Cornell University's wording, checked October 26, 2026“What draws you to Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)? Reflect on the learning, community, or impact opportunities that matter most to you, and share how they align with Cornell CALS (as you understand it currently).”
How to approach it
- 1Pick one or two CALS opportunities and say why they matter to you.
- 2Show alignment with something you already do.
- 3Keep it about CALS, not Cornell in general.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The CALS opportunity that matters most to you.
- 2Why, through your own experience.
- 3What you would do there.
Where the 350 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| Your first, most specific reason | about 120 |
| A second reason, tied to your experience | about 120 |
| What you would do or add there | about 110 |
Mistakes to avoid
- Repeating the major essay.
- Cornell-wide facts that are not about CALS.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your Cornell answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 350 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| Specific to this college | It names at least two concrete things that exist at this college (a program, course, research group, tradition, place, way of teaching) and could not survive a swap of the college's name. |
| Connected to you | Each thing named is tied to something the applicant has done, asked or wants, so the reader sees why it matters to THIS student, not why the college is good. |
| What you would do there | It shows how the applicant would use those things and what they would add (join, start, research, contribute), not only what they would receive. |
| Cornell's ask | Names CALS learning, community or impact opportunities and how they align with the applicant. |
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Questions
More on Cornell and this kind of question
- Harvard: How you will use your Harvard education · 150 words
- Columbia: Why Columbia · 150 words
- Brown: Your approach to the Open Curriculum · 150-250 words
- Dartmouth: Why Dartmouth · 100 words
- Duke: Why Duke · 250 words
- UChicago: Why UChicago · no set limit