Cornell Supplemental Essays 2025-26 – Prompts and Advice
August 20, 2025
The 8.4% acceptance rate for Cornell’s Class of 2028 was just a touch higher than last year’s 7.3%. However, as late as 2003, the school still had as high as a 31% acceptance rate. Clearly, getting into Cornell in 2025-26 is a vastly different enterprise than earlier in the millennium. Even if you earned a 1450+ on the SAT and maintained straight A’s throughout a high school career littered with AP and honors courses, you still need to find a way to distinguish yourself from other high school superstars. Fortunately, Cornell’s supplemental essays present applicants with just the opportunity they need to showcase their unique personality, writing ability, passions, and talents.
Want to learn more about how to create a strong application to Cornell? In addition to our blog on How to Get Into Cornell, head to College Transitions Gateway for all our best free tools and resources, including an admissions calculator for 130+ institutions, college planning guides & templates, and example essays from accepted students.
In addition to the required supplemental response for all applicants (which is the same as last year’s), each college within Cornell has its own essay requirement(s). Below, we examine the Cornell supplemental essays for the 2025-26 admissions cycle.
Cornell Supplemental Essays 2025-26
Required for all applicants:
We all contribute to, and are influenced by, the communities that are meaningful to us. Share how you’ve been shaped by one of the communities you belong to.
Define community in the way that is most meaningful to you. This community example can be drawn from your family, school, workplace, activities or interests, or any other group you belong to. (350 word limit)
Most applicants to Cornell are involved in at least one “community,” whether it is an ethnic, religious, or neighborhood community or a group of individuals who gather for a club, sport, or service project. Moreover, you may hold a leadership role within your community of choice—be it the captain of a team, the editor-in-chief of your school paper, or the president of a club. Whichever community you choose, bring your involvement to life. Use your writing ability to show what type of community member you are rather than merely telling.
How do you accomplish that? Discuss how you have engaged with your community of choice, and what you have learned from those interactions. How have they shaped you or impacted your perspective? The admissions officer reading your essay is hoping to connect with you through your written words, so—within your essay’s reflection—be open, humble, thoughtful, inquisitive, emotionally honest, mature, and/or insightful about what you learned and how you grew.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
By applying to Cornell’s College of Agriculture of Life Sciences (CALS), you are also applying for direct entry into one of our 20+ majors. From here, you would be part of a community dedicated to purpose-driven science; working within your major and across disciplines to tackle the complex challenges of our time.
Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected and specifically, why do you want to pursue this major at Cornell CALS? You should share how your current interests, related experiences, and/or goals influenced your choice. (500 word limit)
There are 22 undergraduate majors and more than 40 minors within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Obviously, the content of this Cornell supplemental essay is going to be quite different for a prospective American Indian Indigenous Studies major versus someone looking to study biomedical engineering. Firstly, you’ll need to discuss your motivations and past experiences related to your major of choice—how have you engaged with the subject, formally and/or informally? What drives you to pursue this course of study in college? Moreover, you’ll need to clearly lay out your academic and career goals, providing explicit evidence of why CALS is the ideal place to help you achieve them. For instance, this may involve researching the professors, courses, study abroad programs, undergraduate research opportunities, and student-run organizations relevant to your major of choice.
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
How do your interests directly connect with your intended major at the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP)? Why architecture (B.Arch), art (BFA), or urban and regional studies (URS)? B. Arch applicants, please provide an example of how a creative project or passion sparks your motivation to pursue a 5-year professional degree program. BFA applicants may want to consider how they could integrate a range of interests and available resources at Cornell into a coherent art practice. URS students may want to emphasize their enthusiasm and depth of interest in the study of urban and regional issues. (650 word limit)
There are five departments within the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning: Architecture; Art; City and Regional Planning; Real Estate; and Design Tech. Firstly, discuss your motivations and past experiences related to your major of choice. How have you engaged with the subject, formally and/or informally? What drives you to pursue this course of study in college? Moreover, you’ll need to clearly lay out your academic and career goals, providing explicit evidence of why Cornell AAP is the ideal place to help you achieve them. For instance, this may involve researching the professors, courses, study abroad programs, undergraduate research opportunities, and student-run organizations relevant to your major of choice. Note that the prompt provides specific guidance on what exactly should be addressed in the response depending on prospective major, so be sure to integrate that guidance into your essay.
College of Arts and Sciences
At the College of Arts and Sciences, curiosity will be your guide. Discuss how your passion for learning is shaping your academic journey, and what areas of study or majors excite you and why. Your response should convey how your interests align with the College, and how you would take advantage of the opportunities and curriculum in Arts and Sciences. (650 words)
With 78 different majors and minors, the College of Arts and Sciences offers myriad opportunities for any student. As such, Cornell wants to see evidence of your drive, passion, and intellectual ambition in this supplemental essay. They also want to hear your specific plans for continuing to be academically engaged while in college. What are your current interests? How have you explored them inside and outside the classroom? How do you hope to continue pursuing them as an undergraduate? Great things to highlight here include:
- Departmental offerings, curriculum attributes, and/or specific courses offered in your discipline(s) of interest at Cornell.
