Cornell acceptance rate

[fall-11]

Hi all,

I just looked up the admissions stats for Cornell on Petersons.com (http://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/cornell-university-graduate-school-field-of-english-language-and-literature-admissions-000_10035701_10088.aspx) and the fact that they had 890 (!!) applicants last year is simply blowing my mind. Is this for real? I mean, even other top-notch Ivy League schools don't have such a huge number of applicants (e.g. Harvard had about 400).

I mean, what's up with that?? And how on earth do they sort through 890 applications? Do they even read them? This is simply mind-boggling...

[Alette]

It probably includes MFA applicants. A friend told me it's easier to get into Cornell's MFA program than it is to get into U Wisconsin-Madison's, which I find hard to believe but I think it's clear that it's next to impossible to get in anywhere, for any degree!

[Pamphilia]

but on the other hand, i remember someone mentioning last year one of the penns (can't remember if i was u penn or penn state) had over 700 applicants for less than 10 spots.

It was Penn rather than Penn State, and they had about 800 apps and accepted SIX. Not yielded six after accepting more, they accepted six. Apparently it was only supposed to be five!

Anyway, yes, this is the reality of applying to grad school in English. I cannot think of any programs off the top of my head (any at all, not just so-called "top" ones or Ivies) that have acceptance rates higher than 10%. Most "top" programs (for PhDs in English, that is) average acceptance rates of 2-4% each year (I feel like it bears saying that schools in the Ivy league sports conference are, despite popular mythology, not necessarily the most competitive; they vary as well--Penn obviously accepted only a fraction of a percent last year but I know another Ivy in the USNWR "top ten" accepted close to 10%). I called the graduate admissions office at Duke last year with a question and the lady there felt compelled to tell me that English has the most competitive admissions of *any program in the whole of Duke's Graduate School.*

Yes, grad admissions sucks in English, for applicants and the poor suckers on the adcoms alike.

But you have it in your power to do it! Revise revise revise your writing sample and SOP! Cornell may have gotten apx. 900 apps last year, but I guarantee that a huuge number of their applicants were clueless about the process and thought it was like undergrad admissions. Use it to your advantage: own the writing sample, kill the SOP, and make your fit super clear (not in just the fit paragraph; make all the subtext in your app demonstrate your wonderful fit). Just doing these things, I'd wager, will put you at a great advantage next to many applicants.

Edited October 25, 2010 by Pamphilia

[bigdgp]

It's also worth noting that it can be very difficult to discern between acceptance and enrollment rates. Many schools publish the number of applicants and the number of available spots or percentages of applicants who ultimately attend the university. However, to account for students who are admitted but may choose to attend elsewhere, most "top" schools offer to admit at least twice as many students as available places, and this number generally rises pretty quickly as one moves down the rankings.

[augustquail]

I might be wrong... but last year's application season was crazy. I mean, the 800+ applicants thing was crazy. Most schools say that they get somewhere between 300-400, and I think that was true before last year. Does anyone know why all of the sudden 2009 had such a large increase in applications? It's mind-boggling. It seems insane that the recession would make *more* people applying to English phd programs.

[strokeofmidnight]

Cornell baffled me last year. I was one of those accepted but I did not visit (since they refused to pay for my flight), so I can't tell you who or how many others were accepted. Last year was definitely rough. I'm not sure that I understand the mentality, but I suspect that some well-qualified candidates who couldn't find jobs decided to give grad school a shot. That was certainly the feedback that I received from other places (both places that accepted me, and places that did not). Other people who might have been thinking about going to grad school eventually might have either lost their jobs, or couldn't find a new one...and decided that this is the year. Considering that the vast majority (90-95%) of my peers enrolled in my PhD program took at least some time off after undergrad, it wouldn't surprise me that the recession caused people who were thinking of waiting longer to apply now instead.

[augustquail]

Cornell baffled me last year. I was one of those accepted but I did not visit (since they refused to pay for my flight), so I can't tell you who or how many others were accepted. Last year was definitely rough. I'm not sure that I understand the mentality, but I suspect that some well-qualified candidates who couldn't find jobs decided to give grad school a shot. That was certainly the feedback that I received from other places (both places that accepted me, and places that did not). Other people who might have been thinking about going to grad school eventually might have either lost their jobs, or couldn't find a new one...and decided that this is the year. Considering that the vast majority (90-95%) of my peers enrolled in my PhD program took at least some time off after undergrad, it wouldn't surprise me that the recession caused people who were thinking of waiting longer to apply now instead.

I really, really hope this application season will be different. It can't get worse, can it???

[diehtc0ke]

I really have nothing to add to this but I'd like to say it was 684 applications at Penn. Figure it'd be worth making those numbers seem (ever so) slightly less ridiculous.

[Pamphilia]

I really have nothing to add to this but I'd like to say it was 684 applications at Penn. Figure it'd be worth making those numbers seem (ever so) slightly less ridiculous.

Haha, I actually knew that number, but I am bad at rounding. I have poor life skills.

[diehtc0ke]

Haha, I actually knew that number, but I am bad at rounding. I have poor life skills.

This made me laugh out loud.

[fall-11]

I might be wrong... but last year's application season was crazy. I mean, the 800+ applicants thing was crazy. Most schools say that they get somewhere between 300-400, and I think that was true before last year. Does anyone know why all of the sudden 2009 had such a large increase in applications? It's mind-boggling. It seems insane that the recession would make *more* people applying to English phd programs.

Yeah, given that there are almost no jobs in English, getting a PhD in English really isn't going to help in a recession! When I asked one of my profs for a recommendation, that's the first thing she said: "have you had *the talk* about how there are no jobs?" Though honestly, with these kinds of admissions stats, *the talk* should focus on how hard it is to get in in the first place. But of course, we already knew that going in. Sigh.

[foppery]

<br style="text-shadow: none;">Yeah, given that there are almost no jobs in English, getting a PhD in English really isn't going to help in a recession! When I asked one of my profs for a recommendation, that's the first thing she said: "have you had *the talk* about how there are no jobs?" Though honestly, with these kinds of admissions stats, *the talk* should focus on how hard it is to get in in the first place. But of course, we already knew that going in. Sigh.<br style="text-shadow: none;">

<br style="text-shadow: none;">

Yes, but a five-year stipend does allow you to wait out the recession (or at least part of it).

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[augustquail]

seriously. i hope not.

i know that one of my schools (LSU) said in their FAQ they get like 150 apps a year...while my assumption is i wouldn't like living there (i hate heat and i hate humidity), i figure if i can handle the terrible winters here, i can adapt to other kinds of terrible weather. it's also not super high if i had to order my choices, but still has people doing relevant work. although, there is all that shit about them & languages too like albany (although they're not dropping french). i apparently picked schools in trouble. haha.

based on your climate criteria, ualbany may be your best bet. Most of the time, it is COLD here. cold. but the in summers it does get really humid. you should summer in alaska haha