Last year, we did a deep dive into transferring to Cornell. This is because Cornell is a true outlier among the Ivy’s with a transfer acceptance rate of 18%-19% for the past four years. For context, Princeton didn’t even accept transfer students until last year and Columbia’s transfer acceptance rate is around 6%.
We bring this up because we often hear from students that they want to transfer to an Ivy League school, and they’re “just going to apply to Cornell because it’s the easiest to get into.” This pains us for the following reasons:
If you have legitimate reasons for wanting to transfer to Cornell and you also have the grades and scores to get in, go for it. But you shouldn’t be applying to Cornell (or any school for that matter) “just because.”
In the grand scheme of things, the transfer acceptance rate is still below 20%. That is not a high acceptance rate, it’s only high when you’re comparing it to the rest of the schools on this chart.
A lot of people don’t know about Cornell’s transfer option letters. Read the blog post we just linked for more information, but it’s important to note that some students who apply as freshmen and don’t get in receive a transfer option letter, and they are encouraged to reapply as a sophomore. The details are murky but know that there’s a group of students who are already on Cornell’s radar who are planning to reapply as well.
To apply to Cornell, you need to complete the essay below and also look into the additional submission materials required by the individual school that you’re applying to. For example, the landscape architecture program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences requires a portfolio. Because we don’t know your life and most of the additional requirements aren’t writing supplements, we’re only going to break down the required essay. However, we strongly urge you to triple check the requirements and call the school. Yes, call Cornell and speak to an actual human. Spooky, we know. But through our work with transfer students at TKG, we have learned that there is confusion at the colleges about the transfer process. There are deadlines, many documents, and hidden links on the common app transfer website. If you’re serious about transferring to Cornell, don’t let a missed requirement prevent you from being evaluated. Let’s look at the supplement:
Please provide a 1,250-3,250 character statement discussing your educational path (approx. 250 - 650 word). How does continuing your education at a new institution help you achieve your future goals?
Before we begin, we would like to submit a motion for all colleges to ditch the character count maximums and exclusively use word counts. It’s super weird that Cornell offers both, but the real issue is that the character counts are finicky. Sometimes the count includes spaces, and sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on the school. And we think it’s unfair to expect stressed-out college students to constantly copy and paste half-completed work into the common app to check their progress. One of our transfer students ran into this issue last year, so we’re sharing this advice: if you’re going by character count, copy and paste every paragraph into the common app website as you go so you know how much space you have left. Annoying, but necessary. Onto the supplement.
Cornell would like to hear more about your educational path, and then reasons as to why transferring to Cornell would help you achieve your goals. Your response should include:
Origin story:
Including an anecdote about why you want to study what you want to study prevents the admissions team from feeling like they’re reading an essay that was written by a robot. It warms them up to you. Think back to when you first might have realized that you want to study animal science or biology. Was it a love for animals at a young age or a life-changing and fascinating lab you did in sixth grade? Whatever it is, tell them that story. A few sentences should do it.
Reasons for wanting to transfer:
At some point during your essay, you need to tell Cornell that what you’re looking for is not offered at your current school. But let’s consider two ways to do it:
Student #1: “I don’t like X school because I can never get into the classes I want to take, I don’t like my professors, and it’s in a bad location.”
Student #2: “I want to study Animal Science, a program that is not offered at my school. I’m also hoping to do research on a farm, but my options are extremely limited because I go to NYU.”
No one likes student #1 because they are complaining. Now, we doubt you would write that, but we’re making a point. Student #2 is using Cornell to frame their current school as less than ideal without bashing it, which is what you should aim for.
Intended major at Cornell:
Pretty self-explanatory, and this should fit into a very short sentence.
Two classes you want to take:
Sticking with Animal Science as our example, go to the homepage and find the link to the classes. Find two upper-level classes that you want to take, and write about why. Make sure that you back your claim up with evidence that you’re a good fit for the class. Yes, we know that classes are about learning and you don’t have to understand the entire syllabus to sit in a lecture hall. But you still need to link the coursework to your past. For example, an animal science major might want to take ANSC 3510 – Dairy Herd Management if they worked on a dairy farm for a summer internship in high school.
A professor you’d like to work with:
While you’re still on the department homepage of your major, research the professors until you find someone that is teaching, writing a book/paper, and/or researching an academic topic that fits well with your interests. Try narrowing it down to a few options by sorting by interest and/or expertise. We often find that students will try to cut corners here once they find one buzzword. You’re way better off finding a few options and doing a fair amount of research on them, then explain why you would be a good fit for their team.
An extracurricular activity you plan to join:
Even as a transfer student who is probably behind on credits (a harsh reality,) you won’t be spending all of your time in the classroom. Find an extracurricular at Cornell that aligns with your application. It doesn’t have to be related to your major, but it should be clear why you picked it. If you’re a nature lover who organized class hiking trips, you might look into the outdoor adventure and climbing trips link on the website.
We’ve given you the boxes that you should check in your supplement, but your job is to find a way to weave this information into a story about yourself. You don’t need to follow the structure from above – we went through the information chronologically, but your supplement doesn’t have to read that way. It shouldn’t read like a bullet point list or a reiteration of Cornell’s offerings. Look at the information that you’ve gathered and write a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
If you want to transfer, but you’re not sure where to start, contact us here.