Cornell University

Cornell University, founded in 1865, has achieved many academic firsts. Perhaps this stems from the fact that it was founded by a scholar and businessman, giving it a combination of business acumen and intellectual pursuit. Cornell was the first university to teach American history, the first American university to teach modern Far Eastern languages, the first to create a university press, and the first to establish professorships in American Literature and American Studies.

Located in Ithaca in upstate New York, Cornell sits among the beautiful scenery of this rural area. Ithaca epitomizes the ideal of a college town. It's small, quaint, cultured, and close-knit. It's also quite remote. The nearest larger cities, Binghamton and Syracuse, are both about an hour away. The isolation is reinforced by the very harsh winters. However, the physical remoteness makes both the town and the school socially and culturally self-sufficient. The town includes galleries, film houses, and vegetarian restaurants. It has also recently taken on some social experiments, such as a local currency and a cooperative health care system. The town is very family-friendly, which might appeal to graduate and Ph.D. students. The school itself has more than 600 student organizations and one of the country's largest intramural sports programs. Students have plenty of opportunities to explore extracurricular interests and develop leadership abilities that help augment resumes.

As for academics, the school proffers itself as a private institution committed to the public good. This self-image comes from the fact that the school was founded as a state land-grant university, the only one of the Ivy League schools to begin this way. Within the university are a number of schools and colleges that are largely autonomous. Programs can differ in everything from admissions rates to administration to institutional culture. For this reason, potential applicants should look beyond the university as a whole and research the individual programs that interest them. High school applicants should especially note that admissions standards at the College of Arts and Sciences are more demanding than the University-wide statistics might suggest.

Cornell Graduate Admissions at a Glance

Cornell University is home to half a dozen of the country's most prestigious graduate and professional schools.

Cornell Law School
Acceptance Rate	20%
'05 Undergrad GPA (Median)	3.67
05' LSAT Score (Median)	167

Note: This page was last updated on September 18, 2006.

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