at getting into Cornell AEM or Upenn CAS for economics? I know Cornell AEM is the most selective major at Cornell but Upenn is generally more selective than Cornell. Were this person rejected from Upenn CAS, does she stand a chance at Cornell AEM. Were this person rejected from Cornell AEM, does she stand a chance at Upenn CAS? Or are they about equal? Or is it hard to compare because each school values different parts of the application more?</p>
<p>I think AEM is more like Wharton than CAS Economics, so why not apply Wharton, as to your question, I think the AEM acceptance rate is like 10%, which is similar to Wharton, the CAS acceptance rate is around 14%, but its all about “fit” so who knows.</p>
<p>If you really want business, aim for Wharton! Donald Trump and Warren Buffett are alumni. Penn seems more selective than Cornell in general, but if you are looking at Penn CAS, that is probably your “easiest” bet, even if it isn’t your best.</p>
<p>The AEM program is part of the least selective school at Cornell (the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, or CALS). You apply to CALS and then, once accepted, simply declare AEM as your major. You can also transfer into it from another school; assuming you do fine during your first semester, this is very easy to do (it does not require an impossibly high GPA by any standard). I have friends from high school who did so.</p>
<p>Every school at Penn, with the possible exception of the nursing, is more selective than CALS and, subsequently, the AEM program. I don’t know how much admission standards vary, but if you’re highly qualified and express interest in the program, they probably wouldn’t reject you for failing to meet “soft” expectations (i.e. having business ECs).</p>
<p>At Penn CAS, applying for a specific major isn’t very helpful. The majority of matriculants enter the College undeclared, and even declared students often change their major. The admissions department thus has little reason to trust your intended field of study, or use that intent to inform their decision.</p>
<p>So, my advice is: Penn CAS is more selective than Cornell AEM, but they’re both selective enough to make the outcome seemingly random for a single event, so don’t be surprised if you’re accepted to one, both or neither. A rejection from AEM does not necessarily imply a rejection from Penn.</p>
<p>Why are you asking? If you’re applying to both RD, you’ll find out both results simultaneously, more or less. And if you already applied to one of those programs ED, you would have been more specific with your formulation (i.e., which program you had already been rejected or deferred from).</p>
<p>While they’re both excellent programs, my impression is that you’ll get stomped by Whartonities in four years if you’re planning to go into finance or consultancy.</p>
<p>Actually you apply directly to AEM and are considered for admission only with other AEM applicants. The program is highly selective [14% admit rate] and highly rated [top 5 Business Week, top 10 US News].</p>
<p>As behappy7 said, you are wrong. When you apply to CAS you apply to the school without a definite major, but for AEM you apply for the program itself. There actually is a separate school for that as well. Cornell AEM is one of the hardest programs at Cornell to get into. I suggest you do research before you post these because it might confuse the OP.</p>
<p>I would actually say that AEM is more selective than Penn CAS…</p>
<p>Not to bring up old irrelevancies, and not to speak poorly of Cornell (which is a fantastic school, research powerhouse, etc.), but the AEM program belies its relative ease of admission.</p>
<p>First of all, it certainly IS part of CALS, and one can declare the major as a CALS student and transfer into the “separate program.” It even qualifies for the in-state tuition afforded by the Ag School’s state support, so AEM is clearly a subsidiary of that.</p>
<p>Furthermore, any Cornell student can transfer into AEM after their first semester with anything above a 3.0 (according to the program’s very website).</p>
<p>Given these two methods of ingress, it’s not entirely clear what the 14.5% freshman acceptance rate refers to. Either AEM’s applicant pool is self-selectively worse than Cornell’s overall pool, or students stupidly apply to a program that has at least 3 less-selective “backdoors”. Indeed, one could easily apply to CALS, get in, and then cruise into AEM without any trouble. Why risk a sure thing?</p>
<p>Based on this and other information rendered from its website, AEM seems both less selective and entirely different (in terms of applied economic practice vs. theory) from Penn CAS.</p>
<p>Final nail in the coffin of your misinformation:</p>
<p>The admissions page of the CALS website clarifies that AEM is indeed a major available through its program, which one accesses through their application to CALS.</p>
<p>Yes, AEM has long been a major within CALS. More recently it has carved itself into a “school within a school” the Dyson school, via a separate endowment.</p>
<p>As I understand it, unlike most of Cornell’s other colleges, one must specify a major at the time of initial application to CALS. Acceptance into the AEM major is quite selective. Transfer is available within the university, and to various programs within the university, but it is not automatic, one must apply for internal transfer. Students on the Cornell sub-forum have posted that standards for transfer into AEM are rather high. They may well have specified minimum qualificatons for internal transfer, that doesn’t necessarily mean that many applicants with those minimal qualifications will be accepted. </p>
<p>It is undoubtedly true that the program of studies at AEM is not the same as that at an Arts & Sciences college, either Penn’s or Cornell’s. For that matter Wharton’s programs are also not the same as those at an arts & sciences college.</p>