New York Residency?

Tahoe
Mon, 10 Jul 2006 11:15:28 +0000

I’ve posted this before, but this question comes up a lot. Cornell has an advice column called “Dear Uncle Ezra” (named after Ezra Cornell-one of the founders of Cornell) and I have cut and pasted Ezra’s answer to this question below.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Question 10 - - December 9, 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Dear Uncle Ezra,
I have a question concerning Cornell’s status as an Ivy League School. According to definition,
an Ivy League school is a private instution, and part of some type of sports league which was established back in the day. These institutions include Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. However, Cornell is made up of not only the private A+S, Engineering, and Architecture schools, but Hum Ec, Ag, and ILR. (Not sure about Hotel)Despite any notability they might have, they are significantly easier to get into for NY state residents, and cheaper as well due to their status as a public state school. Therefore,
isn’t it true that these schools are NOT Ivy League? shed the light proud arts and science student
Dear proud,

I too am proud of the College of Arts and Sciences undergraduates just as I am equally proud of the outstanding students in Human Ecology, CALS, ILR, Hotel, Engineering, and AAP, and the graduate and professional schools as well. Cornell University is a unique and wonderful place with many special qualities. I think, however, that you have several misconceptions about the university, including its status as an Ivy League institution, its admissions policies, and the caliber of our student body.

1) The Ivy League is an athletic conference. What sets this group of schools apart from other conferences is its adherence to the Ivy agreement, which most notably reflects common admissions standards and the absence of athletic scholarships. The Ivy schools are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale. To learn more see Q11 from 2/18/03 posting.

2) Cornell University is a land grant university for the State of New York, so our mission is both public and private, which is one of the many unique features that sets Cornell apart from our Ivy peers. This standing also puts us in another elite group of other land grant institutions across the U.S.



3) At one time, Cornell University's contract colleges (Agriculture and Life Sciences, Human Ecology, and Industrial and Labor Relations) used residency as a factor in the admissions process. However, it is important to note that these colleges have always admitted the best students, regardless of residency. As the applicant pools have begun to shift and the university receives larger numbers of domestic and international applications, university statistics suggest that residency has actually become a non-factor in admission to these colleges. In general, the proportion of New York State residents who are admitted and enroll in these colleges is equivalent to the proportion of NYS students in the entire applicant pool. This has actually been the case for several years.