Early Decision
Cornell University Early Decision Acceptance Rate 2025-2026
NY
What is Cornell University's early decision acceptance rate?
Cornell University admitted 18.8% of its Early Decision applicants — 1,889 of 10,057 — according to its 2025-2026 Common Data Set. Everyone else in the same applicant pool was admitted at 6.7%, so the Early Decision rate was 2.8x the rest. These are the counts the school itself reported, not an estimate.
Source: Cornell University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
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What Cornell University reported · Common Data Set 2025-2026 · checked Oct 2026
Early Decision · 1,889 admitted of 10,057 applied
18.8%
Everyone else in the same pool
6.7%
Early Decision rate ÷ rest-of-pool rate
2.8x
This compares two rates the school published for two groups of applicants. The Early Decision pool is not a random slice of the applicants — recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches are counted inside it — so this is a difference between the school’s two pools, not a multiplier on your own chances.
Regular Decision acceptance rate at Cornell University
Outside Early Decision, Cornell University admitted 4,188 of 62,466 applicants in the 2025-2026 cycle: 6.7%. That counts everyone who did not apply Early Decision.
Calculated from published counts · Common Data Set 2025-2026 · checked Oct 2026
Does applying early decision to Cornell University help?
On Cornell University's figures, Early Decision applicants were admitted at 2.8x the rate of everyone else: 18.8% against 6.7%. That does not mean applying early would lift your own odds that much. Recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches sit inside that pool, so part of the gap is who applies early, not when.
Source: Cornell University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
Is early decision at Cornell University binding?
Yes. Early Decision is binding wherever it is offered, Cornell University included: you may apply Early Decision to only one school, and if admitted you commit to attend and withdraw your other applications. The usual exception is an aid offer your family cannot afford, so check the costs on this page before you apply.
Source: Cornell University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
When is Cornell University's early decision deadline?
For the 2026-27 application cycle, Cornell University set its Early Decision deadline at Nov 1, 2026. Regular Decision applications are due Jan 2, 2027. Early Decision is binding: if admitted, you commit to attend, so compare the costs on this page before that date, not after an offer arrives.
Source: Cornell University's admissions website, 2026-27 cycle, checked Sep 27, 2026.
Admitted SAT · middle 50% · Common Data Set 2025-2026
1490–1550
Half of admitted students scored inside this range. It is the admitted band, not a minimum and not a cutoff, and it covers the whole entering class rather than the Early Decision round alone.
What families actually pay (AY 2023–24)
Early Decision is binding, so accepting one ends the option of comparing two aid offers. These are the published averages before that choice is made.
Average paid by students receiving federal aid, by family income (College Scorecard).
International students are not eligible for U.S. federal aid, so they are not in this cohort and typically pay closer to the sticker price.
Across the 8 recorded cycles from 2018 to 2025, Cornell University's overall acceptance rate fell from 10.6% to 8.4%. That is the whole entering class — Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Decision together — not the Early Decision round on its own.
See the year-by-year series →Common Data Set — the school's own annual filing, published by the school itself for the cycle named beside each figure. Source: Cornell University’s 2025-2026 Common Data Set.