If you were denied admission to Cornell University’s Class of 2029, you might have been surprised to receive a letter shortly after your rejection that offered you guaranteed transfer admission. A select batch of students each year are offered a guaranteed slot at Cornell the following year if they meet specific requirements during their first year of college at another institution.

So what is the guaranteed transfer option to Cornell, and do other colleges offer such an option?

What is a Guaranteed Transfer Option?

A guaranteed transfer option is a college promising a student a place at their university the following year. However, the student must first enroll at another school (typically for an entire year) and meet specific academic benchmarks.

Cornell Has Long Offered a Guaranteed Transfer Option

Cornell’s guaranteed transfer option has existed for decades, though it’s limited to specific schools within the broader university. It’s been a tactic the school has deployed to manage its enrollment, notably at Cornell’s statutory colleges.

Cornell’s statutory colleges, New York State public schools, include the College of Human Ecology, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. 

If, for example, the Ivy League school cannot offer a student a spot in CALS for the Class of 2029, if the student meets specific requirements, they will have a guaranteed spot the following year.

What Are Cornell’s Guaranteed Transfer Requirements?

So what are the specific requirements for guaranteed transfer admission to Cornell? It includes enrolling at another institution with a full course load, maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and not facing any disciplinary action. Students offered the guaranteed transfer option must complete a short application, but it’s a mere formality.

The Negatives of Cornell University’s Guaranteed Transfer Option

While students do not need to commit to attending Cornell when offered the guaranteed transfer option, many — including us at Ivy Coach — are openly critical of the school, and other institutions that offer guaranteed transfer programs, because it’s, frankly, unhealthy.

Why is it unhealthy? Because Cornell is asking students to attend another university for their first year, knowing full well that if they maintain a 3.0 GPA at that school and don’t face disciplinary action (this isn’t that hard!), they will be attending Cornell the following year.

How are students supposed to make friends at the first school if they know they’ll be leaving the next year? How are these students supposed to enjoy their college experience? On top of all that, Cornell isn’t playing nice with other schools by offering this option since students will have to leave their initial colleges.

Cornell University’s Guaranteed Transfer Option Has Faced Heavy Criticism

In fact, in 2011, a New York Times piece was published that questioned the ethics of Cornell’s guaranteed transfer program.

Cornell’s response to the piece, as published in The Cornell Daily Sun, was somewhat defensive of its guaranteed transfer option: “’The transfer offer is a student choice every step along the way,’ said Cathleen Sheils ’98, director of admissions in ILR. ’So ’stealing’ students from other institutions would not be accurate.’”

But we at Ivy Coach beg to differ, siding with The New York Times journalist. It sure seems accurate to us!

Cornell Isn’t Alone in Offering a Guaranteed Transfer Option

And while Cornell is perhaps the most notorious highly selective university to offer a guaranteed transfer option, it’s not alone. The University of Virginia, the University of California schools, and The College of William & Mary offer guaranteed transfer options too. However, some such transfer programs, unlike Cornell, are through community colleges.