Cornell admissions

[CAS]

Director of Admissions Shawn Felton said Cornell received well over 71,000 total applications for next fall's freshman class of 3,441.  This would be another record, & up over 5% from last year.  If Cornell had the same yield as last year (64.3%) for next fall's class, the admit rate would fall to a record low of 7.5%.

[upprdeck]

Dont all  the new dorms go online next year?  Will that mean an increase in kids they accept?

[CAS]

All the new dorms should be open next  fall.  Cornell has gradually increased class size the last few years.  Next fall's projected class size is actually smaller than the class that enrolled last fall.

[billhoward]

My understanding: North Campus expansion, +2,000 beds, 1,200 for first-years, 800 for sophomores.

Less sure, thought I heard this: The additional beds initially may allow Cornell to shutter an existing dorm for renovation, then another, then eventually the new dorms allow for ~1,200 additional students. It may be that's this year only while Balch Hall is being renovated and by fall 2022 all 2,000 rooms are for new students or sophomores who want to stay on campus.

Sample layout for first-years: https://ncre.cornell.edu/what-north-campus-residential-expansion
Suite-style rooms
5-6 students per suite
1-2 double rooms
2-3 single rooms
Restrooms include:
1 shower
2 toilets
3 sinks

Sample layout for sophomores:
Suite-style rooms
5-6 students per suite
1-2 double rooms
2-3 single rooms
Restrooms include:
1 shower
2 toilets
3 sinks

Neither sample layout appeared to have a living room or central social area within each suite. I'm sure there are studies about whether students are bettered by going beyond the boundaries of their own suites and into common areas for all socializing of more than 2-3 people.

One good thing about these suites: Better bathroom layout. BU ~15 years ago built a gorgeous high-rise with a Charles River view, combination of singles and doubles in ~6-person suites, living room, some cooking facilities in each unit, but the one toilet and one shower was in the same room. Cornell appears to separate shower (1) from toilets (2) from sinks (2).

[CAS]

Starting next fall, Cornell is requiring all first-year students & sophomores to live on campus or in affiliated housing (e.g. co-ops & Greek housing).

[billhoward]

And fraternities are down to about 28 houses. Had been up around 50, just not recently.

[upprdeck]

Starting next fall, Cornell is requiring all first-year students & sophomores to live on campus or in affiliated housing (e.g. co-ops & Greek housing).

not a huge change though.. 60% of undergrads already lived on campus and a good number wanted to but there was no housing to get before all of this. i wonder how far back it was that most kids lived in campus vs off campus. 1950-70s what was the ratio?

[billhoward]

As Cornell builds better dorms, students want to live there. Nothing wrong with being on campus if the housing is good, if you can have a single or a double, and Dining gives you choices in meal plans. Collegetown housing was crappier than dorms for many years, now it's better but not affordable. All the North Campus dorms built circa 1970 had very few singles and they were trying to attract upperclassmen, which is hard to do.

As peer institutions built nice dorms, Cornell did the same.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

In '79, there was a lottery for the few on-campus rooms available to non-freshmen.  If your number came up, you could pick your room and pull in any friends to fill the beds.  But most people had to look for housing elsewhere.  It's why there were so many fraternities.

[Trotsky]

Starting next fall, Cornell is requiring all first-year students & sophomores to live on campus or in affiliated housing (e.g. co-ops & Greek housing).

Good.

[Trotsky]

And fraternities are down to about 28 houses. Had been up around 50, just not recently.

Better.

[Trotsky]

I like the names, anyway.

Toni Morrison Hall and Ganedagp: Hall are part of phase one of this project. Barbara McClintock Hall, Hu Shih Hall, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall are part of phase two and are planned to open fall 2022.

[CAS]

It's good that first-year students don't need to search for Collegetown apartments soon after they arrive on campus.  It's amazing that Cornell now receives over 20 applications for each available spot in the first-year class, & may accept only 1 of every 13-14 applications.

[Trotsky]

It's amazing that Cornell now receives over 20 applications for each available spot in the first-year class, & may accept only 1 of every 13-14 applications.

Sure.  "Amazing."

[billhoward]

Categorically, colleges should not use predicted likelihood to enroll in either the admissions process or in awarding need-based aid—these determinations should only be made based on the applicant's merit and financial circumstances, respectively.
. . .
The prevailing evidence suggests that these algorithms generally reduce the amount of scholarship funding offered to students. Further, algorithms excel at identifying a student's exact willingness to pay, meaning they may drive enrollment while also reducing students' chances to persist and graduate.

I must be dense. A school wants to know the likelihood to enroll so it doesn't over-accept or under-accept. That's a good reason to do some predictive analysis.

Maybe the article was poorly worded here, but if there's an entering class of 1,000 and a first-years pot of $10,000,000 for scholarships, algorithms may adjust who gets how much but it averages $10K per student. The school doesn't pocket $2 million of the $10M because some students can be induced to enroll for less scholarship money per a smart software routine.

If Cornell is the admitted student's preferred and best choice (admitted to Cornell Engineering, say, but turned down by MIT), then they'll say the $5,000 offer (hoping for $10,000) is okay. A year later they'll be in, want later library hours, more crisis counseling and more scholarship money. Seems like human nature. But the $5,000 went to induce a similar student who appeared likely to be admitted to MIT and that extra money brought him to Cornell not to Cambridge. From Cornell's P.O.V. this was money well routed.