so i'm trying to grasp the moment when my application is being reviewed...

cortana431
Thu, 30 Aug 2012 23:26:55 +0000

Cornell most likely prints out each common app application. As far as I know, there is no ‘official’ account on what goes on, but I would guess that each individual admissions officer is assigned a section of the country (multiple states i.e a portion of northwest states) and are responsible for reading the applications from that country. Then, each officer would mark each application as “admit,” “maybe” or “deny” and if it is “maybe,” the application goes to the full committee which will vote on the application.
Initially, there is probably one or two readers, who will glance at your test scores, transcripts and ec’s (particularly grades and test scores) and rate those parts before going to an admissions officer. It is possible that applications do not make it past the initial readers if the test scores and/or grades are not good enough.
Cornell actually releases the early decision results around December 8th. If that’s what you are referring to, then the students who are notified as much as a month earlier are almost always recruited athletes who commit.