Cornell or Amherst college?

Ronitsingh1405 · July 21

As an international applicant needing financial aid and applying ED, which college Cornell or Amherst has higher acceptance rate for international students?
As far as I know, Cornell provides TATA Scholarship to Indian students that cover their needs and Amherst is need blind, so I am confused where to apply considering my profile given in my previous discussions.

Mwfan1921 · July 21

I don't know whether Cornell or Amherst publishes international acceptance rates, but I expect both are in the single digits.

When applying for finaid, it's important to meet all requirements and deadlines. Both Cornell and Amherst meet full need, but they determine what that need is..... not the student/parents.

Publisher · July 21

Why not apply to both schools ?

Ronitsingh1405 · July 21

Can we apply ED to both schools?

OHMomof2 · July 21

No, only one for ED.

makemesmart · July 21

You can only ED one school. Which one do you like better? Two very different schools from any conceivable points you could think of (except similarly difficult to get in for anyone, international or not).

Ronitsingh1405 · July 21

But Amherst ED Acceptance rate is 40% while Cornell's is 27%

Fifty · July 21

There is much more to choosing a college than comparing ED acceptance rates. Amherst and Cornell are very different institutions. Cornell University has more than 14,000 undergraduates and more than 8,000 graduate students. Amherst College enrolls about 1,800 undergraduates and no graduate students. Amherst features small classes, close interaction with faculty, and a liberal arts and sciences curriculum. Cornell is an enormous impersonal place with seven different schools (College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Art, Architecture and Planning, Johnson College of Business, College of Human Ecology, and School of Industrial and Labor Relations). Generally speaking Amherst offers more generous financial aid and more personal attention. Cornell offers more options outside the traditional arts and sciences.
Read up on these two schools! They could not be more different.

momofsenior1 · July 21

I agree that Cornell and Amherst couldn't be more different but I wouldn't call Cornell impersonal.

And yes, you can only apply binding ED to one school.

momofsenior1 · July 21

I saw in your other thread that you SAT is only a 1400, or is that predicted? If it's 1400, I wouldn't apply ED to either school, and find a school where your stats put you above the 75th percentile for admitted students.

oldfort · July 21

Cornell is an enormous impersonal place

that's not my kids' (2) experiences at Cornell.
Cornell is need aware when it comes International students admission.

Fifty · July 21

I'll retract the word "impersonal." One of my offspring went to grad school at Cornell and thrived there.

oldfort · July 21

Grad school experience is also very different than UG. My kids knew their professors well. One of my kid's professors still has coffee with her whenever he comes into NYC. I remember another professor emailed one of my kids about how he was catching a flight but would call her as soon as he landed (she had a question about a homework assignment). Both of my kid's departmental graduating class were less than 20 students, each student was asked to speak at their ceremonies (5 years apart, one a STEM major and another humanities major). Whenever I visited my kids, they were often greeted by their friends on campus/collegetown/downtown Ithaca.
I do agree that Cornell and Amherst are two very different schools. You should do more research on those schools and make sure they are the riht fit.

momofsenior1 · July 21

I had many personal connections with my profs as an undergrad at Cornell. After 1st semester sophomore year I never had a class with more than 25 students.

International Dad · July 21

How much financial aid do you need?

Ronitsingh1405 · July 22

Can somebody just tell me where I have more chances? I will apply for Computer Science course ED.

monydad · July 22

At Cornell, Computer Science is a major at both its College of Engineering and its College of Arts & Sciences . At either of these two separate colleges, an applicant for the freshman class applies to the college, not the major. The major (eg computer science) is not selected till sometime during sophomore year. But initially, for now, you would have to select which of these two colleges at Cornell to apply to.

Since Computer Science is not a traditional liberal arts subject, I don't know if Amherst College even offers such a major. Even if it does, this would likely also not be directly applied to coming in initially. Though you would have to investigate that.
My guess is in that case they will tell you that you can take many CS courses at U Mass Amherst- a nearby state university which is part of a consortium with Amherst.
However there is travel and scheduling involved in getting to the various consortium institutions, and Amherst students on average use the consortium the least.

As to your direct question, I know of no published breakdowns of admissions chances for international applicants at either school, period, much less for the subset of those applicants who require extensive sholarships. Without this data nobody can answer your question with authority. My common sense tells me that admission under these circumstances will be tremendously competitive, at either institution. But I am just guessing. And I have no idea which would be the harder admit in this case . Without data, how could I ?

momofsenior1 · July 22

I think you aren't getting answers because these two schools couldn't be any different. This isn't just about accepted student statistics. This is about matching with a school and showing them why you would be a good fit.

And FWIW, I didn't even know Amherst had a CS major, where Cornell has a top rated program.

Eeyore123 · July 22

For the difference in overall ED rates, you have to consider the impact of athletes. Although the size of the ED admits very different (181 vs 1,549), the raw number of athletes isn’t as big of a difference. Therefore, they have a larger impact on the smaller pool.

Fifty · July 22

Amherst College does have a computer science department and offers a computer science major.
https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/computer_science
As noted above, the of computer science department at Cornell is among the most highly regarded CS departments in the United States.
As far as admission chances are concerned, both Amherst and Cornell are highly selective, especially for international students. We cannot predict which is more "likely" for the OP, other than to say that the chances are daunting.

circuitrider · July 23

All I can say is, Amherst is need-blind for internationals, one of the half-dozen or so that are in the country.

Cornell or Amherst college?

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