How much does applying ED help?

Although Cornell didn't publish it's Class of 2024 RD rate some sources say it's 12% and their ED rate was 24% or twice that. My best guess is that if your mid acceptance rate is 20% RD on CV then your ED rate would be between 30%-35%, perhaps not 40% because typically a more competitive applicant pool with stronger test scores and stats and ECs apply ED because it's their top choice. If Cornell is your top choice, good luck with your application & keep in mind that hospitality school will be a higher rate than the engineering school or school of architecture.

That really depends on which college are you applying.

Cornell fills about 45% of its class through ED, and the acceptance rate is at 23-24% OVERALL.

Since Cornell consists of 8 schools, some of which have extremely large admission rates, such as the hotel school (~20% through RD) the ED rate gets even more boosted from them. If you were to apply to engineering, computer science or to the Dyson school, ED would hardly make any difference.

On the other hand, some schools of Cornell really search a lot more for fit (like ILR) and one way to show you fit and care for a particular school is through ED.

If you have a specific school inside Cornell you will apply to and want to share that info, it could greatly help us give you an answer. Same goes for if you are an athlete, a perfect graded student, a minority, an international student or a new york resident.