Updated February 11, 2025

Cornell University Acceptance Rate

What is attending Cornell University like?

What do Toni Morrison, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Kurt Vonnegut, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common? They’re all Cornell grads. 52 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with Cornell, either as alumni or faculty members, and they’re spread across physics, chemistry, literature, and more.

The variety of Cornell’s student body is one thing that makes it so unique — Cornell’s nine undergraduate colleges stretch from focuses in agriculture to economics to hotel management. Along with its impressive blend of subjects on campus in Ithaca, NY, Cornell also emphasizes its global connections and study abroad programs.

Cornell’s upstate New York campus is also surrounded by nature, and the school has a campus-wide initiative to get students outside, called Nature Rx and a guide to campus nature on their site. Students can take a break from their rigorous classes to take in the views, hike, bike, kayaking, or even fish. And if the great outdoors aren’t your thing, no worries! There are hundreds of student organizations to get involved in, including Mars Rover at Cornell, the Medical Ethics & Dilemmas Society, Student Athletes for Sustainability, and even Catan Club.

Cornell’s campus is set in idyllic Ithaca, New York.

Cornell University 2023-2024 Admissions Data

Cornell University Admissions Statistics

As an Ivy League school, Cornell has a competitive admissions process, with just 6.2% of students receiving an admissions offer last year. Their acceptance rate has remained around 7% since 2021. If you’d like to apply, you can choose from the Early Decision or Regular Decision deadlines.

Cornell’s acceptance rate is generally higher during Early Decision than Regular Decision, but bear in mind that if you apply during the earlier cycle, you’ll be required to attend Cornell University.

2023-2024 Cornell University (Class of 2028) Acceptance Rate

Admission Cycle	Number of applicants	Waitlisted	Number admitted	Acceptance rate
Early Decision	9,973	Unknown	1,661	16.7%
Regular Decision	55,639	Unknown	3,467	6.2%
All Applicants	65,612	8,103	5,139	7.8%

Cornell University Acceptance Rate History

Year	Number of applicants	Number admitted	Acceptance rate
2023-2024 (Class of 2028)	65,612	8,103	7.8%
2022-2023 (Class of 2027)	69,195	5,168	7.5%
2021-2022 (Class of 2026)	67,380	5,852	8.7%
2020-2021 (Class of 2025)	51,500	5,514	10.7%
2019-2020 (Class of 2024)	49,114	5,330	10.9%

Cornell Class of 2027 Middle 50% score range of admitted students (25th and 75th percentiles)*

SAT Composite	1480-1520
SAT Math	760-780
SAT ERW	720-740
ACT Composite	33-34

*What does this mean? The middle 50% score range refers to students from the 25th to the 75th percentile of admitted students. So if 100 students were admitted and we ranked their SAT scores from lowest to highest, we’d be looking at 50 students’ stats (from student 25 through student 75).

What is Cornell looking for?

Cornell’s admissions site offers helpful advice for the entire admissions process, including a ste-by-step guide from choosing your decision cycle and school to submitting any needed additional application items. They also include a helpful list of FAQs.

They’ve also included a blog post about what exactly Cornell is looking for, and they mention these specific attributes:

Ability
Achievements
Motivation
Leadership
Diligence
Integrity
Sense of fairness and compassion.

You can demonstrate your unique perspective through your essays, academic profile, letters of recommendation, and activities.

Other colleges you may be interested in:

College Name	Number of applicants (Class of 2028)	Number admitted (Class of 2028)	Acceptance rate (Class of 2028)
Columbia University	60,248	2,319	3.9%
Rice University	32,473	1,163	3.6%
Dartmouth University	31,657	1,685	5.3%

PrepMaven can help you in the admissions process

Wondering how to get into Cornell University? PrepMaven can help you along the way. Whether you’re looking to boost your test scores, write a killer personal statement, or improve your GPA, we can be a helpful resource. With tutors who are graduates of top universities, valedictorians, National Merit Finalists, and National AP Scholars, we’re here to help you no matter what step you’re at in the admissions process.

Give us a call at 609-945-2264 or fill out our website form to learn how our flexible packages can work for you.

Alexis

Alexis is a tutor, writer, and producer. She graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As a tutor, she loves to help students explore their unique stories and share their personal journeys through impactful essay writing.

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