Transferring to Cornell University

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
1

Based on my previous threads on here I’m more than willing to bet that my love for Cornell is obvious. Cornell University has forever been my dream university, and after having applied and been rejected from the Class of 2022, I have decided not to give up on my dream and apply as a transfer student to that place far above Cayuga’s waters once more. This time, as a transfer student into the Class of 2022.

I will be starting college this fall at Howard University, a prestigious and highly regarded HBCU in Washington DC that has produced numerous literary, academic, political, and scientific greats with Toni Morrison (a Cornell grad herself), Pearl Cleage, Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, and Beth A. Brown just to name a few.

Coming from Howard University, with its offerings of a unique task of educating intelligent men and women of color I believe I will bring with me a new and different perspective to the Cornell campus as a sophomore for the fall of 2019 school year and beyond, something I feel might give some weight to my application in terms of diversity and experience.

With all of that having been said I’ve gone about looking through the Cornell course catalogs and the transfer equivalency page for CALS for my intended major and reached out to the admissions office for further information to perfect my application to the best of my abilities and to get the best that I can out of Howard University.

Looking to maintain a 4.0 or at least a 3.5 for my first year and meeting all outlined requirements for transfer to my intended major at Cornell, I am left with a few questions regarding my competition.

Having a sister who had previously graduated from Cornell has undoubtedly helped me to know the in’s and out’s of the university but has still left me with some questions.

Approximately how many students does Cornell University offer the “transfer option” to and how many of those students follow through with it? So far I’ve been unable to find anything related to the topic, but I know the statistic has to exist somewhere. Is there also a break down of intended majors or at least undergraduate colleges that they apply to?

As a prospecting Communication major, I am also curious to know how popular is that major for transfer? And if not already provided in any following links related to the statistics in the aforementioned paragraph, how many of those students are also given the transfer option?

Finally, what are some useful tips to benefit my application, essays, and academics on this expectedly long but hopefully not stressful journey towards attending Cornell University that I should keep in mind to give me not only a competitive application but a working knowledge of the process? A few previous threads here and on other sites list reaching out to admissions officials with some level of frequency will keep them attentive to you and will somehow be beneficial in the process, how accurate is that.

Thanks all for any of your answers!

2

I don’t know how many applicants are given the transfer option, but unless I’m missing something it seems like they didn’t give one to you, right?
Do you have reason to believe that they are still passing these out, this far after the admissions cycle?
I mean maybe that’s true, I wouldn’t know. But I would have thought they do this pretty much during, or immediately after, the admissions process. No?

All that matters, ultimately, is not how many people are offered a Transfer Option, but rather whether you have one.

However Cornell accepts transfer applicants completely unrelated to this program. So it is definitely possible to be admitted for transfer without having been offered this option.

My own uninformed opinion is, provided your test stats were within the range of students they accept for freshman admission , if you take a similar course sequence to that which the TO students have to take, and do great there, and apply to CALS as a communications major, you would have a chance. But there are no guarantees. From what I recall reading, Communications is not considered to be one of most competitive CALS majors for admission.

The thing though is, if you get in you will actually be a Communications major. Taking the required courses, major and otherwise, and in-college credit requirements that the college and the major specifies. So you’d better look into that and make sure that’s the education you want. If you haven’t already.

Assuming you are not applying with a transfer option, I believe it would be helpful to you if your application showed why your current school is a suboptimal fit for you, and why Cornell specifically (better yet, uniquely) is among ( or just is, period) the best choice(s) for you going forward.

If I’m not mistaken, those people who were reaching out to admissions people were students who were waitlisted. For you, having been rejected, to do likewise might be considered outright annoying to them. I would guess. But that’s just me.

3

Unless what you’re saying is they are still issuing Transfer Options and you want them to give you one.
In that case, IMO, it might not hurt if you send them a letter asking for one. Along the lines of my 6th paragraph above. Also including what you will do for them if they admit you; ie what’s in it for them? (like you would participate in this, that or the other thing…) With any new qualfications that may have arisen.

It would be good to know whether you are even remotely in the mix for this (can GC find out ?), and also whether they are still issuing Transfer Options, at this point. But without this information you could still lob in a letter, why not?

4

No I was not given the transfer option, but will be applying as a transfer student. I’m just wondering in general how many transfer options they give out so I can determine for my own personal benefit how accurate the information on transfers is. Is there any place I can get an accurate breakdown of transfer acceptances and applications?

5

the last breakdown of transfer applicants and acceptances I recall are from Fall 2011. And how many of these applicants were transfer option applicants was not stated.
https://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000156.pdf
https://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000155.pdf

For more recent years all I’ve seen is a headcount of who is showing up there:
http://irp.dpb.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Profile2017-Fall-Transfers.pdf

6

This is from a CC post in April:
“For the 2016 applicants (Fall 2017 TOs), approximately 500 were offered TO in CALS (includes Dyson). Typically 50% of so take Cornell up on the TO offer & apply. Last year, out of 500, 280 students utilized their TO & were admitted. Of those, 180 (64%) ended up coming to Cornell as sophomores.”
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/2068567-transfer-option-class-of-2022-at-cornell-p2.html

7

Thanks, so a majority of those that are admitted to CALS as transfer applicants are assumingly first time applicants or rejects. That makes me feel so much better about the process and not like Cornell was playing around with the admissions figures.