If you’re thinking that the Cornell supplemental essays are going to be a piece of cake because the school is the “easiest Ivy League to get accepted into”, be warned. With a 10% admit rate, the chances of getting accepted into this prestigious university only get slimmer with every passing year.

And, that’s no hyperbole. Cornell dropped from an acceptance rate of 16% to 10% within the past few years.

What does this mean?

It means that in order to get accepted into Cornell, you’ll need higher grades, stronger ECs, and, you guessed it: stronger essays.

But, that’s not so easy.

The Cornell supplemental essays should not be rushed under the presumption that you can “let your guard down.”

In addition, there’s not a lot of time to truly craft a winning Ivy League essay. Most students start their college essays only weeks before the deadline. Even students who have prepared much beforehand seldom have essays strong enough to get accepted. Ouch.

Luckily, we’ve compiled a set of instructions on how to answer each of the Cornell supplemental essays. Be sure to follow these instructions very carefully, and take your time! It takes time and patience to truly make your Cornell supplemental essays worthy of admission, even if it’s the “easiest” of the Ivy schools!

Be sure to submit your essays and application materials to Cornell before your respective deadline. We’ve listed them below for convenience.

1. First-year early decision: November 1.
   • Admission decisions and financial aid awards announced: Mid-December.
2. First-year regular decision: January 2.
   • Admission decisions and financial aid awards announced: Early April.
3. Spring semester transfer: October 15.
   • Admission decisions and financial aid awards announced: November.
4. Fall semester transfer: March 15.
   • Admission decisions and financial aid awards announced: May and June.

You can find more information on other deadlines on Cornell’s official website here.

Table of Contents

1. Cornell University Supplemental Essays
   • Cornell Agriculture Essays
     • Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected? Please discuss how your interests and related experiences have influenced your choice. Specifically, how will an education from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell University help you achieve your academic goals?* (650 words)
     • 1. At Cornell CALS, we aim to leave the world better than we found it, so we seek out those who are not simply driven to master their discipline, but who are also passionate about doing so to serve the public good.  Please elaborate on an activity or experience you have had that made an impact on a community that is important to you. We encourage you to think about community broadly – this could include family, school, or local and global communities. (300-word limit)
     • 2. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is dedicated to the exploration of the agricultural, life, environmental, and social sciences and welcomes students with interests that span a wide variety of disciplines. Given our agricultural history and commitment to educating the next generation of agriculturalists, please share if you have a background in agriculture or are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture, regardless of your intended major. (300-word limit)
       • My family owns or operates a farm.
       • I have experience working in agriculture.
       • I have interest in pursuing a career in agriculture.
   • Cornell Architecture Essay
     • What three words best describe you?
     • What is your “thing”? What energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time? Everyone has different passions, obsessions, quirks, inspirations. What are yours?* (650 words)
   • Cornell Arts & Sciences Essay
     • Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s “any person…any study” founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College.*(650 words)
   • Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Essay
     • Why are you drawn to studying public policy? Drawing on your experiences, tell us about why you are interested in your chosen major and how attending the Brooks School will help you achieve your life goals.* (650 words)
   • Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Essay
     • What kind of business student are you? Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should convey how your interests align with the school to which you are applying within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management or the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration).* (650 words)
   • Cornell Engineering Essay
     • What three words best describe you?
     • What are three words you would use to describe Cornell Engineering?
     • How do your interests directly connect with Cornell Engineering? If you have an intended major, what draws you to that department at Cornell Engineering?  If you are unsure what specific engineering field you would like to study, describe how your general interest in engineering most directly connects with Cornell Engineering. It may be helpful to concentrate on one or two things that you are most excited about.* (250 words)
     • Question A: Describe an engineering problem that impacts your local community. This could be your school, neighborhood, town, region, or a group you identify with. Describe one to three things you might do as an engineer to solve the problem. (250 words)
     • Question B: Diversity in all forms is intrinsic to excellence in engineering. Engineering the best solutions to complex problems is often achieved by drawing from the diverse ingenuity of people from different backgrounds, lived experiences, and identities. How do you see yourself contributing to the diversity and/or the inclusion of the Cornell Engineering community? What is the unique voice you would bring to the Cornell Engineering community? (250 words)
   • Cornell Human Ecology Essay
     • How has your decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology been influenced by your related experiences? How will your choice of major impact your goals and plans for the future?* (650 words)
   • Cornell Industrial & Labor Relations Essay
     • Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School.* (650 words)

