Cornell Admissions Counseling | Application Guidance (2024)

FAQs

What is the hardest major to get into at Cornell? ›

The most selective schools at Cornell for admissions are:

Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. College of Arts & Sciences. College of Engineering.

Academic record: Students should have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and should have excellent analytic and communication skills. Extensive, sustained record of public and community service: Students are asked to list public and community service for both high school and college.

The Hotel School in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business is the least competitive with an acceptance rate of 30% The School of Human Ecology has a 23 % acceptance rate, the second-highest acceptance rate of all the schools at Cornell.

Letters of Recommendation

All applicants, including homeschooled students, must submit the School Report (Counselor Letter of Recommendation) and two Teacher Evaluations. Cornell recommends someone not related to the student complete at least two of the three required letters of recommendation.

Cornell is the easiest and youngest Ivy League school. It was established in 1865 and is situated in Ithaca, New York. Out of 49,114 candidates, Cornell accepted 5,330, for an admission percentage of around 10.9%.

The acceptance rate at Cornell is 7.3%.

For every 100 applicants, only 7 are admitted.

While there isn't a strict minimum GPA, it's always good to know what the average GPA is for accepted students. Most students accepted into Cornell usually have a strong academic profile. For context, the middle 50% GPA range for students admitted to Cornell is typically between 4.0 - 4.5 (on a weighted 4.0 scale).

Admissions are highly competitive at both universities, with Columbia typically having a lower acceptance rate.

For example, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering tend to be more competitive, whereas the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) might be somewhat less so.

What is the lowest GPA Cornell will accept? ›

What GPA is required for Cornell University? Applicants' GPA when applying to Cornell University should ideally be between 3.8 and 4.0 to be strong candidates. Having less than this will require compensating by increasing your SAT or ACT score and by having outstanding extracurricular activities or personal statement.

Getting to know your counselor early will surely reap some benefits come application time! “Counselor and teacher letters of recommendation can be very helpful in assessing a student's readiness for college-level work if they are clear and honest in their evaluations,” Murphy says.

You are still free to submit your test scores as part of your application if you feel that they make you a more attractive candidate. SAT scores range between 1450 to 1540 in the middle 50 ^th percentile, with more than half of Cornell's admitted students having an SAT score of 1500 or above.

Introduction to Wines is reputed to be the most failed course at Cornell.

Students are encouraged to apply to their intended major during their third semester (i.e., fall of sophom*ore year for most students). Students will either be accepted or denied.

Making Your Dyson AEM Application Stand Out

Admission is highly selective, but academics aren't the only contributing factor to the Cornell Dyson acceptance rate. We also consider your extracurriculars, community engagement, professional goals, and leadership potential.

Depending on the Cornell college or school, applicants may be required to indicate an intended major on their application. During their time at Cornell, students are highly encouraged to take courses in any of the university's undergraduate colleges and schools.