Cooper Union: Acceptance Rate and Admissions Statistics

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a private college with an acceptance rate of 16%. Founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper, industrialist and philanthropist, Cooper Union offers public programs for the civic, cultural and practicable enrichment of New York City. Located in the East Village of downtown Manhattan, Cooper Union is divided into three schools: Architecture, Art, and Engineering. Each of these schools offers degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. With these specializations, Cooper Union has an assortment of state-of-the-art facilities, including several art studios, photography labs, film production labs, and art galleries. A particularly notable feature of the school is that every student at Cooper Union receives a half-tuition scholarship for all four years of college.

Considering applying to this highly selective school? Here are the Cooper Union statistics you should know.

Acceptance Rate

During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, Cooper Union had an acceptance rate of 16%. This means that for every 100 students who applied, 16 were admitted, making Cooper Union's admissions process highly competitive.

SAT Scores and Requirements

Cooper Union requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 73% of admitted student-submitted SAT scores.

This admissions data tells us that most of Cooper Union's admitted students fall within the top 20% nationally on the SAT. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students admitted to Cooper Union scored between 630 and 720, while 25% scored below 630 and 25% scored above 720. On the math section, 50% of admitted students scored between 650 and 790, while 25% scored below 650 and 25% scored above 790. Applicants with a composite SAT score of 1510 or higher will be more competitive for Cooper Union.

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Requirements

Cooper Union does not require the SAT writing section. Note that Cooper Union participates in the scorechoice program, which means that the admissions office will consider your highest score from each individual section across all SAT test dates. The Engineering college does not require SAT Subject test scores, but they will consider math and science SAT II scores if submitted.

ACT Scores and Requirements

Cooper Union Requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 32% of admitted students submitted ACT scores.

This admissions data tells us that most of Cooper Union's admitted students fall within the top 5% nationally on the ACT. The middle 50% of students admitted to Cooper Union received a composite ACT score between 31 and 34, while 25% scored above 34 and 25% scored below 31.

Requirements

Cooper Union does not require the ACT writing section. Unlike many universities, Cooper Union superscores ACT results; your highest subscores from multiple ACT sittings will be considered.

GPA

Cooper Union does not provide data about admitted students' high school GPAs.

Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph

The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to Cooper Union. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in with a free Cappex account.

Admissions Chances

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art has a highly competitive admissions pool with a low acceptance rate and high average SAT/ACT scores. However, Cooper Union has a holistic admissions process involving other factors beyond your grades and test scores. Art applicants need to provide a letter of recommendation and complete a "hometest" that includes a portfolio of their work. Architecture applicants need to complete a "Studio Test", and have the option of submitting a letter of recommendation. Finally, engineering students need to submit two to three letters of recommendation, as well as a separate writing supplement. For all programs, the school will want to see that you have successfully completed a rigorous high school course schedule. The college's free tuition and excellent programs draw thousands of applicants, so you'll need special talent as well as high grades and test scores to gain admission.

In the scattergram above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that everyone who got in had a high school average in the "A" range, and SAT and ACT scores that were well above average (combined SAT scores tend to be above 1400 and composite ACT scores above 30).

If You Like Cooper Union, You May Also Like These Schools

• Cornell University
• New York University
• Princeton University
• Brown University
• Carnegie Mellon University

All admissions data has been sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics and Cooper Union Undergraduate Admissions Office.