<p>Sorry if this has already been asked, but I just wanted to clarify: would several people (3, maybe more) applying early from a competitive high school impact each other's admissions results? Cornell usually accepts around 5-10 kids from my school. </p>
<p>For example, my good friend and I are both planning on applying to the same college, same major at Cornell. I really hope we both get in! :) But would somewhat similar applicants be a bad thing in this case?</p>
<p>Also, I know a double legacy with a low GPA who's applying to Cornell. He has a sub 3.5 UW, mediocre EC's, and a mix of AP's/regular classes. Would THIS guy hurt me in terms of applying ED for Cornell? I normally wouldn't worry about someone with his stats but his older brother got in two years ago and I don't think he was super qualified either...</p>
<p>This question is frequently posted. My assertion is the same each time. The strength of the individual applicant trumps any supposed fear of “school quota”. If all three of you happen to have what Cornell deems enough to warrant ED accepts, then all three of you wil be accepted ED.</p>
<p>The idea of “quotas” presumes set-asides for other schools. But for a college as selective as Cornell, why do they need to set-aside anything to please anyone else but themselves? They aren’t beholden to keep some principal somewhere happy. If the 3 of you have got it, you’ll be admitted. If no one from your school, for the next 20 years has what it takes, you’ll get zero admits fo rthe next 20 years. Cornell doesn’t care, in that sense.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the others. Focus on your own file. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Agree. But understand how important your own app package is. It’s the one means you have to present yourself. They will look for the attributes and strengths they want and need, not just stats and some activities.</p>
<p>If they’ve taken more than one kid in the past from your school then the answer is no - it won’t hurt you if more than one kid applies. Cornell is a big school. I think they accept multiples of kids from lots of schools.</p>
<p>You are read relative to your school and region. So yes, I do believe you would be competing with each other. If you are not qualified, Cornell wouldn’t admit you because they had some sort of quota, but if all of you met the requirements, they may decide to admit top X number applicants and defer or reject others. A school like Cornell is so selective that they wouldn’t be afraid to reject top applicants just because they may not be able to fill their spots. They also want to create a diverse community, so they wouldn’t want to admit too many students with similar background.</p>
<p>If Cornell accepts 5 - 10 kids every year from your school than the fact that you and your friend are both applying should not hurt your chances significantly. If they accepted one or two kids, that might be a different story.</p>
<p>Cornell (along with most national universities) attempts to secure a diverse incoming class. I agree with “Oldfort” you are in competition with students from your own school & county. All things being equal it could come into play. An example would be…they get only two applicants from the state of Idaho. Both are qualified, I think they stand a better chance than a student from Ithaca HS who has virtually the same qualifications.</p>
<p>I disagree with Amazon. The variance in #s of kids accepted year to year speaks of the general level of qualified applicants from a given school. This MAY indicate the relative strength of the OP’s application but it may have NO correlation with the OP’s application.</p>
<p>Obviously, a HS that gets 5-10 Cornell accepts each year indicates a very strong college prep population. However, that does not mean that any given, super strong applicant from a school that has few or even no recent admits, is at a systemic disadvantage per se.</p>
<p>(now this hypothetical “diamond in the rough” may face other hurdles such as inexperienced teachers and counselors, poor info about FinAid, no SAT/ACT prep classes, etc.)</p>
<p>We need to look at population chances vs. individual chances. We frankly do not know if the OP is one of these super applicants or not. The fact is, everyone’s individual chances at getting admitted are poor. However, sole attendance at a school that regularly admits kids is not the determining factor – it’s the individual’s accomplishments that matter.</p>
<p>If I may also disagree slightly with CSDAD: one is in competition with kids LIKE you who apply – and while there’s a strong likelihood that those are also from your HS, it’s not a given. If there are two applicants from one HS but one kid is a super world-renown pianist and highly coveted my mulitiple colleges, his classmate who happens to be the general well-rounded, high achiever is NOT competing for the same slot. It’s called “category admissions”. The 2nd kid is competing with others of the same category. That pianist’s slot was never even open to the second kid.</p>
<p>Yes. You are competing ‘against’ each other for those spots. </p>
<p>I’m just wondering why three students from a highly competitive high school are all applying early to Cornell… </p>
<p>If the double legacy is applying for spot in a competitive school (engineering) then the ‘double legacy’ probably won’t help him. He may be deferred and later ‘wait listed’ especially if his parents contribute to the school in other ways. He still has a chance to prove himself his senior year with better grades and test scores. He won’t be outright rejected. </p>
<p>If one is an athlete, especially one with a high GPA, that could tilt the odds in his favor, especially in a sport such as hockey. </p>
<p>If Cornell is your absolute number One pick, and you have the means to finance the education with whatever they offer you, just go for it.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that it’s not just your own hs, it’s those in your neighborhood and area. Don’t assume anything. Aside from factors related to local competition, many good kids get hosed by their own applications. Do the best you can.</p>
