Cornell is an Ivy League private research university in Ithaca, New York. Cornell is known for its academic programs and it is the only Ivy League school to offer degrees in hospitality and agriculture. Cornell decided not to publicly release their acceptance rate for the class of 2024, but historically their acceptance rate has been around 10%.
The supplemental questions vary slightly depending upon which undergraduate school you’re applying to. But at their core, all of the prompts boil down to this:
Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College. (650 Words)
This is Cornell’s “Why Us” prompt, and the best responses will explain your academic interests and provide reasons as to why Cornell is the best place for you to advance them. Every year, we are struck by the word count on this prompt. It’s the length of your common app essay. This can be either overwhelming or exciting depending upon your relationship with writing. Whether you love to wax poetic about college departments or hate staring at a blank Word doc, there is a formula that you need to follow. The rest of this blog post will provide that for you. When we work on this prompt with TKG clients, we tend to end up with about 550 words.
Origin story:
The first thing that you should do is introduce yourself by telling your origin story, which is a story about how your academic interests came to fruition. Looking ahead here, but the next thing you’ll do is tell Cornell what you plan to major in. So naturally, your origin story should be related to the major that you plan to write about. We like to tell small stories here, and it’s okay if the experience happened when you were young. Just make sure that you’re bridging the gap between “younger you” and “current you” by explaining how you’ve stayed committed since you’re a-ha moment. And when we say small stories, we really do mean small. Let’s say that you’re applying to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and you spent a lot of time outdoors on a farm as a child, and then you started cataloging frog species in sixth grade. That’s fair game to write about as long as you’ve taken steps to stay committed to your goals since then. Remember, the story is the backbone of your entire essay so focus your energy on making it as interesting and vivid as possible.
After you’ve set the scene with your introductory anecdote, your goal is to explain why Cornell is the perfect next step for you. You’ll do that by writing about the following:
Your intended major. Before you move on, read everything you can about your ideal major at Cornell. Why does this program stand out? Don’t answer this question in writing here, but keep it in mind as you work your way through the supplement.
Two upper-level classes you want to take. We are not talking about introductory courses that are offered everywhere because those are not specific to Cornell. Look through the course catalogue of your major and read through the offerings until you find two courses that you are “qualified” to take? What makes you qualified? A basic understanding of at least 50% of the subject matter of any given course. Think about courses that you’ve taken in school, or better yet the books you read and online courses that you’ve taken during your free time. Write about why you want to take the courses.
Two professors you’d like to study under, and why. Again, their expertise should align with things that you’re familiar with. Please note that we did not say “interests.” In order to pitch yourself as a research assistant for someone, you need to have some familiarity with their areas of focus.
A Cornell specific program, research opportunity, internship, or offering. This is where you have to get even more specific. Focus on anything academic that is exclusively available at Cornell. This might be a special opportunity, a program, or a course that’s offered every other semester. Double check that you’re writing about something that is truly specific to Cornell!
By now, you’ve covered the academic side of things. But because Cornell is also looking for students who are good cultural fits, you need to spend some time writing about what you plan to do outside of the classroom. The best way to do this is to write about a student organization or club that you plan to join should you get in. Instead of just dropping it in and messing up the narrative flow of your essay, find a creative way to weave that fact in. Include an anecdote that fits in with the rest of your story as an introduction as to why you want to join the Cornell Chimes. While you’re browsing, keep in mind that you should only write about a group that is an extension of your activities from high school. The club that you write about, however, does not have to be related to your major. The more dynamic your interests, the better. If you get in, you can join club that you want but for the purposes of this supplement, write about something that makes sense within the context of the rest of your application.
ALERT: the conclusion is where most students get tripped up. The only thing that you need to do with the remaining space is quickly reiterate the link between Cornell’s offerings and your academic interests. This is not the time (or place) to write about your tour and how nice the buildings looked. Before you close things out, take your response through multiple rounds of edits. Check for accuracy, spelling mistakes, and repeated information. Good luck!
Cornell’s supplement is long and requires a tremendous amount of focus. Make sure that you’re applying for the right reasons!
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