Transfer students are admitted directly into a particular major, with prerequisites varying somewhat by major. Final decisions are made by the relevant department faculty. Transfer students are highly encouraged to state their academic interests clearly, showing how they pertain to the major they have selected.
Please note that transfer students are not permitted to apply as "undecided," nor can they apply to the Independent major. Accepted students must remain in the selected major for at least one academic year.
Course requirements will vary by each engineering major and depend on the appropriate class standing level consistent with the amount of coursework completed at the time the student begins at Cornell. To gain a clear sense of the major-specific course requirements, please review the documents on the Transfer Requirements page as well as information on each major in the Engineering Handbook.
The Mid-Term Report is required. Applicants not currently enrolled at a college or university should submit the required Mid-Term Report with a note explaining that they are not currently enrolled. Please note that the Mid-Term Report is only available after you've submitted your application and logged in to your Applicant Portal. For more information, see the Transfer Applicants webpage.
Generally speaking, Cornell has no preferences regarding the institution from which a student transfers. With that noted, about a quarter of the transfer students come from community colleges.
As applications are reviewed, the most important factors considered include:
If you are currently completing, or have completed, your junior year at a four-year university, then we would discourage a transfer application. In most cases, Cornell will only allow a maximum of 60 credits to transfer. For students that have completed three years of coursework, a significant number of course credits could be lost in the transfer process. It may be worth completing your degree at your current institution and considering Cornell for graduate study.
SAT/ACT scores are neither required nor expected for transfer candidates. To learn more, visit the Transfer Applicants webpage.
Each undergraduate college or school at Cornell evaluates transfer credits on a case-by-case basis. Applicants may need to send syllabi and/or detailed course descriptions for all of the coursework they would like to receive credit for if they gain admission to the college or school they have applied to. Most of the colleges and schools will allow students to transfer up to 60 semester credits. Because Cornell is on the semester system, quarter hours will be converted to semester hours; each quarter credit is usually equal to two-thirds of a semester credit.
Transfer applicants must ensure that a college official with access to their academic and disciplinary records completes and submits the College Report Form to Cornell. Applicants can access the College Report form through their online Applicant Portal. We prefer that you submit Cornell’s College Report. However, if you are unable to submit our form, we will accept the Common App College Report instead. Please submit only one College Report.
An applicant may apply to Cornell as a transfer student if they have graduated from high school or received a GED, and have earned twelve or more credits at another college or university since then. Typically, this means that credits earned in an early college program will count only toward the student's high school diploma and not college.