<p>GAH. So I wrote out a long response, but apparently I got logged out. Quite frustrating…I spent at least ten minutes writing it! >:(</p>
<p>Anyway, my HS is definitely competitive, 2 kids got into Harvard (one SCEA, one RD), 3 Princeton, 3 Stanford, 1 Yale, and at least 1 at every other Ivy. A few may have been athletic recruits though, I’m not sure…</p>
<p>The double legacy guy is applying to the hotel school, I think. I don’t think he’s taking advanced math or science classes but I could be wrong, our school is really, really big. So we have a lot of high-achieving students, but also those on the other end of the spectrum. I’m probably applying to CALS, my friend is considering CAS. A lot of my classmates are applying ED to Columbia or Penn, or SCEA at Stanford (I’m all for that haha).</p>
<p>I have a 1600 CR+ M, 800s on 2 subject tests, and a 3.9 GPA. Admissions are a crapshoot though, so I’m a little worried…</p>
<p>And thank you so much for all of your input! I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Tooo many kids I know have 2300+ and 4.0s and amazing extracurriculars. I’m banking on the fact that those kids will probably be the ones who are applying to HYPSM, otherwise I probably don’t stand a chance 8(</p>
<p>I’m not saying this to scare you but Cornell looks at everything holistically. I only got a 2030 on my SATs and I got accepted into Cornell engineering. One of my best friends (the valedictorian in my class with a couple more extra-curriculars than myself) also applied to Cornell engineering with an SAT of 2360, was rejected. At the same time, there’s someone who I know at Cornell who came from a high school where 22 people from his class went to Cornell this year. Cornell looks at everything about an applicant and will accept the ones they think fit the best at Cornell.</p>
<p>Dreaminggirl - is there anything else that could explain why the valedictorian didn’t get accepted? Do you have a “hook” - are you a minority, legacy, athlete? Is the other student male? I’m happy for you but it’s kind of depressing in a way. </p>
<p>The person who disagreed with me - T2? I think you misunderstand my point. I think if the high school generally has 5 - 10 kids accepted to Cornell per year, one could extrapolate and say they will take 5-10 kids this year. One extra applicant would mean that the poster’s chances would be 7/21 vs 7/20 or something like that. If Cornell rarely took someone from the school it would be 1/2 vs 1/3. I know my numbers aren’t great but just trying to make a point.</p>
<p>… The 22 people from one high school who were accepted in one year. </p>
<p>That sounds like it is probably a high school NEAR Cornell where all of the professor’s kids go to high school. That is common at many elite colleges.</p>
<p>You can look at the web site and/or reports for Thos Jefferson in N.Va, an extraordinary hs. Reports seem to show 19 freshman at Cornell. There are probably other hs like that, at that level. But that does not mean an Ivy goes looking for a set number. You still, as an individual, have to show the right stuff, pass the holistic muster.</p>
<p>Dreaminggirl- No worries, I know that the college admissions process, especially at this level, is really unpredictable. Congrats on getting in!!</p>
<p>At this point, my friend is still unsure of a.) whether to apply to CALS or CAS or b.) whether to apply ED or RD. She’s super awesome and I would love it if we were both offered admission. If we were to apply to different colleges within Cornell, would that be better for our chances than if we both applied to the same major/same college? Or would it not be an issue? Her stats are a little lower than mine, so if going the ED route is what she needs to do to have a better shot of getting in, then I definitely wouldn’t mind “competing” with her. </p>
<p>We were discussing quotas the other day, and although it does seem like Cornell looks at students based on the individuals themselves for the most part, we noticed that for our HS, Harvard (an example) ONLY accepts 2 people every year, and it’s always a guy and a girl. It’s been that way for the past six, seven years, so would that just be a weird coincidence, or evidence that Ivies do to some extent have an idea of how many people they want matriculating from a certain school/area? Like if I really wanted to gauge the competition, would it help if I asked my friends from the other schools in the area whether the top kids in the class were applying as well?</p>
<p>Sorry if I’m rambling a bit. Honestly, I’m probably just being a worrywart I mean, it is what it is–if a bunch of people DO end up applying from my school, then I’ll just have to make sure I really stand out. (speaking of which…I should probably stop trying to predict adcom decisions and get to work on beefing up my college essays!)</p>
<p>Yes, you can start to drive yourself a little crazy trying to figure out what would increase your chances for admission, when in reality, other than making sure your essays are as good as they can be & keeping your senior year grades up, there isn’t a whole lot you can do. Applying ED increases your chances for admission & each of the 7 colleges within Cornell is independent of each other when it comes to admissions.</p>
<p>If Cornell is your number one pick and you can afford whatever financial aid package you receive from them, then just do your best, enjoy senior fall semester and stop worrying. </p>
<p>If it doesn’t work out, then embrace the idea of beginning your college career at a school that wants you in next years’ incoming class and sees you as a fit to their school.</p>
I mean, it is what it is–if a bunch of people DO end up applying from my school, then I’ll just have to make sure I really stand out. (speaking of which…I should probably stop trying to predict adcom decisions and get to work on beefing up my college essays!)</p>