Informational Bulletins
International Students Overview
Cornell's first president, Andrew Dickson White, was a world traveler. A scholar, bibliophile, and diplomat to Germany, Russia, and the Hague, White attracted international students and professors to Cornell from the start: the first class included students from Nova Scotia, Brazil, England, and Russia. Today, 8% of undergraduates at Cornell are international students (not including the growing number of recent immigrants and "global nomads") and forty percent of Cornell graduate students are from outside the U.S. Cornell's statement on diversity and inclusiveness, "Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds," reflects the importance Cornell places on welcoming those with different backgrounds and perspectives into the learning community.
Education in the United States
Students in the U.S. complete primary and secondary education in 12 years. Many of those accepted to Cornell have completed Advanced Placement courses comparable to British A-Levels or I.B. Higher Level subjects. As college students, undergraduates in the U.S. complete four years of study to earn a bachelor's degree. Earning a bachelor's degree involves studying in depth one academic discipline (a "major") and taking courses in other disciplines as "electives."
Cornell offers these undergraduate degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
- Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.)
- Five-year Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.)
Students who have earned a bachelor's degree often go on to attend graduate school to study for a:
- Master's degree (M.A. or M.S.)
- Professional degree in business (M.B.A.)
- Professional degree in engineering (M.Eng.)
- Professional degree in law (J.D.)
- Professional degree in medicine (M.D.)*
- Doctoral degree (Ph.D.)
*Please note: Most international students studying for an M.D. do so outside of the United States. It is extremely unusual for applicants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents to be accepted by medical schools here, and there is little financial support available to the few international students who are accepted to U.S. medical schools.
