Admissions Factors
What Cornell Looks For
Cornell rates 6 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability and character and personal qualities.
How Cornell rates each factor
Each college sorts 18 factors into four levels on its Common Data Set.
Very important
Important
Considered
Not considered
The numbers behind the class
Overall admit rate
8.4%
6,077 of 72,523 applicants
Early decision admit rate
18.8%
Early decision admits equal 49% of the class
Admitted from the waitlist
3.8%
254 of 6,598 who stayed on it
84% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.
Frequently asked questions
What does Cornell look for in applicants?
Cornell rates 6 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability and character and personal qualities.
Does Cornell consider legacy status?
Cornell rates alumni relation as "considered" in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.
Does Cornell track demonstrated interest?
Cornell rates the level of an applicant's interest as "not considered".
What is Cornell's waitlist acceptance rate?
6,598 students stayed on the waitlist and 254 were admitted, a rate of 3.8%. The number changes a lot from year to year because it depends on how many admitted students enroll.
What is Cornell's early decision acceptance rate?
Early decision: 1,889 of 10,057 applicants were admitted (18.8%), against 8.4% overall. Early pools include recruited athletes and other students with a strong tie to the college, so the gap overstates the boost for an ordinary applicant.
Source: Cornell’s own Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C. Last checked 2026-10-08. The ratings are the college’s own description of its process. Counts are for one entering class.
