Cornell University is an academic, and an athletic, powerhouse. It’s also one of the most famous universities in the country, and carries a huge amount of cache globally. Located in the city of Ithaca in upstate New York, Ithaca is a welcoming medium-sized city with lots of opportunities for exploring the arts and the outdoors, accessing internships and career opportunities, and lots and lots of delicious food.
As a land-grant institution, Cornell has a duty to serve the state through the education of students to “improve the quality of life in our state, the nation, the world.” They are also a member of the Ivy League. The Ivy League is famous for being a collection of outstanding east coast universities, but many students don’t realize that it was actually created as an athletic league. The campus is home to 16,000 undergraduate students and more than 26,000 students overall, and they offer a number of majors and programs not available at any other Ivy League school such as programs in hospitality and agriculture.
Cornell looks for students with intellectual potential, character, and involvement in your community. They look for the same values and traits in their student-athletes — and there are a lot of them. Cornell’s “Big Red” athletic program is massive, and has the winning streaks to show for it. They are NCAA Division I, and run a proper four-season athletic program that always has something in season that fully embraces the weather.
In this post we’ll break down what you need to know as a prospective Cornell student-athlete, from varsity recruiting to bowling leagues. Before we get into that, though, let’s talk admissions. It isn’t easy to get into Cornell. Like all the Ivy League schools, Cornell is highly selective. They received 67,846 applications for the Class of 2027 and admitted 3,561 students. The acceptance rate was 5%.
If Cornell is your dream school, send us an email. We can help.
What is Cornell looking for in Student Athletes?
The Ivy League, including Cornell, does not offer athletic scholarships, so that means that prospective students must be students first and athletes as a close second. Cornell also does not offer merit-based aid, but there are “endowed grants and scholarships” that are worth exploring! Back to the sports, they look for students who compete at their level, but also who can confidently navigate the sometimes labyrinthian program that is Cornell athletics. They need strong communicators who are also self-starters, in addition to being exceptional students and athletes.
Recruited Athletes
While Cornell does not offer athletic scholarships, they do actively recruit high school athletes for the collegiate varsity teams, and coaches can support the applications of recruited students through admissions. If you’re considering this process, the first step is to read through these do’s and do not’s of the recruiting process, and the next step is to confirm your eligibility. NCAA eligibility isn’t simple. There are a bunch of criteria you need to meet, and so you need to plan in advance. This quick cheat sheet is worth printing out, taping to your wall, and basically memorizing.
Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility, you’ll want to reach out to the coaches for your prospective team. At Cornell, they want students to reach out to coaches directly to initiate the recruiting process, as opposed to having an online form (like many other colleges do). This sort of ups the stakes because it means that you need to figure out how to reach out to coaches, as opposed to filling out an impersonal form. We encourage students to approach this part of the process like applying for a job. Do the prep work in advance pulling together an athletic resume, getting a copy of your most current transcript, and drafting the initial contact email long before you press ‘send.’ Remember that, depending on when you email, the coaches may not be able to respond until particular NCAA deadlines have passed.
If your conversation with coaches progresses, they may invite you to do an official visit on campus, or even to have your application read early (not decided on early) so you can get feedback from admissions on the likelihood that you’ll be accepted. This feedback can help you decide if you push for Cornell, or if you need to recalibrate. Cornell also gives some useful guidance on how recruits should approach social media during the recruitment and admissions process — namely, carefully. Again, this is like applying for a job.
Student athletes at Cornell know that they may not get a full ride to college, because aid is need-based, but they are willing to accept that tradeoff for a level of education that they may not have otherwise been able to access.
Walk-Ons
“Walk on” is the term used for student athletes who aren’t recruited, but who join the team through some sort of tryout process once they have arrived on campus. Walking onto a Cornell team may sound intimidating, but we know students who have done it — so it is possible! You’ll want to start in the same way as a recruited athlete would. Contact the coaches, and let them know that you are interested in joining the team. You’ll also want to re-confirm you NCAA eligibility, as those rules apply to student athletes across the board, not simply recruits.
Club Sports, etc.
Cornell has nearly 100 club sports, including, they say, “archery, hockey, badminton, rugby, ultimate frisbee, and soccer.” Club sports offer athletes a way to continue playing a sport they love, or to learn a new one, in a more relaxed setting than varsity athletics. Joining a club team is also joining a community, and many team members go on to build strong relationships with those they play with, and against, that last throughout their time at Cornell (and beyond). Club teams are overseen by the Club Sports Council (CSC), a student-run organization that distributes funding and provides peer-to-peer support.
In addition to Club teams, there are more than 100 physical education courses offered, and students have access to pools and a bowling center. Students who want an even more relaxed setting to play or learn a sport than what Clubs offer can turn to the Intramural Sports program, where more than 30 leagues and tournaments vie for bragging rights with nothing at stake besides pride. There are leagues in volleyball, pickleball, flag football and more, and tournaments in golf, kickball, and even “NCAA 2024 Bracketology.” What is that? We don’t know.
Outdoor Education
Talking about athletics at Cornell would be seriously missing something if we didn’t mention the Outdoor Education program, which is a hallmark of the Cornell experience. While you can go to Cornell and get away with barely engaging with Outdoor Education, you’re really missing out if you do. Founded in 1972, and now celebrating over 50 years, the Outdoor Education program introduces students to the great outdoors through sports like hiking, rock climbing, camping, and canoeing. Accepted students can request to join pre-orientation programs that offer an opportunity to bond with classmates and get to know the Ithaca area, and Cornell students can rent outdoor adventure gear through the Outfitting Center, meaning you don’t need to have much more than the clothes on your back and a pair of shoes to take on an adventure.
And for the truly adventurous, Cornell Tree Climbing is exactly that, including climbing the tallest Redwoods in the world — and you can get PE credit for it.
Before you decide for sure what path to take as a prospective Cornell student-athlete, remember to check your NCAA eligibility. As you approach high school graduation, you need to keep this top of mind to make sure that you can play in the ways you’re dreaming of.
Getting into the Ivy League is tough. We make it easier.