Cornell University Supplemental Essays

Cornell Agriculture Essays

Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected? Please discuss how your interests and related experiences have influenced your choice. Specifically, how will an education from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell University help you achieve your academic goals?* (650 words)

1. At Cornell CALS, we aim to leave the world better than we found it, so we seek out those who are not simply driven to master their discipline, but who are also passionate about doing so to serve the public good.  Please elaborate on an activity or experience you have had that made an impact on a community that is important to you. We encourage you to think about community broadly – this could include family, school, or local and global communities. (300-word limit)

2. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is dedicated to the exploration of the agricultural, life, environmental, and social sciences and welcomes students with interests that span a wide variety of disciplines. Given our agricultural history and commitment to educating the next generation of agriculturalists, please share if you have a background in agriculture or are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture, regardless of your intended major. (300-word limit)

• My family owns or operates a farm.
• I have experience working in agriculture.
• I have interest in pursuing a career in agriculture.

In the Why Cornell Agriculture essay prompt, there are keywords that you need to pay attention to.

• “Why are you drawn to studying the major…”
• “ how your interests and related experiences have influenced your choice”
• “…how will an education…”
• “…help you achieve your academic goals?”

The interesting thing about this essay is that if you organize the Why Cornell Agriculture essay in a split bullet point format like we did above, answering the question becomes much easier. Students often misformat or miss entire sections of the question because they didn’t organize the prompt into segregated sections to make it easier to read. When students read the prompt as one big paragraph instead of separating them into smaller sections, they forget to answer some parts.

With that out of the way, the next most important step is ensuring that the essays you write are specific. How specific? Well, when you’re applying to an Ivy League school that’s one of the most selective in the nation, it helps for admissions officers to know that you have a plan. The best way to conceptualize this prompt is in thinking about the timeline of your life that led you to require a major in Agriculture. Perhaps you discovered that there were better ways of saving water with smarter farming practices via smarter engineering, and there would be no place to execute these ideas other than at Cornell. This is a fantastic reason to drive someone to pursue a degree at Cornell, as it helps not only the applicant but the university and the greater community.

Speaking of community, let’s cover the next prompt: the Cornell community essay.

In the community essay, you want to be humble. More often than not, only a select few students would have had experiences or projects that truly helped the community in a drastic way. Some people say that they’ve started nonprofits, and others say they’ve started businesses. Many of these students exaggerate or at least overestimate, the weight of their work. The key here is that you’re still applying as an undergraduate student. Unless you genuinely have a project or nonprofit that made very clear changes to the community, you want to take on a humble tone that doesn’t try to exaggerate. This shows you’re still open to learning and have an open mind to improvement at Cornell University.

As for the agricultural background, it doesn’t matter what you put in this. It’s okay for students who don’t own a farm or work in one to have a fascination or interest in the field. What’s more important is the way in which you look at your background in agriculture and how that would actually make you a strong candidate for the school. How you view agriculture and whether admissions officers can truly understand the passions and interests in the field is going to be the main point of this essay.

Cornell Architecture Essay

What three words best describe you?

What is your “thing”? What energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time? Everyone has different passions, obsessions, quirks, inspirations. What are yours?* (650 words)

The “which words best describe you” prompt follows the same rules as any other prompt that uses the same format. In short, you should get creative with this question and choose words that aren’t just adjectives. For instance, words like “Crepe” can describe both personal tastes and culture. It could also describe an overall “aesthetic” or “feel” that you’d like to reveal to admissions officers, which is particularly useful for creative majors. In addition, don’t be afraid to use words with hyphens in between, as the hyphen binds two words to make them into one. “Chocolate-loving” works as a nice example.

