<h1>1 thing cornell looks at in potential cornell students and applicants.</h1>
<p>could it be grades, SATs, ECs, etc?</p>
<p>I'm gonna have to say grades just because it's the most relevant indicator of future success at Cornell but I'd also say Cornell does a very good job of looking at each applicant in his or her entirety and takes everything into consideration very well.</p>
<p>if you want #1 and only one answer then it would have to be grades</p>
<p>yeah technically #1 would be grades if you're going to seperate your application into individual factors like that.</p>
<p>However, I think in a way the most important thing is a package. Your application has to have a focus and well put together. Obviously a good student has more of a chance than a mediocre student, but at the same time, the more of a theme one's application has, the better his chances are at cornell IMO.</p>
<p>Also, a note on grades: if you have no special circumstances, a 4.3 with a 1200 (1800 these days) SAT score is not going to get you in. IMO, SATs have to be high enough for you to be considered in most cases, but that if you don't have the grades to back them up, even a 1600 won't get you in.</p>
<p>where would "difficulty of classes" be put in? I'd think that'd go along the lines of grades, right?</p>
<p>a 4.0 without challenging courses means nothing.</p>
<p>difficulty of classes is a given, but i think its really overemphasized in HS...signing up for 5 aps a year isnt necesarily the smartest thing to do. id say around 6-8 by graduation is more than sufficient; just pick what you like, do well and study for the SAT as its more important that people think.</p>
<p>Whether or not people are afraid to accept this, the fact of the matter is the #1, not one of the top, but the #1 item Cornell looks at is SAT scores. This is straight from the admissions office. If your scores aren't high enough, the school will not consider you. It has been stated time and time again: low scores will keep you out, high scores will not get you in. After SAT scores, are grades, extra co's etc. (the very important items).</p>
<p>Good SAT scores open the doors, but it's your other activities that get you in.</p>
<p>Amerks127, where can you find that type of information? I've never heard any school specifically saying that SATs were the most important part of the admissions process. That's quite a bold statement since there are more students who seem, at least to me, more conscious about their SAT scores rather than their grades. There is no doubt that there are more 4.0 GPAs than 1600s, and Cornell wants to appeal to the greater majority, so I highly doubt that they would say SATs are the #1 factor. It's true that high SAT scores don't mean automatic admissions, but it is possible to be admitted with respectable score (in a school's average range). That is why applicants with sub-1400 or 1300 SAT scores still go to college.</p>
<p>P.S.- I'm not implying that "high" SAT scores are restricted to only 1600s, but the point I was trying to get across was the fact that there are more high GPAs than high SAT scores.</p>
<p>KRabble:</p>
<p>No school would ever say that is the #1 factor. All that Amerks way saying is that SATs open the door. If your scores are decent, the school will look more closely at the rest of the package. Also, high scores do NOT mean automatic admission. There are many kids at my school who score 1600 (now 2400) on the SATs that do not get into their dream schools. The SAT scores open the doors, but you need to have the package to get in.</p>
<p>I think it also really depends on the particular school that you are applying too. If you look at the statistics it seems that Engineering would require a higher SAT scores than CALS. The general order of importance a lot of admissions officers told me at different colleges was: GPA->Class Rank->SAT's->Leadership->EC's->Volunteer Work. It's really all speculation since none of us are on the admissions board :p .</p>
<p>SoccerGrl010--
Sorry, I initially made a typo, and actually meant to say "It's true that high SAT scores don't mean automatic admissions." It would be incorrect to say that SATs are the factor that, more or less, decide whether an adcom decides to look at everything else, including ECs, grades, etc. If an applicant can score a 1300 and still get into Cornell, then it's obvious that ridiculously high scores are not required for the school to consider an applicant.</p>
<p>Obviously there are always exceptions to the rule, but all I know is that my interviewer, who happens to be friends with my mom, told my mom that that number one factor for admissions is SAT scores. What exactly constitutes a high enough SAT score is pointless to argue because no two admissions officers are alike. The fact is, though, Cornell is holistic in its admissions process, and as such, everything matters.</p>
<p>I think SATs and grades are almost equally important with the former with a little more emphasis. I feel this way because SATs are a standardized test, and yes, I know some people test bad, but with kids applying from so many different schools there needs to be some form of comparison. Without the SATs colleges would not be able to equate and differentiate between the GPAs of different schools.</p>
<p>I agree--this argument is moot, but just to get it out there, I think an applicant with a 4.0 (near the top of his/her class) and a 1200 SAT has a better chance than an applicant with a 3.0 (not the top of his/her class) and a 1600 SAT.</p>
<p>according to my interviewer,</p>
<p>Transcript is probably most important
Essays up there too.
teacher recs very important
test scores semi-important
interview not really that important</p>
<p>what about for the hotel school? do they have a different weighting system?</p>
<p>what about the ECs? how important are they?</p>