Admissions

Why Cornell Engineering?

"Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that never has been."—Theodore von Karman

Cornell engineers challenge the status quo and do great things. Steeped in an environment of questioning, and with a focus on innovation, Cornell Engineering pursues excellence in all areas. Its faculty, students, and alumni design, build, and test products, improve the world of medicine, inform and shape our laws, create and drive businesses, become research luminaries, and overcome real and perceived barriers to achieve scientific breakthroughs that advance the quality of life on our planet.

We invite you to learn more about Cornell Engineering and its programs.

What type of applicant are you?

Undergraduate Admissions

Our undergraduate program will challenge you to transcend traditional boundaries between disciplines while giving you a world-class education in a collaborative, rigorously academic environment.

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Did you know?

The Journal Physical Review, America’s first physics-only scientific journal, was founded at Cornell in 1893 by faculty member, Edward L. Nichols, (Physics, 1875). He edited it with the help of two of his colleagues, Ernest Merritt (Physics, M.S., 1886) and Frederick Bedell (Physics, Ph.D., 1892). The journal is still thriving today.

David Duffield, (Electrical Engineering, B.S., 1962), the namesake for Duffield Hall, is the founder of two ultra-successful enterprise software companies: PeopleSoft and Workday. Dufffield’s foundation Maddie’s Fund has supported no-kill animal shelters, including Tompkins County SPCA.

NYC’s Grand Central Terminal was conceived and designed in 1902 by William Wilgus, who completed correspondence courses from Cornell Engineering in 1883-1885. He coined the term "taking wealth from the air" from his idea to lease the area above the Park Avenue Tunnel in order to help finance the station.

In 2000, Prof. Christopher Ober created Alpha-Terp, a thermoset epoxy used to hold computer components together. It melts at high temperatures, allowing components to be sorted and recycled when the computer’s life is over and has saved millions of computers from the landfill.

Cornell was the first among all U.S. colleges and universities to allow undergraduates to borrow books from its libraries.