Where is Cornell headed?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I know almost all of us on here are either students, incoming students, aspiring students, or just Cornell fans in general and we are all obviously partial to our school. Here is my question: where do you think Cornell is headed? Is it on the up and up, or is it on a downward slide? Over the past 2 years Cornell University has fallen from 12 to 14 in the US News ranking of national universities and in the opinion of an incoming freshmen next year, part of the reason I chose Cornell is because I feel as if Cornell is headed up in terms of rankings, selectivity, perception, and most importantly, quality of education. Here's why I think that next year we'll be placed as a Top 10 school:</p>

<p>-Cornell's acceptance rate has been dropping dramatically over the past few years and is down to around 20%, not far off the other Ivies and UPenn especially (which I think is headed in the other direction). I expect that the acceptance rate will be even lower this year.</p>

<p>-AEM, Cornell's business program, recently jumped from #11 to #4 in undergraduate business schools, that definitely has to stand for something</p>

<p>-Engineering is continuing to gain more and more respect as one of the premier programs in the country</p>

<p>-Cornell has a sweeping new financial aid package that is sure to rival its Ivy brethern</p>

<p>So what, in your honest, unbiased opinion, do you think? Is Cornell heading up or down the rankings this year?</p>

2

<p>probably up, it's 'hottest ivy' status won't hurt it</p>

3

<p>us news rankings isn't exactly accurate...</p>

4

<p>I think Cornell will stay in that 10-16 area because, well, it always has.</p>

<p>Cornell's structure and philosophy is not built to climb the rankings:
1. It's the largest of any of the top 15 schools. When you're large, you will have a large acceptance rate. Yes, Cornell's acceptance rate has been dropping but so has other schools'. It's acceptance rate is never going to go below Dartmouth's or Brown's.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>It has a significant number of colleges that are fit-based, rather than numbers-based. Cornell's engineering school and arts and sciences schools' avg. SAT scores are actually very comparable to the engineering/liberal arts schools of other peer institutions. It's the other colleges at Cornell that account for the 30-40 points that Cornell's behind by. If you look at the ED results, you can see that Cornell has no problem with rejecting 2300+ scorers if it doesn't think they fit the college well. For better or for worse, this kind of philosophy hurts it in the rankings.</p></li>
<li><p>Cornell has a lot of realities and myths that make it unattractive to many students: the perception of a high suicide rate, the perception of grade deflation, the reality of gloomy skies and cold weather and a rural town. Some colleges have some of these "disadvantages" but I don't think any college has all of them. I happen to like Cornell's uniqueness but I know that these things turn off a lot of kids from the school.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>We know it offers a top-notch education and its academic strength will keep its prestige up (luckily prestige is not left up to high school kids on CC ;)). However, it's not going to overtake anyone in selectivity and I don't think it will make a significant move in the rankings. If you come to Cornell, you have to be comfortable with these facts. Otherwise, you end up being a muertapueblo :/</p>

5

<p>Wasn't Cornell US New's "hottest ivy" 2 years ago or was that last year? Thanks Norcalguy, I think that's a pretty good assessment, US News rankings are obviously pretty skewered. I do believe Cornell will start inching up the list though, it is unquestionably a Top 10 school.</p>

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<p>I too think Cornell will move up soon. Of all the top schools, they seem to be the least affected by the economy, even increasing their financial aid package...meanwhile Harvard lost 1/3 of it's endowment. </p>

<p>Cornell's applications are increasing steadily, every year for the past few years they get a few thousand more applications, yet strive to enroll the same amount of students. That leads to a lower acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Do I care about Cornell's ranking? No - it doesn't change the education I receive, and I know the rankings are skewed. The fact that our endowment and acceptance rate help us move up is proof of how the rankings have nothing to do with education quality.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
and cold weather and a rural town

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's not all bad. I wanted four seasons and an out of doors to explore.</p>

<p>All of norcalguy's points are great. Cornell's bumped around between 14 and 10, going as high as 6 in US News. And I don't see any drastic reasons for a move up or down in the future.</p>

<p>But let's look at the bigger picture shall we?</p>

<p>Over the next decade, we're facing a fundamental upheaval in the way that this country orients itself. No longer can we afford to be a debtor nation, and no longer can afford to produce so many "symbolic analysts" who mostly just push paper around -- think accountants, investment bankers, consultants, tax lawyers, the like. </p>

