Brown University
In the 17 years since Brown adopted its current Early Decision policy, the university has never received more Early Decision applications than for its Class of 2023. Heck, the pool was 21% larger than last year’s ED pool — likely a direct result of The Brown Promise. In all for the Class of 2023, 4,230 students applied under Brown’s binding Early policy. Of these students, 769 earned admission. The Early Decision admit rate thus stood at a shade over 18%. In the Regular Decision round, another application benchmark was established: 34,444 students applied. Between Early Decision and Regular Decision, that means 38,674 students applied to the Providence, Rhode Island-based school. Of these students, 1,782 earned a spot in the incoming class. That marks a RD admit rate of a shade over 5%. By our arithmetic, the overall admit rate for Brown’s Class of 2023 was approximately 6.6%, a somewhat dramatic drop from 7.2% for the Class of 2022. In fact, the overall admit rate has dropped precipitously over the last few years: from 9.0% for the Class of 2020 to 8.3% for the Class of 2021 to 7.2% for the Class of 2022 to this year’s 6.6% figure.
For Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) in which students receive both a bachelor’s degree and a medical degree in eight years, 2,641 students submitted applications to the Class of 2023. Of these students, 94 got in. That marks an admit rate of about 3.6%. Likewise at the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program, 694 students applied to the Class of 2023. Of these applicants, 18 earned admission. That marks an admit rate of about 2.6%.
Highlights of Brown University’s Class of 2023
In the Early Decision round, 12% of admits will be the first in their families to attend college, a coveted group by every highly selective college in America. 44% are students of color — African American, Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Native American, or Asian American. 379 are male, while 390 are male (Brown traditionally has significantly more females than males in its student body). Brown’s ED admits hail from 46 states in our union and from 37 nations around the globe. The most-represented nations outside of the U.S. are: Canada, India, China, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.
Among the overall pool of admits, 94% are in the top 10% of their high school classes. They hail from 1,686 high schools; 58% from public schools, 31% from private schools, and 11% from parochial schools. 49% identify as students of color. Admits hail from all 50 states in our nation; the most-represented states include New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, California, and New York. Admits hail from 80 nations; the most-represented nations outside the U.S. include South Korea, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The most common academic interests among admits are: political science, engineering, computer science, economics, biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, English, neuroscience, business, international relations, and entrepreneurship and organizations.
If you happen to be interested, read more about Brown University’s Early Decision and Regular Decision pools for the Class of 2023.
Columbia University
Columbia University received 4,461 binding Early Decision applications to its Class of 2023: an all-time record. These students applied to either Columbia College or the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. The figure marks an increase of 376 students from the Early Decision round application tally for the Class of 2022. Columbia, unlike its Ivy League peers, has a long history of releasing more about its admitted students later on in the year, so check back for more details soon. We know you can’t wait!
Overall, between the Early Decision and Regular Decision rounds, 42,569 students applied for admission to Columbia’s Class of 2023. This figure stacks up nicely against the 40,203 students who applied to Columbia’s Class of 2022. Of the students who applied to this year’s class, 2,190 got in. The overall acceptance rate for Columbia’s Class of 2023 was thus approximately 5.1%, while this same figure stood at approximately 5.5% last year. In fact, it’s a number that’s slowly but fairly steadily dropping: from 7.0% for the Class of 2018 to 6.1% for the Class of 2019 to 6.0% for the Class of 2020 to 5.8% to the Class of 2021 to 5.5% for the Class of 2022.
Read more about Columbia’s Early Decision pool as well as its record-breaking overall admission pool to the Class of 2023. And be sure to check back to our blog soon for the demographic breakdown of the Columbia Class of 2023, details that Columbia traditionally releases later in the year.
Cornell University
In the Early Decision round, 6,159 students made binding commitments to attend the Ithaca, New York-based school if offered admission. The figure was down by 200 from last year when 6,319 students applied Early. Of these applicants, 1,395 earned admission. The Early Decision admit rate for Cornell’s Class of 2023 thus stood at 22.6%. This same figure stood at 24.3% for the Class of 2022. In fact, it’s been steadily declining the last few years: from 27.4% for the Class of 2020 to 25.6% for the Class of 2021 to 24.3% for the Class of 2022 to this year’s 22.6%.
