Informational Bulletins
First-Year Students: Application Instructions
Before starting your application to Cornell, please be sure to read through the complete Freshman Application Instructions. It will be very important to note the college-specific admission requirements (see Freshman Admission Requirements Grid and the Admission and Financial Aid Timetable and Mailing Instructions). Once you have read these materials, you are ready to begin your application to Cornell. Here is the basic information that you will need:
The Common Application
Submitting the online Common Application and the $70 application fee or fee waiver begins the admission process and should be done as soon as possible to avoid delays in processing your application. Cornell receives applications from more than 30,000 prospective students each fall. As our January 2 regular-decision application deadline approaches, it can take us 2-3 weeks to process each new application and send it to committee for review.
Application Fee/Fee Waiver
Cornell’s application fee is $70, and you are required to submit it with your Common Application. Please note that Cornell cannot process your application without the application fee or a fee waiver. Remember that if you apply online, you must submit the application fee online. If you submit the paper copy application, you must submit the application fee in the form of a check, draft, or international money order (payable to Cornell University) with your full name and date of birth written on your fee payment. Refer to mailing instructions above.
To apply for a fee waiver, please send us one of the following documents:
- a letter from your guidance counselor/college advisor, or representative from a social service or community agency, stating that the fee would cause financial hardship;
- the NACAC fee waiver request form completed by your guidance counselor/college advisor;
- or the College Board Request for Waiver of College Application Fee form (obtainable from your guidance counselor/college advisor if you used SAT Reasoning Test or Subject Tests fee waivers).
If you cannot apply for a waiver by one of these methods, please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office at 607-255-5241. If you are submitting your application on paper, your fee waiver request should be sent attached to page AP-1 of the Common Application (pages AP-1 to AP-5). If you are applying online, check the fee waiver box on the Common Application and mail your fee waiver request to: Undergraduate Admissions Office, Cornell University, P.O. Box 516, Ithaca, NY 14851-0516.
The Cornell University Supplement
This required form provides us with essential information about your academic interests. Admissions staff members at Cornell carefully read and evaluate your response to the college interest essay. The information you provide helps us determine how good a match exists between your intellectual goals and the Cornell college(s) or school(s) to which you are applying. If you are planning to utilize the primary/alternate option, you must complete a college interest essay for both your primary- and alternate-choice colleges.
Supporting Application Materials
In addition to the Common Application and the Cornell Supplement, you will be required to submit the following forms: the Secondary School Report form (including your official secondary school transcript) two Teacher Evaluation forms, and the Midyear Report form. These forms, and in some cases, your official secondary school transcript can be submitted online. Please encourage your guidance counselor and teachers to submit these forms online where and when possible at www.commonapp.org.
Secondary School Report
Your counselor or designated school official should submit this form or your school’s own report form on your behalf. Your secondary school transcript should accompany the Secondary School Report or it can be sent separately. We cannot review your application without both the Secondary School Report and your official transcript.
Teacher Evaluations
Applicants to Cornell are required to submit two teacher recommendations. Please be sure to remind individuals writing letters for you to include your name and date of birth on all pages if they are sending them by mail. You are encouraged to limit your letters of recommendation to the two that are required.
Midyear Report
The Midyear Report should be submitted as soon after January 2 as possible. We understand that students whose schools are on trimesters may not submit this form or have any new grade information to report at the time of submission.
Standardized Tests
All applicants should submit either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing. In addition, each undergraduate college/school has specific requirements for the SAT Subject Tests (see requirements below). It is your responsibility to make sure that you have taken the appropriate Subject Tests and have the scores officially reported to Cornell from the testing agency by the application deadline. Please note that Cornell requires students to submit all scores from tests taken and does not participate in the College Board’s Score Choice.
SAT Subject Test Requirements by College
Agriculture and Life Sciences: a science and mathematics (any level) are recommended, but not required
Architecture, Art, and Planning: architecture only - mathematics (any level)
Arts and Sciences: two subjects of your choice
Engineering: mathematics (any level) and a science
Hotel Administration: mathematics (any level)
Human Ecology: mathematics (any level) and one subject of your choice
Industrial and Labor Relations: mathematics (any level); ACT test takers exempt from Subject Test requirement
Required Admission Interviews
Formal admission interviews are required for applicants to:
- The School of Hotel Administration (see Hotel School Interview or call 607-255-6376 to schedule an interview)
- The architecture program in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Applicants to the art department are encouraged, though not required, to have an interview. Visit www.app.cornell.edu/admissions or call 607-255-4376 to schedule an interview.
Though Cornell offers applicants the opportunity to meet with Cornell alumni, formal interviews are not required, nor offered, for any other undergraduate programs.
Portfolios and Design Indexes
Portfolios and/or design indexes are required as follows:
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Landscape architecture: portfolio required
- Send to Landscape Architecture Department, Cornell University, 440 Kennedy Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853
Architecture, Art, and Planning
- Architecture: file portfolio (photographs, photocopies in notebook) required
- Art: file portfolio (slides and/or CD) required
- Send to Architecture, Art, and Planning Admission Office, Cornell University, B1 West Sibley Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-4901
Human Ecology
- Design and environmental analysis: portfolio and design index required for interior design option
- Fiber science and apparel design: design index required for apparel design, and apparel and textile management options; portfolio required for apparel design, and highly recommended for apparel and textile management
- For guidelines and index: www.human.cornell.edu/admissions
- Send to College of Human Ecology Admissions Office, Cornell University, 170 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850-4401
Supplemental Music Submissions
Information for labeling and mailing supplemental music tapes and CDs for evaluation by Cornell’s music department can be found at www.arts.cornell.edu/music/und-recordings.html. Deadlines for submitting supplemental music submissions are November 1 for early decision and January 2 for regular decision applicants.
The Common Application Final Report Form
If you are admitted to Cornell and make the decision to enroll, you will be required to submit the Final Report Form from the Common Application and also have your school send us your final high school transcript.
Other Common Application Forms
There are a number of supplemental forms that accompany the online Common Application, including an Early Decision Agreement, an Arts Supplement, an Athletic Supplement, and a Supplement for International Students. These forms are not required by Cornell University and we do not recommend that you submit these additional forms with your Cornell materials.
Cornell Alumni Admission Ambassador Network (CAAAN) Applicant Contact Meetings
Once we receive your Common Application and fee (or fee waiver request), we will forward your name to the Cornell alumni (CAAAN) committee in your area, if one exists. A member of that committee may then contact you to schedule a time to meet or speak on the phone. This meeting is not an admission interview, nor is it a requirement for admission; rather, it is an opportunity for you to speak with a Cornell graduate and learn more about the university – and for us to learn more about you.
Helpful Application Tips
- Give yourself enough time before the application deadline to complete both the Common Application and the Cornell Supplement.
- Be sure to carefully review the literature and online information regarding the college or school you are applying to. An understanding of the program to which you are applying will be helpful as you approach the college interest essay on the Cornell Supplement.
- Provide your guidance counselor and teachers with advance notice of your intention to apply to Cornell – at least one month.
- If mailing materials, pages can get separated, so include your full name and date of birth on each page mailed.
- For groupings of multiple pages, please use paper clips (do not staple).
- If applying early decision, please write “early decision” on your mailing envelopes.
- After completing your application and supplement, make copies for yourself.
- Set up your online application status account by following the instructions you received via email after submitting the Common Application.
