Surprising Cornell vs UPenn ED Acceptance Rate

Last year Cornell accepted 30% of their early decision applicants, whereas UPenn accepted 19%. UPenn also has a lot of recruited athletes, which I’m sure makes a significant impact on this rate.

I was going to apply ED to UPenn but I like both colleges very much, with Cornell coming in at a close second. After seeing this large difference in early decision rates, yet with relatively close overall acceptance rates, I’m beginning to question my decision for prioritizing UPenn. Regular decision acceptance for Cornell and Penn is only 8%. Would I be better off applying ED to Cornell than UPenn, given that if rejected, UPenn’s regular decision admit rate isn’t nearly as far off as Cornell is in relation to its ED rate? I’d be very happy going to either college.

As does Cornell.

I’m not sure you can make an argument here. In terms of numbers, both Cornell and Penn admitted the same number ED, more or less, but Cornell had fewer ED applications. The flip side of the argument is that Penn accepts a larger percentage of the class from ED.

At the end of the day, apply to the school that’s your top choice. You can’t go wrong either way.

Penn also loves their legacies, especially when they apply ED, even more than most similar schools. They also have a broader definition of legacy than most schools. At my son’s school, they generally take accept a couple of kids each year for ED and they’re almost invariably legacies.

In short, if you want whatever ED advantage exists and you are truly neutral between the two schools and you want to play a numbers game, I strongly suspect you have a better chance at Cornell. I’m assuming you’re not a recruited athlete or legacy at either school.

That’s correct, I’m not. I’m also relatively neutral between the two schools, a slight imbalance on the side of UPenn for minor things.

That’s exactly what I was worried about. UPenn, compared to every other school I’ve come across, seems to be more connected to legacy and athletics. As an unhooked, white, wealthy male from CT, I have a feeling there is an especially few number of spots open for me, regardless of which school I apply to. But with a lower ED rate and an especially high percentage coming from legacy and athletics (one student was recruited this year for lacrosse, and one last year for double legacy), I’m a bit skeptical about UPenn.

No. You are still in the privileged category. Nearly half of admitted students at UPenn are white*. Half are male. Only a quarter of the last class needed to take out loans. So, wealthy white male is not a small share of the pie.

As the parent of middle class white girls applying to colleges from the NE corridor, I feel your pain- my collegekids have even lower odds than yours- but no, you are not at a disadvantage. You just don’t have the same level of advantage that you would have a generation ago - never mind 2 generations ago.

*& nearly 1/4 are asian, fwiw

I think this plays into the ED accept rate. They love them only if they apply ED, RD legacy applicants do not get any preference.

The Cornell Daily Sun repoorts the 2017 admit rate as 24.3% See https://cornellsun.com/2017/12/20/cornell-early-decision-admissions-rate-drops-for-3rd-year-in-a-row/ Where did your number come from?

That’s what I was told at a Cornell information session. IvyCoach states that “for the Class of 2017, Cornell’s Early Decision admit rate was 29.5% and its Regular Decision admit rate was 13.5%”

Always go with the college information versus a secondary source. FYI, the ■■■■■■■■ information is for the college class of 2017,i.e.the HS class of 2013.
http://irp.dpb.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Profile2013-Freshmen1.pdf

Cornell is very good to legacies too and has the reputation of being more lenient with legacies than other Ivy’s.

The saying goes; Cornell is easiest Ivy to get into, but the hardest to stay at.

Apply ED where you really want to go.

Thanks for the clarification everyone. I decided a little while ago that I’ll be applying ED to UPenn mainly due to its culture.

Late for the discussion, but I think you are on the right track. For wealthy white male (and crazy rich Asians), ED is the only way to gain an advantage in the Ivy admission game.

Doesn’t UPenn offer an ED2? If so, you can ED to Cornell and if rejected ED2 to UPenn. I know UChicago play the ED2 game pretty well. You can even EA (while EDing to another school) and switch to ED2 if not admitted by the ED school.

Such students already have years of advantages like better schools, parents unlikely to be cost constrained in things like ECs and test prep, etc… Of course, the super wealthy can make big donations to grease the admission rails, and alumni parents give their kids an unearned legacy advantage.

Unfortunately neither UPenn nor Cornell have ED2, so that’s not going to be an option for me

If you are doing ED to Upenn Wharton, then your odds are better with Cornell ED.