In an email to alumni, Cornell's Undergraduate Admissions Office released some additional data today (beyond what we originally reported a couple of weeks ago) about the accepted class of 2011. They note that these are still preliminary... - 19.0% of those admitted are Underrepresented Minorities (17.4% for 2005-2006) - 36.5% identify as students of color (35.8% for 2005-2006) - 7.4% are international students (8.3% for 2005-2006) - 18.7% Regular Decision admit rate (23.0%for 2005-2006)- 11.4% of those admitted are legacies (10.7% for 2005-2006)
A couple of quick thoughts on these data:
The percent of accepted students that are under-represented minority is quite high, but the matriculated class in the fall will likely be less diverse, due to the University's difficulty in attracting these students, both for financial reasons as well as location. MetaEzra has dealt with this issue before. (Although from my own perspective, I don't know who could pass down four years of rural bliss in Ithaca, NY.)
There's been a (perhaps?) significant decline in international students accepted... it would be interesting to know the reasons, especially in light of one student-elected trustee's argument that Cornell needs to become more international.
I'm encouraged by the University's commitment to limit the size of the class that is accepted early decision. No doubt Cornell could accept more highly qualified applicants this way, and bow to the ratings game by mechanically decreasing its acceptance rate and increasing its yield, but Doris Davis rightly chooses not to.
Roughly a third of the incoming class continues to be accepted early, compared to close to 50 percent at some of our peer institutions. If Cornell followed such practices, it could easily have had an overall acceptance rate of around 18 percent for the Class of 2011.
And for all of you data geeks out there, enjoy the table below.