- Undergraduate research opportunities in the summer or during the school year. You can also mention independent research you would like to conduct under faculty supervision.
- Cornell professors whose work/research/writings you find fascinating and how you might want to connect with them as an undergraduate.
- Last, explore academically focused student organizations at Cornell.
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
What kind of a 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)
To stand out as an applicant to Dyson or the School of Hotel Administration, applicants need to show that they have availed themselves of every opportunity to dive into the business world during their high school years. Of course, not everyone has parents who hand them money to invest in the stock market or hook them up with a Goldman Sachs internship in ninth grade. Relevant experiences can include high school investing clubs, participation in activities like FBLA, summer programs/courses in business/finance/economics, running your own local small business or e-business (Etsy, landscaping, etc.), or just a regular old retail job. From there, and as a result of your experiences, what topics or issues are you interested in? How do you plan to explore said issues or topics at Cornell? You might consider citing departmental/curricular attributes, specific courses, research opportunities, and/or experiential learning opportunities, among others.
College of Engineering
Instructions: All engineering applicants are required to write two long essays and four short essays.
Long Essay Responses (200 word limit)
Question 1: Fundamentally, engineering is the application of math, science, and technology to solve complex problems. Why do you want to study engineering?
Here, Cornell wants to understand your motivation for studying engineering. Where did this desire originate? How has it grown, changed, and flourished over the years? What specific experiences have you had—academic or extracurricular–that made you realize that engineering was the career path for you?
Question 2: Why do you think you would love to study at Cornell Engineering?
For the “Why Cornell Engineering?” prompt, refer to our recommendation above for the College of Arts & Sciences essay. Do your homework. Tell Cornell about the departments, courses, professors, facilities, research opportunities, and unique programs that make their College of Engineering your top choice. Since you don’t have a ton of space, consider focusing on two to three things that you are most excited about vs. trying to squeeze in a laundry list of offerings.
Short Answer Responses (100 word limit)
- Question 1: What brings you joy?
- Question 2: What do you believe you will contribute to the Cornell Engineering community beyond what you’ve already detailed in your application? What unique voice will you bring?
- Question 3: What is one activity, club, team, organization, work/volunteer experience or family responsibility that is especially meaningful to you? Please briefly tell us about its significance for you.
- Question 4: What is one award you have received or achievement you have attained that has meant the most to you? Please briefly describe its importance to you.
College of Human Ecology
Identify a challenge in your greater community or in the career/industry in which you are interested. Share how the CHE education, your CHE major of choice, as well as the breadth of CHE majors, will help you address that challenge. (Refer to our essay application tips before you begin.) (Max word count: 600)
The direction of your essay will be guided by your choice of major within the College of Human Ecology. For example, the content will look substantively different for a Fashion Design and Management major versus a Nutritional Sciences applicant. Regardless of your area of study, the prompt seeks to get the heart of why you’re interested in your particular field and how you might use your education to address real-world challenges. Along the way, be sure to cite specific CHE offerings like courses, professors, research initiatives, student organizations, and/or special programs.
School of Industrial and Labor Relations
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)
Labor relations is not exactly the most common topic for a 17-year-old to fall in love with. Therefore, there is probably a pretty interesting story behind your desire to pursue the ILR path. Given that this major is an intersection of areas like business, economics, government, history, law, and public policy, among others—your interest in Cornell’s ILR program may have been sparked by traditional classroom learning. Or, on the other hand, perhaps the spark was the experience of a friend or relative. Perhaps it was even something you have been following in the news (e.g., Starbucks workers trying to unionize). Above all, let your passion and commitment to this field shine through in your composition. Finally, be sure to cite ILR offerings that will allow you to pursue your interests even more deeply, such as the curriculum structure, research opportunities, internships, or student organizations, among others.
Brooks School of Public Policy
Why are you interested in studying policy, and why do you want to pursue this major at Cornell’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy? You should share how your current interests, related experiences, and/or goals have influenced your choice of policy major. (650 words)
At Brooks, you can pursue one of two majors: Public Policy or Health Care Policy. As such, in this essay, you’ll want to be sure to communicate why you’re interested in your major of choice. What related experiences have you had? How have you explored your interests and curiosities inside and outside the classroom? Most importantly, how do you hope to continue pursuing them as an undergraduate? Great things to highlight here include departmental offerings, specific courses, research opportunities, faculty members, student life, and/or experiential learning opportunities of interest.
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Need additional essay writing resources? Consider checking out the following:
- Common App Essay Prompts
- 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples
- College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
- Should I Complete Optional College Essays?
- How to Brainstorm a College Essay
- 25 Inspiring College Essay Topics
- “Why This College?” Essay Examples
- How to Write the Community Essay
