Jump in CU undergraduate applications

Cornell undergraduate colleges have received 24,114 applications for next fall's entering freshman class -- a 16.2 percent increase over last year's pool.

The new figures, reported this month by the Cornell Office of Admissions and Enrollment, reflect totals as of Jan. 24. Increases in applications were reported across all colleges, geographic regions and among virtually all racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

Applications from international students also jumped, by 18.5 percent, to a total of 2,251, the admissions figures show. The College of Arts and Sciences received the largest increase of all Cornell colleges, up 29.1 percent from last year's figures. Regionally, applications from the Southeastern United States rose by 24.2 percent and the U.S. Far West saw a 23.2 percent spike.

Doris Davis, Cornell associate provost for admissions and enrollment, cited several factors that may have increased the numbers. Among these is Cornell's entry into the Common Application Group, a consortium of 250 colleges and universities who accept a common application for admissions. Cornell's membership simplified the application process for prospective students in several ways, Davis said.

"The Common Application allows institutions to reach more students, and it allows students who are applying to multiple institutions to streamline the application process," she said.

The Common Application Group includes five Ivy League schools: Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities.

"We also attribute our success to the redesign of the admissions viewbook, as well as to our ongoing efforts to develop a more coordinated undergraduate admissions communication plan," Davis said.

Other related factors contributing to the increase in applications, administrators have said, include the redesigned Cornell Web site, introduced in the fall semester, and the high profile of many of Cornell's programs and faculty members nationally and internationally.