I have been admitted to Cornell University for my Early Decision, but I had to decline the offer due to the lack of financial support (I’m an international applicant)
Now I am planning to apply to a few of the top Ivy League schools for my Regular Decision. Would I have a better chance at these schools if I note that I have have been admitted to Cornell but I’ve declined the offer?
A lot of people told me not to do so because it would seem like those RD schools are not my top choice schools. But the thing is, it’s quite clear for the schools that they weren’t top choices since I am applying RD, not EA/ED.
Should I report that I have been admitted to Cornell in the additional information section of the CommonApp? What should I do?
No, it won’t make them more likely to accept you at all. In fact, it could make them less likely to want you because you’ve already declined an offer of a peer institution. Why do you think you will get more financial support at the other schools?
Congrats on your acceptance. I agree with the other posters: do not report that you were accepted to Cornell. Merely applying RD instead of ED doesn’t suggest they are second choice as lots of students have to apply RD in order to compare aid offers. However listing the Cornell acceptance for sure confirms their second choice status. Also, you risk AOs concluding that, if you were a fit for Cornell, you aren’t a fit for their T10 school, as they have a different vibe and are looking for different qualities in their students.
I forgot to add that we had to decline the financial aid offer as it was calculated using the wrong pieces of information. As an international student, we weren’t familiar with the CSS profile, so there were some major errors. We could not make an appeal to the decision, as Cornell is a need-aware institution.
However, for the schools that I am applying for RD, I am going to send additional information regarding the changes that must be made.
Either way, I do agree with Groundwork2022 that:
HOWEVER, if these schools are HYP, I believe that it’s another story. HYP are need-blind AND SCEA NON BINDING which means that it REALLY shows that they weren’t your #1 choice since you can compare aid offers as an EA admitted student. What do you guys think?
It means no such thing. Bottom line, writing that you were accepted to school X may lead to the response "We wish you all the best at school X. "They do not care that you were accepted elsewhere.
Again, thank you all for replying to this thread. It’s been really helpful for me to make the final decision.
I’ve decided that I am not going to report my acceptance (which I think is, at this point, is the right thing to do), and I feel @Groundwork2022 said it very clear that it can negatively affect my acceptance to my RD schools.