As for the Cornell “What is your thing” essay prompt, you don’t want to get too focused on your major. That’s a trap people fall for, as they’re too concerned about making the essay about what their career paths should be instead of opening up about themselves. It’s not as if you should not mention your major at all. After all, you have 650 words. Instead, your focus should be on what “…energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time…” So, is there an element to learning that may make you particularly interested compared to other things? Here’s an example: aesthetic appeal. Some people find a particular interest in topics when it’s concerned with beauty; so, even if you’re majoring in architecture, it’s the beauty of buildings and environments that truly draws you in and makes you capable of working for such a long time. That means the same principles can be applied to arts, literature, drama, etc. It also paints a better picture of why you would be capable of pursuing architecture and handling the many hours of work it takes to earn your qualifications.

Cornell Arts & Sciences Essay

Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s “any person…any study” founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College.*(650 words)

One of the mistakes a lot of applicants make is taking the “founding vision” just a tad bit too seriously. They hear the universities talk a lot about the importance of the school’s tradition, vision, and other platitudes which many other schools also have. However, it’s important to note that most students, realistically, aren’t all hyped up about ancient traditions and mission statements. Implying that you are excited about a mission statement or a tradition you had to Google and scour the internet for can seem fake and obsequious.

Instead, what you may want to focus on instead is the way Cornell’s Arts and Sciences truly fits with your vision. Specifically, focus on why you have a deep interest in that field and why you can’t obtain that kind of education in any other school. Of course, with how comprehensive and well-funded most schools are, it’s hard to believe that Cornell has something that no other school has. But, you may have an easier time writing this essay if you connect your future career, it’s importance to you, and how Cornell’s area of study is crucial to the success of that career.

So, it may look like this.

1. I need to combine majors ‘x’ and study ‘y’
2. This interdisciplinary focus will help me achieve ‘z’ career
3. I have both a passion and moral obligation to pursue ‘z’ career because… ‘a’
4. Therefore, Cornell’s academic resources are vital to me and help me tackle passions beyond a surface level.

Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Essay

Why are you drawn to studying public policy? Drawing on your experiences, tell us about why you are interested in your chosen major and how attending the Brooks School will help you achieve your life goals.* (650 words)

As we’ve mentioned in the other prompt, the 4-point list is a good way of conceptualizing the “why Cornell” essay prompt.

1. I need to combine majors ‘x’ and study ‘y’
2. This interdisciplinary focus will help me achieve ‘z’ career
3. I have both a passion and moral obligation to pursue ‘z’ career because… ‘a’
4. Therefore, Cornell’s academic resources are vital to me and help me tackle passions beyond a surface level.

Though, this is where things start to get a bit difficult. Many of our clients who plan to attend Cornell (or any college for that matter) for public policy find that their future aspirations get fuzzy. That is, they don’t really know what they want to do with their major or for the future.

If there’s anything we could recommend for this prompt, it’s to be accurate. Be specific, and accurate with what you want to do with your future. Seriously.

It’s far too common for students to apply to college without a general path. That’s fine, and quite understandable. You can be unsure of what your future career is going to be yet have a well-articulated path of what you’ll do to find it. You just need to be specific and have thought about what you want to do instead of expecting that you’ll randomly stumble into it while attending university.

If you need help figuring out what you want to do for your career, or even what to say your life goal plans are to better answer this question, feel free to ask us for help over a free college admissions consultation. College essay questions about life goals and why “x” majors are quite hard; but, our expertise can certainly help you write a fantastic response.

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Essay

What kind of business student are you? Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should convey how your interests align with the school to which you are applying within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management or the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration).* (650 words)

Ahh, the Business major.

Before we even start tackling this essay, you may want to ask yourself what business means to you. Really. What does it mean?

Is it marketing to people to make important deals and wearing fancy suits and making as much money as you possibly can? Well, that’s the impression most people get about business; so, if anything, you could say that that’s a meta truth.

Though, there’s more to business than just what you see.

