Recruitment

Baja Racing at Cornell recruits new members each fall as part of Cornell's Project Team Recruitment cycle. There are two applications, one for upperclassmen and one for first-year and transfer students, and each one asks you to choose either the mechanical or the business track. Applications are posted on this page when the cycle opens, and we recommend coming to an info session or meeting us at Project Teams Fest first.

Upperclassmen applications are due September 3 at 11:59 p.m. First-year and transfer applications are due October 15 at 11:59 p.m. The Fall 2026 recruitment cycle begins Monday, August 17.

No. Our deadlines are firm. We do not grant extensions, and we do not accept any application submitted after the 11:59 p.m. deadline.

Three stages. First is a written screening. Applicants who move forward complete two in-person interviews in front of a panel of team members, and offers follow after that. Interviews are typically held on weekends and run 20 to 30 minutes each.

All six subteams take new members every cycle: Drivetrain, Transmission, Suspension, Frame, Brakes, and Business. You don't apply to a specific subteam. Instead, the application asks you to choose either the mechanical track or the business track, and you can only apply to one. The two tracks look for different skill sets and run different interviews, so applying to both would muddy that process. Members are placed onto a specific subteam in their sophomore year.

Roughly 20 to 25 across both tracks. A typical cycle brings on 16 to 18 mechanical first-years, 1 to 2 mechanical sophomores, 2 to 3 business first-years, and 1 to 2 business sophomores.

No. We teach you everything you need to know. New members go through a comprehensive onboarding program led by a dedicated onboarding director, including training sessions we call schools that cover everything from CAD to individual components like gears. You do not need to know CAD or have any shop experience before you apply.

No. We take members from every school at Cornell and from any major, and you can apply to either track regardless of what you study. We teach the technical skills you need through onboarding.

Any Cornell undergraduate, from any school or major, including transfer students. Graduate students are not eligible.

You are welcome to apply again the following fall. We recruit only in the fall and do not run a spring cycle, because of how much time the team invests in onboarding each new class.

Members can enroll in Baja for 1 to 3 credits, and Cornell counts each credit as roughly 3 hours of work per week. In practice the commitment varies a lot depending on your project and how much you want to put into it.

Yes. First-year members who want to go will attend 2 of our 3 competitions, and travel costs are covered in full. We think being at competition matters — it is where you see the part you designed actually run.

We hold three info sessions during the recruitment cycle and table at Project Teams Fest in Duffield Atrium from 4-6 p.m. Info session dates and locations are announced on this page and on our Instagram, @cornellbajaracing.

A new off-road vehicle every year for the SAE Collegiate Baja Design Series. Every vehicle in the series is limited to the same 10 HP engine, so designs compete on reliability, power efficiency, and handling. The team races three times a year against over 100 teams per competition.