Cornell University - Inquiry Regarding Major Selection

Applying to College
1

Hello all,

I’m an applicant for Cornell university, and I was wondering if it would be easier to get accepted if I applied for entomology through CALS or biological sciences through A&S? I’m out of state which (might) make it harder to get accepted into CALS since its a land grant college. For stats etc I have arguments for choosing either (general sciences and bio summer programs, plant genetics research proj w/ professor set for later, science olympiad medals in entomology, anatomy, fossils, forestry at competitive ish tournaments (norcal), havent taken ap bio or chem tests but set to take those this yr) and my why major/why us essay can be tweaked quickly to account for a change from A&S BioSci to CALS Ento (i talk a lot about the entomology resources at cornell anyways since i still want to study it a bit in college). Would it be easier to apply and get admitted into ento or biosci (end goal being switch into biosci, either through A&S or CALS)? Thank you so much to anyone who can provide an answer, and please let me know if any more information is needed!

2

If you want to study Entomology or do any sort of plant science, apply for that in CALS. Based on what you’ve written here, I’m guessing your essays are more slanted to CALS.

3

Thank you so much for your reply! I think at the moment, my interests lie within a combination of both entomology and general bio (ex like genomics through the lens of insects). In all likelihoods I would prefer biosci but if I got admitted as ento and couldn’t change I would be alright with that. I was mainly wondering if my profile would be enough to justify an entomology major over A&S Biosci to AOs and if applying through entomology might be easier.

4

Why not apply to Biological Sciences in CALS? My kid had similar interests (entomology and plant science). They didn’t want to specialize so early so applied to CALS Biological Sciences. Maybe look at the differences between Biological Sciences in CALS vs CAS. Which one speaks to you more?