College-bound students, especially those at the undergrad level, often have a low-resolution understanding of what business really is or means. They can see the suits, major transactions, and random jargon being thrown around; but, they don’t see that business is the process of providing value to the world.

Then, there are the deeper parts of it. Business is the backbone of American culture. It’s what keeps everything we know from economics, social welfare, basic functions such as electricity and running water, and many other necessities functioning. Business plays a crucial role in ensuring society’s gears are running smoothly.

Now, let’s go back to the Cornell prompt for a second.

Cornell asks us what kind of student we are; that is, what interests and passions do we have in terms of issues or problems we care about or want to solve? This question is crucial, as it parallels our definition of what business is meant to do: provide value to society.

In short, how can you provide value to society by solving a problem or issue that you’re passionate about? Then, how can Cornell’s resources and particular benefits best serve you in your quest to solve this problem?

If you can answer these two questions, you can demonstrate to Cornell that you are someone with a genuine plan for attending college. You’re not just someone looking to apply to Cornell “just because”; instead, you’re someone who is applying because it will help you with solving a problem that you care about.

Here’s an example.

You realize that there are a lot of people who want to become self-employed and work for themselves selling online products. For example, beekeepers sell their honey products like raw honey, candy, or wax. Or, as another example, arts and crafts creators make things like earrings and custom jewelry. A major problem is that these people are craftspeople, not marketers. They don’t know how to navigate the business world to sell their product. Thus, you want to provide low-cost resources to people looking to migrate their business to digital sales by selling accessible educational resources like seminars and pdfs. Cornell will help you scale this philanthropic entrepreneurial endeavor through “x” programs and “x” professors.

Cornell Engineering Essay

What three words best describe you?

What are three words you would use to describe Cornell Engineering?

How do your interests directly connect with Cornell Engineering? If you have an intended major, what draws you to that department at Cornell Engineering?  If you are unsure what specific engineering field you would like to study, describe how your general interest in engineering most directly connects with Cornell Engineering. It may be helpful to concentrate on one or two things that you are most excited about.* (250 words)

Question A: Describe an engineering problem that impacts your local community. This could be your school, neighborhood, town, region, or a group you identify with. Describe one to three things you might do as an engineer to solve the problem. (250 words)

Question B: Diversity in all forms is intrinsic to excellence in engineering. Engineering the best solutions to complex problems is often achieved by drawing from the diverse ingenuity of people from different backgrounds, lived experiences, and identities. How do you see yourself contributing to the diversity and/or the inclusion of the Cornell Engineering community? What is the unique voice you would bring to the Cornell Engineering community? (250 words)

As mentioned previously, our section on the Cornell Architecture essay covers exactly what you should do with the “words that best describe ‘x’ essay prompts.”

With that out of the way, let’s cover the more in-depth Cornell engineering essay prompts.

The first Cornell Engineering essay question asks why your interests in the school would directly correlate with the kind of resources the department has that would benefit you. This is a clear indication that Cornell wants to know that you actually know what you’re doing with your time.

However, they do also indicate that it’s fine for you not to know what specific engineering focus you want to dedicate to. You’re not required to know exactly what your future looks like.

Instead, you simply need to demonstrate that you have “a” plan. It doesn’t have to be perfect; but, you should have some form of blueprint or plan on how Cornell’s Engineering major would actually benefit your future aspirations.

As for Cornell Engineering’s Question A essay prompt, this question is good for students who have an actionable plan that they believe they can tackle within the next few years. The questions ask if there’s a problem in your community (or general background or group you like) that is facing an engineering problem. People often think from an architectural perspective; but, there’s a lot more to Engineering than buildings and beams of steel. There is Bio, Bio Med, Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, ISST, and many more elements of Engineering. Just make sure that the kind of Engineering problem you’re trying to fix is in a field that Cornell provides; you can find Cornell’s list of Engineering majors here.

