Cornell is Ivy League, baby. This major research university in Ithaca, New York, home to over 16,000 undergraduate students, is unique as a super prestigious university and member of the Ivy League that offers educational tracks and opportunities, like the hospitality school and the agricultural programs, that no other top schools have. Truly, not a single other Ivy League or Ivy-adjacent school offers what Cornell does.
For undergraduates, think of the university as a big umbrella. Under that umbrella are a number of different subject area-specific colleges that students are sorted into. These are the…
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
College of Arts and Science
College of Engineering
College of Human Ecology
School of Public Policy
College of Business
School of Hotel Administration
School of Applied Economics and Management
School of Industrial and Labor Relations
This diversity of opportunities, including in things like agriculture and hospitality, has given Cornell a reputation as the ‘practical’ Ivy. You can study anything there (nearly), but the most popular subjects are super practical with massive earning potential straight out of college.
When you pair these opportunities with Ithaca, a small city in upstate New York with ample off-campus housing and a thriving arts and culture scene, it’s a magical combination. You should know, though, that it isn’t anywhere near New York City — It’s actually closer to Canada!
Cornell has a thriving international student community with over 1,600 undergraduate international students representing more than 120 countries. Getting in isn’t easy, though. The overall acceptance rate is just 7.9%, but that’s more than double the acceptance rate for international students. The international student acceptance rate is a mere 2.8%. Why is it so low? Cornell gets so many international applications, nearly 17,000 of them in the 2022-2023 application season, that they need to reject a higher ratio of international applications than domestic ones.
In order to get into Cornell as an international student, there is work to be done. Lucky for you, we’re here to help. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to know.
We’re experts in helping international students defy the odds by gaining acceptance to their dream schools. If you’re considering Cornell, send us an email.
What is Cornell looking for in International Students?
First off, let’s look at how Cornell defines an international student. For Cornell, international students “do not hold US citizenship or approved permanent resident status (green card).” Undocumented and DACA students are considered domestic, as are US citizens living abroad.
If you are an international student, then you next need to decide which school you want to apply to at Cornell. Once you’ve submitted your application, you cannot change the college you are applying to — and once you are admitted and enrolled it can be very difficult to switch schools. Do not try to ‘game’ the system by applying to one college with the intention of switching, because switching isn’t always possible and even when it is possible it is far from a guarantee.
Courses + Grades
Cornell reads applications based on where you currently go to school, so they’ll consider you against, most seriously, other applicants from your country or region. And they know what they are looking at — and looking for. They know what is impressive, and are aware of where red flags may be. So, the application readers won’t be surprised by your educational system, but they do want to be pleasantly surprised by your impressive accomplishments in the classroom.
To do this, you need to take the hardest classes that you have access to, and earn the highest scores possible in those subjects. They want to see passion and focus, but also breadth. The application readers should not be able to tell from your grades what your favorite subject is, but taking more courses in a subject you want to major in can signal a focus and underline a particular strength.
There are also school-specific course and portfolio requirements depending on which college you want to apply to. Read these really, really carefully, and make sure that you are setting yourself up to exceed the minimum requirements. They also know that you may be sending predicted grades based on your school system, but expect to have final scores sent when they are available.
Extracurriculars
When applying to college in the United States, the grades are the most important piece of your application — but your transcript is far from the only component. Cornell also wants to see your passion in action outside of the classroom. They want to see you striving for success, thriving as a leader, and pursuing opportunities far beyond the simple framework of ‘school’. This framework has led Cornell to look really kindly on applications from students with an athletic background, even if they aren’t planning on pursuing a sport while in college. Just kicking a ball around doesn’t help your application though. If you are successful in a sport as a player and connect with your community through that sport as a coach, mentor, or referee, that can be a powerful one-two punch, though.
And this framework doesn’t just apply to sports. If you are a musician, pursue your music as far as you can while also seeking out ways to give back to your community through what you care about. So, be a leader, pursue the betterment of your community, and follow passion.
Standardized Tests
Cornell is test-optional for the SAT and ACT through the fall of 2025, with the possibility of extending the policy further. Three of the undergraduate colleges don’t us the SAT or ACT scores at all: Agriculture and Life Sciences; Architecture, Art, and Planning; and the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (the school of Hotel Administration and the school of Applied Economics and Management). While five of the other Cornell colleges do use the tests if they are submitted.
If the college you are going to apply to would consider the SAT or ACT, we highly recommend submitting a strong score as an international applicant. Doing so underlines your academic readiness, and may even exempt you from the English Proficiency Testing requirement.
Speaking of the English Proficiency Testing requirement, you may be asked to submit the results of a test confirming your proficiency in English if any of the following are true:
English is not your native language
Your school is not in a country where English is an official language
Your school is in a country where English is an official language, but you’ll have been there for less than four years before you would enroll at Cornell
You have many options for which proficiency test to take, and they don’t request that you submit these scores preemptively, but it’s better to plan to have to take a proficiency test than to bet that you won’t. This is especially true because there are minimum scores for admissions consideration. We won’t list them all because you can take any of a number of tests, but you can find them here.
As we mentioned above, there are SAT and ACT score thresholds that can get you out of this requirement, as well, although you’ll still have to submit a form through the application portal after submitting your formal application to confirm that. And going to “an English-speaking school in a non-English speaking country” does not exempt you.
Final Thoughts
Once you’ve picked the college to apply to, confirmed the requirements, and lined up or recommitted to your extracurriculars, you need to decide how to apply. You can submit Early Decision or Regular Decision, but ED is your most powerful tool by far. Seriously consider applying ED if you want to be admitted to Cornell as an international student.
Applying to Cornell isn’t especially difficult, but getting in as an international student is. To succeed, you need to plan far ahead of actually writing your essays and commit to presenting the strongest picture of yourself possible — which often means taking on extra work just when school is at its hardest.
If you’re considering Cornell, let us know. We can help.