Informational Bulletins
First-Year Students: What Cornell Looks For
There’s no magical formula of grade-point average and standardized test scores that guarantees you will (or won’t) get into Cornell. Yes, Cornell’s admissions personnel review your academic transcript, and they’re interested in the strength of your curriculum. Yes, they note your test scores. It’s all important.
What they’re looking for beyond the numbers is intellectual potential, strength of character, and love of learning. They want to know about your ability, achievements, motivation, leadership, diligence, and integrity; your sense of fairness and compassion. All of this and more can be revealed in your essays and recommendations, and is reflected in your extracurricular activities, hobbies, after-school and summer jobs, and volunteer work. Some of the unique qualities of our entering class are reflected in the Class Profile.
Can you demonstrate that you’ve taken full advantage of opportunities that have come your way? That you care about your community? That you have special talents in, say, music, writing, science, politics, athletics, theater?
In putting together each class, Cornell selects promising people from all over the country and the world; from cities, suburbs, and rural areas; and from every imaginable background – social, economic, racial, and national. They’re graduates of public, parochial, college prep, and alternative and home schools.
And this is of critical importance: Cornell vigorously supports equality of opportunity. No one is denied admission because of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability. Your ability to afford Cornell plays absolutely no part in the admission decision, either. The result is an incredibly rich mix of humanity that is one of the best things about Cornell.
It’s not easy to get into Cornell. Last year, more than 34,000 students applied for about 3,150 places in the freshman class. Don’t let that discourage you, though. If you think Cornell is right for you, start working on your application.
