<p>Hello. I've been a long time reader of this forum since I wanted to transfer to Cornell last year, however I feel that I have a bit of information future (or possibly current) applicants may want to know. If you have been here for a while, you probably won't get much out of this post, but perhaps you will find it interesting.</p>
<p>First to start off, I've just completed the entire process from deciding if it would be good to transfer to receiving my decision (just yesterday). So I suppose I'll start from the beginning.</p>
<p>Filing begins between February 15 and March 15 (March 31 this year). What this really means is that you just have to get the common application in before that time (verified by two people from admissions). Although, it is better to send everything as soon as possible for a faster decision. I submitted my application on February 14th, it was marked as "Downloaded" on February 15th. On the common application website, the form status will be "offline" because Cornell has its own selfservice website for undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>Roughly two weeks later I received an email to create my ID. If you do not receive an email within 2 weeks, you should definitely call, for the sake of making sure it was received and to get an earlier decision.</p>
<p>In early March the website was taken down with a message about waiting until early April. To my knowledge, this has happened almost every year, so I wouldn't get too worried about seeing it.</p>
<p>Early April comes by and still no update. You should not expect a decision. I stayed up all night on April 6th in hopes that at the strike of midnight I would see my decision. This is indeed just wishful thinking. Eventually in mid-to-late April, the site will be updated, usually with no decision present. You may call admissions to learn if anything is missing. I recommend calling before the site updates, with the excuse that the site hasn't updated (or something along those lines). As an aside, I always made sure I had a good reason to call other than just "checking for any updates." </p>
<p>To expedite the process, there is a fax machine that Cornell can use to process application materials. This method seems to be much more reliable and quicker. If you're going to fax your materials, I would recommend only doing it after you have sent everything in and they are stilling missing materials (and that reminds me, try to make copies of any materials you do have).</p>
<p>One day in mid-to-late April the website will update. Surprise! No decision. If you're lucky (or phoned ahead), you will see the following message in the status page where your checklist used to be: "Your materials have been received. Your application has been forwarded to the admissions staff for review." If you're not, you will still see the checklist with possibly (or possibly not) some items missing. So what does this mean? Well, if you see the in-review message, then you know that your application was sent sometime between when you sent all of your materials to a day before the site updated. I do not know this for sure, but applications are reviewed on when they are completed, not when the common application is submitted. If you see the checklist, you probably have a longer time to wait and may want to talk to admissions about resending missing materials.</p>
<p>"OK, I see the message, WHEN DO I GET MY DECISION??????" That was my question for a while. You can call admissions (they are usually very friendly) and you will usually be transferred to someone from your college's admissions office. They may give you accurate advice, they may not. As a general note from my experience reading these boards and from friends, about the absolute earliest you will receive a decision is late April. But for most of the people, it will be sometime in May or possibly early June. Guaranteed transfers find out much earlier than regular decision transfers, so if you see a GT say they were accepted, do not expect that your decision will be coming any sooner. Again, admissions will be better at estimating a time of decision than any rule of thumb I could give will.</p>
<p>Now is when the process no longer becomes linear. There are three ways I have seen that people get decisions: website, phone, and mail. </p>
<p>Phone decisions usually are the fastest way to get a decision, but are not normal. There needs to be a reason to get a phone decision. Recognize that they can (and will) tell you that you were rejected over the phone. Most people do not like this way for that reason. Phone decisions can be initiated by either party (you can call them, or they can call you [generally only upon request], or they can email you to call them).</p>
<p>Mail decisions are more frequent than phone decisions. To clarify, everyone will get mail from Cornell, but some get their mail before they see the website update. The letter can be <em>just</em> a letter, or it can be a whole package. If you get a package, you were accepted, if you see a letter you need to open it to find out. Small letters do not necessitate rejection (verified by two decisions I have seen).</p>
<p>Website decisions -- I'm guessing -- are the most frequent. The website, from my experience, can update early in the morning, or around midnight. When a decision is available you will see a link at the top of the status page saying "Check your decision." You will be taken to a page that gives your decision. If you see a "Congratulations" image... well... (you were accepted). I actually missed the link for a while as it was in a spot that I wasn't anticipating it to be at. It was above the "Hello <name>," line for me.</name></p>
<p>Now for the type of decisions. You can be accepted, rejected, or receive a guaranteed transfer (for sophomore transfers only). Guaranteed transfers mean that if you maintain about a B+ GPA and complete the pre-reqs, you are in for next year. Yes, a transfer applicant can receive a guaranteed transfer for the next year.</p>
<p>Some tips!</p>
<p>If you see others getting accepted early, it means very little to your decision. There are a number of good reasons for a slow decision. Once you are accepted, most colleges will evaluate your transfer credits and they do this before notifying you of your decision. Also one of your application materials may have taken longer to file than another person even though you both sent the materials at the same time. It is also very important to only look at people getting decisions from the same college; each college reviews applications at a different pace.</p>
<p>Try not to get too nervous about a decision, especially before April. I was, and I lost about a month of my life waiting. I hope that future applicants and current applicants realize that it does take a while to get a decision and that a good time to start getting nervous is early-to-mid May. This tip is easier said than executed, but I thought I would just remind people that it does take a while.</p>
<p>Finally, I'd just like to thank this message board for giving me invaluable information on the status of other applications, and some other useful tips. Congratulations to all who were accepted; I hope to see you in Ithaca next year! And to those who were rejected, I hope you will feel better soon and it really isn't the end of the world. What matters is that you took the chance to better yourself, and if you keep doing that, then success and happiness will follow.</p>