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Cornell Admits 5,824 Students to the Class of 2029

Published Updated 3 min read

This article was originally reported in March 2025.

Cornell University released regular decision results for the Class of 2029 on March 27, 2025, the Ivy League’s common notification date. In all, 5,824 students were admitted to the class that entered in fall 2025. They came from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and from 115 countries (Cornell Chronicle, March 27, 2025).

The admitted Class of 2029

  • Reply deadline: admitted students had until May 1, 2025, to accept. Cornell Days visits for admitted students were held on April 12, 13 and 27, and admitted students could connect with current students and each other through CUontheHill, an online community run with the Big Red Ambassadors.
  • Who was admitted: Cornell’s announcement profiled several admitted students. One planned to major in math in the College of Arts and Sciences. Another had published research on asthma and air pollution and planned to study urban studies in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. A third was researching an immune-system pathway linked to Crohn’s disease and planned to study biological sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). A fourth, who volunteers with Cornell Cooperative Extension and a food pantry, planned to study nutritional sciences in the College of Human Ecology.
  • What Cornell emphasized: Lisa Nishii, vice provost for undergraduate education and enrollment, said the class “brings to life Cornell’s commitment to changing lives through public engagement.”

Cornell’s announcement did not give an application total or an admission rate. In the federal IPEDS data Cornell reports for fall 2025 entry, the university received 62,993 first-year applications, admitted about 8.8% of applicants and enrolled 3,525 first-year students (IPEDS counts are compiled differently from the March announcement, so the admitted totals do not match exactly).

Testing changed for the next class

The Class of 2029 was the last Cornell class admitted under pandemic-era testing rules. For fall 2025 entry, five colleges were test-optional and three (CALS, Architecture, Art and Planning, and the SC Johnson College of Business) did not consider scores at all. In April 2024 Cornell announced that all of its undergraduate colleges would require the SAT or ACT for applicants entering in fall 2026 and later (Cornell Chronicle, April 22, 2024).

Latest update: the Class of 2030

  • Admission: Cornell admitted 5,776 students to the Class of 2030 and notified regular decision applicants on March 26, 2026. Admitted students came from every state, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and from 102 countries (Cornell Chronicle, March 2026).
  • Enrollment: In August 2026 Cornell welcomed 3,681 first-year students and 603 transfer students from 49 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa and 62 countries; 12.8% of the first-year students are the first in their family to attend college (Cornell Chronicle, August 13, 2026).

Applying to Cornell as an international student

  • Application: apply through the Common App (or QuestBridge). Early Decision is due November 1 and Regular Decision January 2. Cornell requires SAT or ACT scores from first-year applicants. Applicants who are not U.S. citizens and whose first language is not English generally must submit an English proficiency test, such as a TOEFL iBT of 100 or an IELTS of 7.5 (Cornell Admissions: First-Year Applicants).
  • Financial aid: Cornell is need-aware for international applicants, and international students who want need-based aid must apply for it at the same time they apply for admission, by the same early or regular deadline (Cornell Financial Aid: International Students FAQ).
  • Cost: undergraduate tuition for 2026–27 is $73,946 at Cornell’s endowed colleges (and for non–New York residents at the contract colleges), with average housing and dining of $21,348 (our report on Cornell’s tuition and aid).
  • Rankings and data: Cornell is No. 14 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News rankings and No. 16 in the 2027 QS World University Rankings (Forward Pathway ranking database). In fall 2025 it enrolled 16,128 undergraduates, including 1,656 international undergraduates (IPEDS). Our Cornell school page (linked above) has more admissions and cost data.

References

#Cornell University#College Admissions

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