Cornell is a wonderful school, but data indicates most students admitted to another ivy and Cornell don’t choose Cornell. Maybe that has to do with financial aid, maybe it has to do with the location, the weather, academics, or the prestige factor. I don’t think the CC moderators will let me link to Parchment, but google Parchment Cross Admits. According to statistics on Parchment, when student’s are admitted to Cornell and any of the other ivies, most choose any other ivy by a wide margin – 92%, 85%, 81% etc. That data pretty much mirrors the NY Times survey from 9 years ago: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html. Also, according to the NY Times, Cornell has the highest overall acceptance rate of any of the ivies: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/15/education/thechoice-2013-acceptance-rates.html.