<p>Hey guys, I just wanted to let you guys know what's been going through my head as I read these decisions. First of all, rejectees. You guys are amazing. A lot of you are way beyond qualified for Cornell, and in all honesty, I would have chosen you over many of the people that were accepted, including myself. By the way, I was accepted last year regular decisions with quite average stats (2280 SATs, 3.38 gpa, lame EC's). But just realize, you honestly will go places in the world and if anything, Cornell didn't deserve you. Sometimes I feel like Cornell will blatantly reject overqualified people even for ED just because they feel like they wouldn't fit the mold of Cornell. Other times, I feel that they have some inherent sense that allows them to see who will succeed here. For instance, I know people that got in being in the top of class and extremely high SATs that are struggling very bad here. I had a very low gpa in high school and now have close to a 3.8 at Cornell. It seems like they know. </p>
<p>But in all honesty, congratulations to who was accepted, and for those who were not, I'm positive you will find a better fit school for yourself, and remember, it's not the school who makes the person, it's the person who makes the school.</p>
<p>Edit: Also just looked at Columbia threat, looks like they do a similar thing.</p>
<p>In all honestly, I feel like they are. I mean it’s understandable in that Cornell wants a certain type of student here, but it’s also really frustrating in that people will look down on Cornell because it will have lower SAT scores when, if it wanted to, it could easily achieve a similar SAT score to like Penn/Brown or something if it focused on that.</p>
<p>Definitely: For my own reasons, I had operated on a do not study system for the SAT and scored relatively low compared to the others (2150, 630 on the writing and relatively high on CR and M). Somehow, I still got accepted, which was a real shock to me. However, it may just be that for this year, individualistic components are weighed much heavier than usual, in which case the “standardized” scores have to be scaled down. </p>
<p>Of course, there may also be a completely different explanation for this, or in the rarest case, it could just be a simple coincidence.</p>
<p>First of all, having a lower SAT does not necessarily mean someone is less qualified. Cornell knows that after a certain point (around 2100+) differences in SAT score really doesn’t matter. Instead they look at other parts of the application, such as essays and EC’s and try to determine who is a great fit for their college. Someone with a 2110 and 3.6 GPA that shows passion through his essays and has interests that fit his college of choice is way more qualified then someone with a 2380 and 4.0 GPA who doesn’t. Cornell wants the brightest students it can get that demonstrate passion for the school, which includes students on the high end of the grades/SAT score and many times the lower end. The admission process is an odd one, and sometimes great applicants get overlooked, but saying that cornell is purposely admitting people with lower scores for a reason other than that they feel those students are more qualified for their school is outrageous. Maybe I misunderstood what you are trying to say, and if I did I’m sorry, but everyone who was accepted deserves that acceptance. I wish everyone could get in, but it can’t possibly work that way.</p>
<p>CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO GOT ACCEPTED!!
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO GOT DEFERRED!!
TIME TO MOVE ON FOR EVERYONE WHO GOT REJECTED. THERE ARE PLENTY OF GREAT SCHOOLS OUT THERE THAT WANT YOU!!</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with your views on fit and passion.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I find it interesting that year after year on the ED threads, the majority of 2300+ scorers are rejected (I counted 2 acceptances and 5 rejections of applicants with 2300+ scores this year). Obviously, this is a very small sample size but if it is reflective of the overall admissions story for Cornell, after awhile, many of the high scorers (even if they do have a strong interest in Cornell) simply will stop applying ED if they feel they are not getting sufficient consideration of their accomplishments. Cornell is already on the low end of the spectrum for top schools in terms of average SAT scores.</p>
<p>Cornell needs to admit students who can get through the work. After having spent 4 years here, I know it is not any harder than any other top school and yet it gets the most whining (as well as an undeserved reputation for grade deflation; it is grade inflated not grade deflated). I feel that’s because it admits more students who are not as well prepared academically.</p>
<p>CornellDream, leeago and Cornellperson;
I found your posts very interesting. While Cornell is not one of my D’s choices (she feels this level is out of her reach), I will share your comments on lower SAT does not equate to less qualified. She is in the process of finalizing her decisions and apps for Fall 2010. She has received alot of grief from her peers and a few teachers at her lack of diligence in preparing for the SAT (I must admit I am somewhat preplexed) and her lower than expected scores. Their comments have at times made her feel less than qualified; yet she is in the top 3% of 530 and has 3.9/4.765 gpa. In addition, she maintains her grades with extemely demanding ECs (dance alone requires a minimum of 3 days (excluding Sat ballet)/week for 12-15 hours per week). Her Oct 2009 SAT was 1990, with no prep. She decided to take again in Dec 2009 but had minimal prep. She will not know the results until 12/22 but she must submit her school choices by 12/14 to ensure scores received before Jan 2010 deadlines.</p>
<p>Again, thank you for the insight…greatly appreciated by a non-Cornell applicant.</p>
<p>First of all, Cornell is very explict in their admissions materials that EC’s, fit, essays, and recommmendations are integral to the admission’s process. Ever year they say this and every year they seem to weight these things very heavily…just as much and probably more than SAT’s. From the “rejectionss” I have seen on CC, I don’t see anything outstanding in your profiles outside of high scores. </p>
<p>I beleive someone else said that Ivy league schools like Cornell have to reject 80% of students “who are academically capable” of handling the course work. That’s why non-SAT criteria becomes so important.</p>
<p>I bet lots of you that have been rejected do have strong angles when it comes to “fit”, but maybe didn’t do your best in showing these in your essays, recommendations, resumes, etc…something you can easily modify as you continue your college search.</p>
<p>My advice is to take the December results seriously…my SATs going into the December SAT were 2030 (last one I took was October and I didn’t prepare anymore)…my December results were 2280, so people can really change in a short amount of time.</p>
<p>But, it’s hard to justify the high score rejections. The people with those scores in most cases were just as qualified in other areas…sometimes it seems like Cornell is dumbing down the best for maybe social reasons, making Cornell a more appealing school…I have no clue.</p>
<p>Cornell is known as the hardest Ivy, but I find this to be completely unjustified. Cornell is not difficult; it is the lower quality of students that makes it harder to do well since Cornell still holds just as stringent academic standards as other top schools. Though I agree we get a lot of work, I doubt it is significantly more than any other school.</p>