<p>I’ve heard that Cornell has accepted students that have SAT scores that are below what they usually accept. Do you think Cornell would accept someone with mediocre numbers but found something within their essays or recommendations that made him/her stand out? Also, does Cornell know if a sibling graduated from the school since it is not considered legacy?</p>
<p>Average SAT scores are average for a reason - there are people above that average and there are people below that average. Of course, the people with below-average test scores most likely had strong extracurriculars, essays, recommendation letters, and/or a “hook” of some sort (legacy, URM, etc).</p>