Cornell University vs. University of Pennsylvania

Penn is harder. It admitted about 5.4% of applicants in the most recent cycle against 8.4% at Cornell, taking roughly 3,523 of more than 65,000 applicants where Cornell took 5,516. Both run binding early decision (Penn admitted 1,235 of 8,683 early applicants, Cornell 1,161 of 9,973), and at Cornell your odds also vary by undergraduate college, since you apply to one specific school rather than the university at large.

Cornell concentrates more heavily in computer science. CS is its single most-conferred field at about 18% of degrees, with engineering adding another 13%. Penn grants about 9% of degrees in computer science and 8% in engineering, set inside a university led by business. Both schools teach the subject well, but if you want an undergraduate experience built around CS and the applied sciences, Cornell puts more of its weight there.

Penn wins on business outright. It confers about 21% of degrees in the field, its most popular area, thanks to the Wharton School, where students apply directly into a deep business curriculum. Cornell does business well too at about 14% of degrees, though you reach it through a specific college, and its overall mix tilts toward CS, engineering, and land-grant strengths in agriculture. A business-first undergraduate runs through Penn more directly.

For families with need, call it a tie: both meet 100% of demonstrated financial need. Sticker tuition and fees sit close, about $72,270 at Cornell and $71,236 at Penn before housing and food. Penn's average need-based package runs larger, roughly $70,971 to Cornell's $62,720, and Penn awards aid with no loans through its Quaker Commitment, so higher-need students can land below what the sticker price implies.

Cornell dwarfs Penn on size, about 16,128 undergraduates to 10,013, making it the largest of the Ivies. The settings split just as widely: Cornell sits in rural Ithaca, New York, a self-contained campus above the lakes and gorges, while Penn fills an urban campus in West Philadelphia near the city center. Teaching ratios stay small at both, near 9-to-1 at Cornell and 8-to-1 at Penn. Cornell gives you a contained campus in a college town; Penn gives you a city.

Their testing policies diverge. Penn has reinstated its testing requirement, so the SAT or ACT is mandatory; in its recent enrolled class the middle 50% scored 1510–1570 on the SAT and 34–36 on the ACT. Cornell's most recent published class applied test-optional, with a middle-50% SAT of 1510–1560 and ACT of 33–35 among submitters, but Cornell is reinstating a testing requirement for future applicants, so confirm the policy for your cycle on each school's admissions site.