Among the overall pool of applicants (including Early Decision and Regular Decision applicants), 49,118 students submitted applications, a figure down 2,210 from last year and defying a recent trend at the university of increasing overall applications: from 41,900 for the Class of 2019 to 44,965 for the Class of 2020 to 47,038 for the Class of 2021 to 51,328 for the Class of 2022. Of the overall applicants to Cornell’s Class of 2023, 5,183 earned admission. This marked an overall admit rate of 10.6%, up slightly from the 10.3% rate just last year.
Highlights of Cornell University’s Class of 2023
Among Cornell’s Early Decision admits to its Class of 2023, 39.8% are students of color: African American, Latinx, Asian American, Native American, and bi- or multi-cultural students. 55.6% are women, which by our math means that 44.4% are male — a significant gender disparity. 13.5% are recruited athletes. 12.3% are international students (international applications were up 1.5% from last year).
Among Cornell’s overall pool of admitted students, 54.9% are female, while 45.1% are male — so the gender disparity held for the full application cycle. 32% identify as underrepresented minorities, while 54.9% are students of color. If you don’t get that one bit, realize that Asian Americans are students of color but Asian Americans are not an underrepresented minority. Now you get it? Admits to Cornell’s Class of 2023 hail from all 50 states in our union (in addition to DC, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico) and from 95 countries around the globe. 50 students earned admission through the First Year Spring Admission program (FYSA) — to the College of Arts & Sciences of the School of Hotel Administration.
Read more about Cornell’s Early Decision admits as well as Cornell’s Regular Decision admits to the Class of 2023.
Cornell Class of 2023 Sees Increased Diversity Rate in Admitted Students, Higher Acceptance Rate
Cornell’s Class of 2023 acceptance rate, at 10.6 percent, is three-tenths of a percentage point higher than last year’s. Of admitted students, 1,395 students were accepted in the Early Decision round and were notified in December. 4,948 applicants have been waitlisted.
Students have until May 1 to respond to offers of admission.
Admitted students around the world can participate in other events, according to the University, including at a reception in Mumbai, India.
Regular-decision applicants to Ivy League universities received notice of admission on Thursday evening. Among the Ancient Eight, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Princeton University all yielded lower acceptance rates for the class of 2023 than Cornell, at 7.44 percent, 5.1 percent and 5.77, respectively. All three schools received fewer total applications than Cornell.
Regular-decision applicants to Ivy League universities received notice of admission on Thursday evening. Among the Ancient Eight, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Princeton University all yielded lower acceptance rates for the class of 2023 than Cornell, at 7.44 percent, 5.1 percent and 5.77, respectively. All three schools received fewer total applications than Cornell.
Top Tier is Our Specialty
Cornell Acceptance Rate – Class of 2025
There were 51,500 applications submitted for a place in the 2020-21 freshman class; just 5,514 were accepted. This acceptance rate of 9.9% was the first time Cornell inched into the single-digits. The Class of 2025 saw the admit rate decline to roughly 9%, although precise numbers have yet to be released. We do know that there were 5,836 students admitted out of more than 67,000 applicants.
Cornell: Early Decision Acceptance Rate – Class of 2024
Cornell has not yet released their ED acceptance data from the 2020-21 admissions cycle. For the entering Class of 2024, there were 6,630 early decision applicants, 1,594 of whom were accepted. This works out to a 24% acceptance rate. This was a higher rate of success than the 22.6% figure encountered by the Class of 2023. There were 6,159 ED applicants for the Class of 2023.
Cornell Admissions – SAT, ACT, and Class Rank
According to the most recent statistics available (Class of 2024), the mid-50% SAT range for enrolled freshman was 1410-1530; on the ACT the range was 32-35. Eighty-four percent had earned a place in the top 10% of their graduating high school class and 98% landed in the top 25%.
