<p>One should know that applicants to specialized Colleges such as CALS, ILR and Human Ec are highly self-selected. The programs in there are very specific and require work experience and extra curricular activities that prove your interest and passion for those topics. And, one does not become a farmer if you go to the CALS school. A student at CALS can study environmental sciences and there is researching being done for the development of equitable, efficient, and sustainable use of environment. The world will be looking towards CALS graduates to develop ways to efficiently run eco-friendly economies. This is just one example. One should learn about the specialized colleges at Cornell before denouncing them and claiming they are not serious institutions, because they are and they produce the leaders in their fields, which is what an Ivy League Institution is supposed to do. </p>
<p>Anyways, Cornell's CAS is really the only College that can be properly compared to the rest of the Undergraduate colleges in the Ivy League. If you're even going to compare them. Last year it had a 14.5% admit rate. </p>
<p>Cornell's graduate schools are among the top 15, with the Weill Medical College having an acceptance rate of only 5%. The Law School and Johnson School have comparably low admit rates.</p>
<p>I do not think the statuary colleges take away any of the prestige that goes with the Cornell name. The only thing that is different about them is that they offer lower tuition rates for NY students, nothing more. In admissions, they do not favor NY students over out-of-state students. </p>
<p>And, finally, comparing the Universities of the Ivy League is like comparing a luxury car to another luxury car. They are all sought after.</p>
<p>And those specialty schools are often tops in their field–Hotel school is amongst the best in the world. Same for architecture, etc. CALS will continue to play an important global role.</p>
<p>I don’t believe there’s a quota for NY state residents in the contract colleges. The percentage of New Yorkers in CALS, ILR, and Human Ecology has gradually declined through the years, and is approaching 50%. All of Cornell’s 7 undergrad colleges are competitive for admission. Looking at all 7 schools together, the median SATs for accepted applicants was 710 verbal and 740 math.</p>
<p>I think AAP could be comparable to other Ivy League’s as well–it’s extremely selective and specialized and has the lowest admit rate of all Cornell’s colleges (even CAS)–this year the acceptance rate was 13.7%</p>
<p>but the program like many others are very self selecting so why the acceptance rate seems higher, the candidate pool is usually a really good fit, more so than at some other places.</p>
<p>That’s for accepted students. Let’s look at the medians for enrolled students last year.
CALS: 670 reading, 680 math
HumEc: 680 reading, 710 math
ILR: 680 reading, 700 math</p>
<p>AAP: 650 reading, 710 math
Hotel: 640 reading, 700 math
A&S: 700 reading, 720 math
Eng: 700 reading, 760 math</p>
<p>And that’s with rounding all the .5’s up.</p>
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<p>Wow. I did not know the state schools accepted so many NY residents.
So basically, if you’re a NY state resident with a 2000, you have like a 30+% chance. Apply ED and it’s >50%. How is that not favoring NY students? Tell me at what other ivy league college can a 2000 SAT score stand much of a chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>"Tell me at what other ivy league college can a 2000 SAT score stand much of a chance of acceptance. "</p>
<p>Every single one of them that has colleges of Agriculture, Human Ecology, Industrial and Labor Relations.</p>
<p>“…medians for enrolled students last year.”</p>
<p>I have never seen medians by college published by the university, only mid-50%ile ranges.</p>
<p>“How is that not favoring NY students?”
I dunno, are the stats at those particular colleges much different for applicants from outside NYS? Those colleges get hugely disporportionate applicant pool from NYS because of the in-state tuition break (plus relative proximity).</p>
I guess you’re still young, but you make the fundamental mistake of believing intelligence is linked with test scores. The architecture school is the best in the country with the lowest SATS. Do you really think the architect students are intellectually inferior to anybody?</p>
<p>Yes, I know taking the average of the 25%-75% isn’t exactly the median, but I had nothing better to go with.</p>
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<p>No, I never said that intelligence is linked with test scores. Looking at the accepted thread, I was shocked. 2300’s getting rejected left and right while 1900’s were getting accepted. If you compare their extra curriculars, I would actually argue that as a whole, the 2300 students were a lot more involved. </p>
<p>For every smart architect student in Cornell with low SAT scores, there is an architect student just as smart with higher SAT scores somewhere else. Why doesn’t Cornell accept the latter? Who knows?</p>
<p>If test scores have as low of a correlation with intelligence as you say, I wonder why the other top schools have median SAT’s of 2200+. Don’t give me the whole “self-selective” and “the state schools require extremely unique extra currics” argument because the majority of people at ILR, Ag, etc. I’ve met here had your basic run-of-the-mill activities. Nothing special at all.</p>
More than likely, you support the status quo because it works for you. You test well, so you want everybody to be judged by that because you come out on top in that scenario. I, for one, never tested well, which is why I roll my eyes whenever folks like you pipe up. Yet, thanks in part to Cornell recognizing that intelligence and capacity come in many forms, I’ve proven to be one of the smartest people around in skills that play to my strengths.</p>
<p>Why would a school accept an architecture student with a higher SAT if that student shows far more limited capacity for doing actual architecture? What does knowing “Milk is to giraffes as nipples are to…” have to do with designing a building or managing a farm or a hotel?</p>
<p>You try to tear Cornell down for living up to its mission of providing any student capable of handling the rigor the ability to study in any field. Cornell was created as a counterpoint to the limitations of the blue blood institutions with which you compare it. That’s a diversity of talent and opportunity that scares you, but it inspires me.</p>
<p>Look at Arts and Sciences. The only school at cornell that is really comparable to other liberal arts Ivies. The average SATs are relatively similar to those other Ivies too. </p>
<p>Sure the 2300 student might be more involved. But what are they involved in? Band, debate team, french club, volunteer work, etc. etc. etc. That’s wonderful, they are well suited to a liberal arts college. But if you have a 2300 student with lots of activities who decided it’d be fun to apply to the DEA department and a 1900 student who has amazing extracurriculars that RELATE TO THEIR UNIQUE MAJOR, say a DEA applicant who has taken design classes at art schools, interned with interior designs, worked at a home retail store, has an amazing portfolio, started an environmental awareness group, and is really really passionate about DEA and integrating design with the environment, the second is obviously a better candidate. </p>
<p>There may be a lot of reasons Cornell doesn’t accept the architect with higher SAT scores. Maybe they just weren’t as passionate about the subject. Maybe the one with lower SAT scores got those scores because instead of taking SAT classes they were taking architecture classes at a local college or working for an architecture firm. Maybe they had a significantly better portfolio. The point is, Cornell obviously made a good decision because we have an amazing group of architects here. </p>
<p>Who have you really met at ILR, Ag, etc? I’m an FSAD major in HumEc and most people in my major have interned for major companies, designed or even sold their own clothing, written for fashion blogs, etc. while in high school, and are really passionate about their major. If they had accepted someone who applied with higher SAT scores but had not shown their interest through actually doing things in high school, then our program would be horrible. My roommate is in Ag and has been involved in agriculture her whole life, and is a NY state dairy queen. for real. Sure the HumEc pre-med kids might have run of the mill extracurriculars, but thats only 1/3 or 1/4 of the college.</p>