3.6UW GPA= no chance at Cornell?

<p>I'm still only a sophomore but I've struggled with diagnosed Executive Functioning Disorder, depression, and anxiety, all as a result of strenuous/continuous bullying 4th-9th grade. My UW GPA was a 3.5 freshman year, and my UW sophomore GPA is around a 3.2-3.3ish. My cumulative <strong>weighted</strong> GPA was around a 3.7 earlier this year, and is now maybe 3.6ish. If I get straight A's next year, my cumulative UW will be a 3.6 when I apply to college, and I'll hopefully also have A's senior year. I was a straight A student in middle school but fell apart in HS and am now getting help. I am taking an SAT course and got a 2300 on their practice test: I am now hoping to get a 2300 on the SAT's. I am a registered Abenaki Native American (even though I'm not much, I'm still registered). I have over 1,000 community service hours- I volunteer at a soup kitchen and a nursing home. I work 16+ hours a week cashiering at a grocery store. I do track. I was accepted into and I attended the Bread Loaf writing conference at Middlebury and have won local competitions. I started the school newspaper and am going to be captain of Literary Magazine and Mock trial next year (was elected). I am working on a website for bullied teens to ask each other for help and am going to write to Ellen.
Next year I'm taking AP US History and AP English
Senior year: AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Spanish</p>

<p>What will be my chances at Cornell if I get a 3.6UW, 2300, good ACT, good subject test scores, and have a great essay?</p>

<p>I was going to say “Yeah,” but your Native American status is a huge bonus. So I’d say you are still in the running, though I’d be careful about overly emphasizing your depression. That’s pretty much the last thing the administration wants more of.</p>

<p>That’s what I was thinking. Thanks!</p>

<p>While I didn’t technically “get in,” I got a guaranteed transfer with something around a 3.3 UW GPA and a 3.6 weighted. I did, however, get very high SAT scores that probably had something to do with it.</p>

<p>I have the opposite problem: great gpa but lower test scores. Shouldn’t your progress over 4 years hold more weight than one test?</p>

<p>Cool! And yeah I agree SupremeStudent but they also allow people like me to redeem themselves.</p>

<p>I got in with a 3.62 this year</p>

<p>It depends on which school within Cornell you are applying to, some schools care more about GPA/SAT and some care more about “fit”.</p>

<p>OP - I would cut back on your ECs or work for next year. AP USH is very time consuming and is one class many A students get Bs in. I would focus on few ECs to make an impact - do either newspaper or the magazine (no need to do both), track (only if you are good), volunteer work, skip the website. </p>

<p>Your junior year is going to be your most important year. If you could show upward trend, it would help. Depending on how well you do junior year, you may want to decide to do ED or not. By waiting to apply for RD, it will give you one more semester to show upward trend, but if you were able to get close to 4.0 junior year then applying ED may help your chance a lot.</p>

<p>A 2300 would totally compensate for the 3.5. And your Native American background makes you hugely desirable so you should be just fine if you get that 2300 or anything close to that. Anything over 2000 is a shot, and anything over 2100 would make you a strong candidate.</p>

<p>A high SAT/ACT wouldn’t necessarily compensate for low GPA. Some adcoms may even view it as laziness on the applicant’s part for getting low GPA.</p>