Finding your people at Cornell?

[Anonymous]

DS is torn about whether to ED Cornell. He thinks he's a strong candidate for various reasons (attends a NY school that is a bit of a feeder, has ECs that Cornell seems to like, plus the requisite GPA + test scores). But he's a little nervous about the social scene and the reputation for being so fraternity-driven. He's a super social kid but would rather not join a frat. He's generally a nice, inclusive kid who does a lot of community building type stuff at his school. Thoughts?

He'd tempted to try for Dyson but will probably do Arts & Sciences as an econ major since Dyson has a 4% accept rate.

[Anonymous]

Does he play any sports? My kid found his people through a rec-level sports club. He also lucked out and liked the kids in his first year suite. He did not join a frat and seemed to have no issues making friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does he play any sports? My kid found his people through a rec-level sports club. He also lucked out and liked the kids in his first year suite. He did not join a frat and seemed to have no issues making friends.

He does play sports! (not at recruiting level). That is really good to know re your son. How is the location - is it a pain to get to and from Ithaca? Thank you for responding!

[Anonymous]

Have son go visit. Check out the vibe. Chat with students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have son go visit. Check out the vibe. Chat with students.

He visited over the summer, when he was thinking RD not ED. It's so hard to visit everywhere when schools are in session - I feel like we are out of time for touring.

[Anonymous]

Different poster. My kid is also contemplating a Cornell ED. His high school is also a feeder and he has the grades/test scores and extracurriculars.

He is also apprehensive although he is probably looking for a slightly different crowd (although with some overlap as he is super social and has friends of all types.) He wants to join a fraternity and is very much a "guys guy" if that makes any sense.

Is there a niche for him as well? The kids on the tour this summer definitely read "mostly quirky, intense and super driven." It's so hard to figure this stuff out from afar.

[Anonymous]

Relatively recent Cornell alumni here (graduated in past 5-6 years). It’s one of the bigger top tier schools - I think the largest Ivy by a long shot - so you can definitely find your people! You certainly don’t need a frat or sorority to do so (I was never interested in them) and there are also “nerdy” frats that don’t focus on partying and drinking anyway. You can go through clubs or living groups to find friends.

I will say though that Dyson has a reputation for being very party focused so some partying might be required to network if your kid wants to go into business/econ/i-banking.

[Anonymous]

I have a few close friends who went to Cornell. They are truly diverse, socially, and all loved it. A couple nerds, a couple of frat guys. One of my nerd friends joined a sorority and was very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relatively recent Cornell alumni here (graduated in past 5-6 years). It’s one of the bigger top tier schools - I think the largest Ivy by a long shot - so you can definitely find your people! You certainly don’t need a frat or sorority to do so (I was never interested in them) and there are also “nerdy” frats that don’t focus on partying and drinking anyway. You can go through clubs or living groups to find friends.

I will say though that Dyson has a reputation for being very party focused so some partying might be required to network if your kid wants to go into business/econ/i-banking.

Thank you! My kid likes parties and as mentioned, is super social. But he is wary of a "bro" scene because he's kind of a nerd at heart. *I* worry about excessive drinking/hazing, that kind of thing and so I've always been very discouraging of fraternities as well.

He would love to apply to Dyson, but the odds seem bleak, so I don't think he will.

[Anonymous]

We have two kids that graduated from Cornell in last 3 years. Our kids could not be more different from one another but both applied ED and both really enjoyed their Cornell experience. With 13,000 undergrads you can definitely find your particular tribe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two kids that graduated from Cornell in last 3 years. Our kids could not be more different from one another but both applied ED and both really enjoyed their Cornell experience. With 13,000 undergrads you can definitely find your particular tribe.

does cornell have a sibling preference?

[Anonymous]

It’s no longer an advantage to apply to Cornell ED by the way. But that’s another conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s no longer an advantage to apply to Cornell ED by the way. But that’s another conversation.

officially?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s no longer an advantage to apply to Cornell ED by the way. But that’s another conversation.

officially?

I thought the policy change that was announced during the last admissions cycle was just that Cornell was going to take fewer kids during ED -- not that ED was no longer going to be an advantage at all. In fact, among Ivy schools offering ED I think Cornell ED provides the biggest relative advantage vis-a-vis RD because a far lower percentage of the total Cornell ED admits are comprised of athletes, legacy and Questbridge due to Cornell's far larger freshman class size. Thus a bigger percentage of the ED acceptances at Cornell are unhooked than at its Ivy peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s no longer an advantage to apply to Cornell ED by the way. But that’s another conversation.

officially?

I thought the policy change that was announced during the last admissions cycle was just that Cornell was going to take fewer kids during ED -- not that ED was no longer going to be an advantage at all. In fact, among Ivy schools offering ED I think Cornell ED provides the biggest relative advantage vis-a-vis RD because a far lower percentage of the total Cornell ED admits are comprised of athletes, legacy and Questbridge due to Cornell's far larger freshman class size. Thus a bigger percentage of the ED acceptances at Cornell are unhooked than at its Ivy peers.

Anecdotally, the kids who expected to get in ED based on Naviance data were deferred and accepted RD along with other kids from the class at our school.