The survey collected 103 responses over the course of two weeks. Due to sample size, demohraphic data does not represent the whole of the Class of 2026.
Of respondents to the Senior Sunset Survey, 58.3% identified as female, 37.9% identified as male and 4.9% identified as non-binary.
Hispanic or Latino students made up 10% of survey respondents, while White students made up 60.1% of respondents and Asian students 24.2%. 2.9% identified as Black, one respondent identified as American Indian or Alaska Native and one as Middle Eastern. 6.7% identified with two or more races.
5.8% of respondents are international students. For seniors from the US, most are from New York with 34%. A total of 22 states were represented in the survey results.
Toggle the graph below to explore the identities and different beliefs of the Class of 2026!
Respondents were asked to rank how religious they were on a scale of one to five, with one being not religious at all and five being extremely relgious. On average, respondets' degree of religiousness was 2.11. On the same scale, respondents were also asked to rank how politically active they were. The average ranking for political activeness was 2.75, slightly higher that religiousness.
When plotted together, there appears to be higher variance on the political activness scale. The largest cluster of respodents appears at a ranking of one for how religious respodents are, yet the corresponding ranking of political activity is much more widespread.
Within the demographics section, respondents were asked whether they had a relative that had previously attended Cornell. If they responded "Yes", respondents were asked to also specifiy the type of family member. All respondents that reported having a family member that attended Cornell before them are classify as legacy students.
Seniors were additionally asked whether they considered themselves to be a first generation college student. First gen students are classifed as being the first in their family to complete a college education, meaning neither parents have.
For states with respondents that reported being a legacy student or a first generation student, there were marked differences in the percentages of both. Out of respondents from Connecticut, none reported being a first generation student while 66% were legacies.
New York and New Jersey were the only states with both legacy and first generation respondents. New York had the larger difference with 38% legacy students and 16% first generation students.
Toggle the graph below to explore the break down of legacy students across different variables.