Admissions Trends & Notes – (Class of 20024 & 2025)
How Cornell Rates Applicants
Unlike many other ultra-selective institutions, undergraduate applications to Cornell are not reviewed from a central admissions office. Rather, they are funneled to the specific college within the university that a particular student has applied to. From there, applications undergo a “first review” which looks at whether or not the applicant possesses the minimum academic credentials for serious consideration. Typically, around 80% of applicants make it through the “first review.”
In the next round of review, admissions officers look the rigor of an applicant’s high school coursework and carefully read their supplemental essay about their interest in studying a given discipline at Cornell (more on this later). They also want to see evidence of a desire to become passionately committed to the Cornell student community. This can best be demonstrated through extracurricular activities, essays, and recommendation letters.
Cornell is not going to be impressed that you filled the ten spaces on the Common App Activity List; they are looking for genuine excellence in one or more activities. For example, you won a prestigious national physics competition, you are one of the top violinists in the United States, you published original scientific research, or were the president of a service organization that made a monumental impact. It definitely helps if you are recruited as an athlete to join one of Big Red’s 36 Division I sports teams. In the Class of 2024, 6.5% of incoming students are designated as “recruited athletes.”
In sum, there are eight factors that Cornell ranks as being “very important” to their admissions process: rigor of secondary school record, GPA, standardized test scores, the essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, and character/personal qualities. Standing out in all of these areas definitely increases your chances at gaining acceptance to this Ivy League institution.
Who Actually Gets Into Cornell?
Let’s look at the demographics of the Class of 2024.
Geographically, the Class of 2024 was comprised of students from:
Competition is stiffest among those hailing from states with endless streams of qualified applicants (the entire Northeast, including New York, & the West Coast). If you hail from a less populated state like Nebraska, South Dakota, or Alaska, your location is more likely to provide a boost to your admissions chances.
Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown was as follows (note: these do not add up to 100% as students could list multiple ethnicities):
A further look reveals that 26.9% of the Cornell Class of 2024 identifies as an under-represented minority. Overall, 51.7% identify as a student of color.
The breakdown by gender is notably split in favor of women:
Cornell’s Yield Rate
Cornell’s yield rate—the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted was 59% for the Class of 2024. This number is over 20 points lower than Harvard but higher than many other selective universities. For comparison, elite schools such as Caltech, UCLA, Washington University in St. Louis, UVA, and USC all have yield rates under 50%.
Tips for Applying to Cornell
If you plan on joining the almost 67,000 Big Red hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:
College Interest Essays
In the online Common Application Writing Supplement, please respond to the essay question below (maximum of 650 words) that corresponds to the undergraduate college or school to which you are applying.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected? Please discuss how your interests and related experiences have influenced your choice. Specifically, how will an education from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell University help you achieve your academic goals?
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning: What is your “thing”? What energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time? Everyone has different passions, obsessions, quirks, inspirations. What are yours?
College of Arts and Sciences: Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s “any person…any study” founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College.
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business: What kind of a business student are you? The Cornell SC Johnson College of Business offers two distinct business programs, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and the School of Hotel Administration. Please describe how your interests and ambitions can be met through one or both of the Schools within the College.
College of Engineering: Tell us about what excites you most about Cornell Engineering and/or studying engineering at Cornell University. How do you see yourself becoming a part of the Cornell Engineering community?
College of Human Ecology: How has your decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology been influenced by your related experiences? How will your choice of major impact your goals and plans for the future?
School of Industrial and Labor Relations: Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School.
The key to tackling this 650 word beast is to do your homework on the college within Cornell University to which you are applying. Learn how to write a killer “Why This College” essay in our previous blog post on the subject.
Should I Apply to Cornell?
If you bring strong academic and extracurricular credentials to the table, there is no harm in filling out a Cornell application, but—as with all highly-competitive colleges in 2021—even the best and brightest teens need to have an appropriate college list, containing a complement of “target” and “safety” schools.
A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew’s experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans more than one decade. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.