The great thing about this prompt is that it forces applicants to choose a problem in Engineering that is close to their community, and therefore their personal lives. Admission to Cornell, therefore, becomes not just about fulfilling career goals but solving issues meaningful to the applicant’s personal life. Or, in simpler terms: “getting accepted into Cornell Engineering means having the best resources to solve a problem in my local community, which is meaningful to me on a personal level because…”

Cornell Engineering’s Question B essay prompt is a bit harder to answer; but, if you have an entrepreneurial temperament, this is the question for you. First, you need to recognize why diversity would be valuable to the world of Engineering. Yeah, we know. Cornell already mentioned that diversity is important to the world of Engineering. But, it’s easy for applicants to only really have a surface-level understanding of why Engineering actually needs diversity. It’s known in that “positivity” sort of way; however, few truly understand why it’s actually valuable on a deeper productivity level.

When you think about your unique background or personal experience, you may want to consider how it actually contributes to providing a unique perspective to Engineering. Specifically, how will your unique voice really bring a new angle to looking at the problems you’ll be tackling as a student at Cornell Engineering? Perhaps there is something about Cornell Engineering that is lacking that your perspective can fill in. The key here is the “innovative” factor. How innovative is the perspective you have and can it do great things for the future problems you want to solve?

Cornell Human Ecology Essay

How has your decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology been influenced by your related experiences? How will your choice of major impact your goals and plans for the future?* (650 words)

The Cornell Human Ecology essay prompt has two sections: what experiences influenced you to apply, and how will your major help you in your future aspirations?

Fortunately, you get to be a bit more creative and open up about your personal life in the first half of this essay. It’s okay to let a bit of sentimentality get into the equation. Just make sure that you’re still getting to the point at the end of the day. In addition, you should ensure the experiences related to your decision are believable. Sometimes, here at PenningPapers we come across applicants who write essays that show how they were first influenced by a field and had a “shocking” revelation that moved them to apply to the school. However, the essay comes across as cheesy and unnatural. Make sure not to lie in your application about how you truly became interested and influenced to apply. That way, you’ll come across as more genuine and honest.

The next part is similar to the other sections. You need to have at least some form of plan on how Cornell’s Human Ecology major would actually help your future projects, career objectives, or desires. Is there something about Cornell’s resources that will help you in your quest? How do those resources help streamline the process and get you to your goal faster or more efficiently? If you’re planning on starting your own business, you may also want to think about how experience in Human Ecology will help you scale your startup. Remember that the community in the department also plays a massive role in your future success, as most people need to collaborate and work together to truly reach their goals.

Cornell Industrial & Labor Relations Essay

Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School.* (650 words)

The Cornell Industrial & Labor Relations essay asks a simple “why us” essay question. Your experiences should parallel what the school desires. However, there’s a big problem.

What if you don’t have any experiences that align with ILR School’s interests?

Of all the Cornell essay questions, we believe this question is the one with the least number of people ith relatable experiences. Few have the “Eureka” moment that makes them think, “Ahh, industrial & Labor relations! My favorite subject!”

If this is the case for you, you don’t need to focus on experiences with a direct correlation. Instead, you can draw from personal experiences that are relational in principle. Let’s say that you never really saw any problems with labor because you grew up in a community that was relatively stable and did not struggle with financial issues. It is inevitable that you’re living in a community that is experiencing atomization (as is everyone). Atomization is the further complicating of jobs as a result of rote and simple work becoming outsourced or automated. This is making it difficult for more traditional workers to find employment, and making it easier for those who are creative to carve out their own niches to monetize and find their own work.

Although the topic of atomization may not be directly correlated to labor and management, it’s still somewhat related in principle. It’s not as close an experience as working as a fast food cashier or working as the manager of your family’s business. But, it’s strong enough that you can draw similar principles and connect them with the ILR School’s interests.

If you have any other questions on how to write the Cornell supplemental essays, you should consider scheduling a free consultation. Getting accepted, especially into an Ivy League school, is no easy feat. However, we can certainly help you through the brainstorming, writing, and editing phase to have the best quality essay before submission. We’ve helped others stand out amongst the rest of the application pool with expert advising and consulting; and, we can do the same for you!