Cornell is intense as my daughter could attest, especially for CS/IS/Eng’g/Science/Math majors. My daughter is only 17 when she started her Freshman year. Her roommate is 16.
Ib43823, it’s about more than statistics. Race, geographical region, essays, letters of rec, diversity, and other factors. Of course you are more than qualified! If we could only be a fly on the wall during admissions. You could still contact Cornell and see if there’s anything you can do to let them know how interested you are. Maybe your school counselor could help with that. But you should also pick your favorite among the excellent institutions to which you were offered admission. Time to move on. Best of luck to you. You will do great things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tiUELkyQFg&list=RD3tiUELkyQFg#t=0
In aggregate, better students do get better acceptances. However, what happens with individual schools often appears to be somewhat random. It is important to apply to several of these schools, even for outstanding candidates. No one can predict individual applications at this level.
You have been admitted to some of the best colleges in the world, that is a huge achievement. Congratulations. You can get an amazing education at any of these schools.
Don’t feel like you’re the only one. My son was waitlisted as well. His ACT is 36 and I’m a Cornell alum.
Trying to “understand” the decision is akin to a craps player trying to “understand” why he rolled snake eyes, when the “stats” for a seven are 6X better.
@ib43823 Duke and JH have totally different campus feels. Go visit both and you will know what is best for you. Sit in on classes at both schools and meet the Professors/Deans at the departments that interest you. You will know what school is right for you immediately. Good luck
@lb43823 Unfortunately, it doesn’t go “in order.” Wouldn’t college admissions offices have a much easier time if they just ranked every applicant 1-38,000 based on their scores and points for leadership, and then sent acceptances to numbers 1-4,000. Numbers 4,001-5,000 are WL, and 5,001-38,000 are rejected.
You know that’s not the way it works. It’s not as orderly as that. Here are some reasons you might have received WL instead of accepted:
1.They had a disproportionate number of applicants from Long Island, and needed to round out the geographic diversity. (You know, Cornell gets too many applicants from NYS. Being from NYS works against you.)
2. They had a disproportionate number of Indian applicants.
3. Whoever read your essay didn’t love it as much as you do.
4. They like to round out the class with kids who are smart but not tippy-top like you. (How boring it would be if every single COE student had 35 and 36 ACTs.)
5. The most likely reason: You didn’t show them enough love. If you don’t apply ED, they have to be relatively certain that you are going to attend. In the RD round they are looking for applicants who are in the sweet spot: Unlikely to get into MIT or CalTech, but just in the sweet spot for Cornell. They like to “protect their yield.” If you are above the sweet spot, you have to tell them why Cornell is your first choice (be specific) and that you will attend if accepted.
One more thing: Did you apply for financial aid? Not sure if they are need-blind when it comes to selecting students from the wait list.
@brantly Thanks for the extremely insightful analysis. Any of the above could have contributed. And, yes, I will send a letter (or email) as many here have proposed. Should it be to the Dean of Admissions, or to my region admissions officer?
“It simply is not as difficult to get into Cornell as is Duke or Brown,” and
“Also, neither Duke or Brown possess as good of a computer science program as Cornell does.”
You answered your own question here. While it might be overall harder to get into Brown or Duke (which is flawed bc of how different schools calculate that), their departments aren’t as good, and its easier to get into that specific department.
Also I vote Duke, its an awesome school.
@byebyebirdy Well I think that statement is a little false. It is harder to get into Duke. Especially since I did not apply for CS at all. I applied for BME to Pratt. And it is not easier to get into Pratt than Trinity. The acceptance rates are traditionally very similar. I think that for Asian male to Pratt engineering, the acceptance rate would be similar for Asian male to Cornell engineering.
“14% is the acceptance rate for every applicant. Not every applicant possesses a 35.”
But you are not just competing against everyone who got a 35. You are also competing with those who got a 34, 33, 32. Pretty much anyone who gets in the 30s (and many below) are capable of doing the work, and the universities know that.
At each of the 4 terrific schools you got into, OP, there are rejected and waitlisted applicants with 35 & 36 ACT scores wondering why you got in, and they didn’t.
It is obvious that you are struggling to make sense of your results and figure out a way forward. Go back and visit the schools you got into. Spend a whole day going to classes in your department. Talk with faculty and students. If you spend your time on CC obsessing about waitlists, you are not using your time wisely. 99% of applicants out there would change places with you in a heartbeat in order to gain the opportunities that you have right now.
ok why does this have more responses and views than my thread that is actually upsetting…
@Janizary Lo siento, senor.
@lb43823 You sound so bitter… Here’s some advice: just move on.
College admissions, much like life, isn’t always about numbers. Everyone should keep that in mind.
Considering you’re 16 and you did Varsity Track and Tennis for years a piece, how did you do it since 12 years old…
@Janizary I turn 17 in August 2015, after the conclusion of my senior year. Thus I was 16 in August 2014 (end of junior year), 15 in August 2013 (end of sophomore year), 14 in August 2012 (end of freshman year). Thus, I was at least 13 in freshman year, and almost 14 by the end of it.
Plus, cross country varsity and tennis at my school are not too difficult to get into. We are in a low conference, and we do not even have a JV team because we are so small, but there still are usually tryouts for tennis. I had been playing with my dad ever since I was little, although I have never had any professional training.
One more thought regarding your age. You will be 17 at the beginning of the fall term. In the “old days” that was VERY common because of the SP students in NYC (very common to skip either 2nd grade or 8th grade), and the NYC public school cut-off being 12/31 – it was not uncommon for NYC kids to start Cornell and other top colleges at age 16 and turn 17 in November or December.
Now, the tide has turned in many parts of the country. School-entry cut-offs are commonly 10/1 or even 9/1. In NYC private schools, they consider it “young” for an applicant who turns 5 in June or July to enter K in September and will often reject an applicant (particularly boys) on that basis.
In addition, in many affluent suburban communities it is fashionable for parents to hold their kids BACK a year to get a supposed advantage in sports and academics. This is particularly common with boys. The result is that students from high-achieving, affluent communities are graduating HS at the age of 19+. Not to mention a handful who take gap years and enter at age 19+.
So my hunch is, at age 17 you would be more than two years younger than a good number of freshmen at Cornell, which takes a lot of students from the east coast communities where these practices are common. You will not even turn 18 DURING your freshman year.
@brantly Oh well, who cares. Age is but a number 
and I am fortunate enough to have been accepted to other great institutions, and I hope to make the most of my time there. Thanks for the analysis, though. Quite interesting. My age is a result of moving from the United Kingdom, but I think perhaps by even their standards, I had started school early (but I am not sure).
Great attitude! Good luck wherever you end up.
My daughter is a freshman at Cornell and started at age 16 and there is one guy on her floor who is younger than she is…fyi. It happens. And she’s fine.