<p>Cornell produces a lot of these symbolic analysts, as do most other top schools. But the feather in Cornell's cap are its expansive offerings in basic research, engineering, agriculture, policy, conflict negotiation, nutrition, etc. These will be what cements Cornell's importance to the world in the coming, challenging years.</p>

<p>So it's going to get really rough. And the gilded age of the last ten years isn't going to be seen for a long time, especially as the energy crisis unfolds. Cornell will have to scramble to secure funding streams, as well as to make certain that Ithaca remains accessible to the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard as oil prices rise. Ironically, Ithaca's location is much more of a liability today, when you can get to NYC in 45 minutes, than it was a hundred years ago, when it took an overnight train. But, hey, it could always be worse. Cornell could be located in the exurban South or Southwest, which will face untold difficulties in the coming years.</p>

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<p>I'm not applying to ivied but if I could pick my ivy I would choose cornell anyday</p>

9

<p>The administration is also doing a massive fund raising campaign with a targeted goal of placing (I think) 25 programs in the top 10 rankings for National Research Council rankings (which come out about every 10 years). </p>

<p>I don't know where it's going. I don't get a sense that it's a school on the rise, though. I don't think it's quality is sliding, but there are alot of schools that have learned how to game the system and are climbing (or are just genuinely improving). So, relatively speaking schools like WUSL might push it down if it doesn't re-establish itself.</p>

<p>I think one of the core problems Cornell has is branding. It is losing that battle to insecure people at schools like Duke, Brown, or Dartmouth who just dismiss it as if it's a community college because they don't understand its fundamentally different mission. Schools like UPenn and Columbia have managed stellar reputations, despite a lot of similarities.</p>

10

<p>cornell was my top choice of the ivies too!</p>

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<p>I don't really know how US News gets in numbers, so it's hard to say on that front, but don't even bother with the admissions rate.</p>

<p>It's going down everywhere.</p>

<p>Next year it will go up a bit.</p>

<p>Afterward, back to where it should be.</p>

<p>Stupid baby boom... if only I were born three years earlier or three years later.</p>

12

<p>"I'm not applying to ivied but if I could pick my ivy I would choose cornell anyday" </p>

<p>.... WOW ... so you're saying if you got accepted to Harvard + Cornell, You'd choose cornell? if so, /slit</p>

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<p>look at it this way: if cornell were to cut its class size down to dartmouth, it would be top 5 school anyday..</p>

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<p>Admission rate means nothing. Look at University of Chicago. It is widely recognized as one of the best universities in the world, and yet it has an overall admission rate of 35%+.</p>

<p>US News ranking is crap.</p>

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<p>Acceptd, some people do choose cornell over harvard. architecture, hotel, etc all form unique environment at cornell that is not offered anywhere else.</p>

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<p>fb lalaland, three of 5 criteria for school ranking is affected by admission rate one way or other</p>

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<p>It's so funny when people just randomly assume everyone would choose Harvard over Cornell. You just HAVE to...it's RANKED higher!!! RIGHT!?</p>

<p>Tons of majors are ranked higher at Cornell - and some people want a different experience. Cornell was my top choice school (though I regret it now - for the cold only though.)</p>

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<p>"look at it this way: if cornell were to cut its class size down to dartmouth, it would be top 5 school anyday.."</p>

<p>lol. I love this explanation. I have nothing against Cornell personally but it is ridiculous to assume that a school can cut down its size all of a sudden. A school's admit rate is a complex product of years of admissions. I know for certain that thousands of people apply to Cornell over others schools (either more selective or less selective) because they perceive they can get in. If Cornell were to reduced its class size, then less people would simply apply. It would not maintain its large volume of applications for long. People would simply apply elsewhere. </p>

<p>With your logic, huge state schools could simply cut their class size and still maintain their number of applications. This is not the case. Students will just apply elsewhere, thus reducing the application numbers to the point where it once again returns to the "equilibrium" level.</p>

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<p>lol it was just a hypothetical statement to emphasize that one of the main reasons for cornell's ranking is its large class size..</p>

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<p>I dont think Cornell's biggest withdraw is its high acceptance rate. If its acceptance rate is as low as Columbia/Brown/Dartmouth, it would be ranked on par with MIT. Plus, it wouldn't be labeled as the worst ivy anymore...as ppl already know that its academic is for sure not the easiest among the ivies.</p>