Advice/Chances

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I would be applying to CALS for Biological Sciences with Pre-Med in mind. Possibly ED depending on advice I get here. Probably no financial aid either as I do not qualify...but could use it.</p>

<p>Male(Caucasian)
Grade: 12 (2008-2009)
Location: SC
Type of School: Charter School
Small school where you apply to get in. I am able to take college classes on a college campus with those students. I will have English 101 and 102 done so I will not need to take freshman year (if they are accepted). We do not have AP but the college classes count and give more credit than AP. Some grads have gone to Duke, and MIT.</p>

<p>W GPA: 4.267
UW GPA: 4.063
Class Size: 118
Class Rank: 15 (A little skewed...someone who takes more classes with worse grades can have a higher rank...) </p>

<p>SAT I: CR: 540 M 590 W 550
SAT IIs: (CALS does not require them)
ACT: 25
(Doesn't match any of my stats with how bad they are but I am working at it)</p>

<p>Middle School
English 1
Spanish 1
Algebra 1</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
English 2
Spanish 2
World Geography
PE
Physical Science
Algebra 2</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
English 3
Spanish 3
World History
Honors Geometry
Biology
Business Apps
Keyboarding</p>

<p>Junior Year:
College Sociology 101 B
College Psychology 201 B
College CPT 101
English 4
Chemistry
US History
Pre Calculus</p>

<p>Senior Year:
College English 101, 102
College Math 110, 111
College Government
Economics
Physics</p>

<p>Senior Project (I have to get a mentor, write papers, present in front of a group of people, 25% of year's grade)</p>

<p>ECs: Over all 250+ hrs
JV Golf
Youth in Government (3yrs) Leadership position final year
Tutoring (4 years)
Helped Local Middle School (Cleaned, helped, managed computer systems) 50+ hrs
Beta Club (3yrs)
NHS (Running for VP this year)
USY (4yrs)
Middle School Yearbook Mentor (2yrs)
Experience in a college Level Lab (25hrs)
Possibly running for student council leadership position.</p>

<p>How I am different: I created and maintain a 110 Gallon aquarium. During the past 3 years with this I have cross bread mushrooms, mated fish, and propagated corals. </p>

<p>Awards:
Dean's List at the college I took classes at.</p>

<p>Work:
Freelance Graphic Design
Work at a retail store for a Fortune 500 company</p>

2

<p>Not terribly impressive I must say…</p>

<p>are you from an economically disadvantaged family? </p>

<p>your ECs arent so much that of a Pre-Med student…</p>

<p>I would attempt College Biology instead of that Government course…oh and get your ECs into something medically related…</p>

<p>definitely plan on applying ED b/c if you dont get in then…you can plan on applying for RD at other schools…</p>

3

<p>Your chances are not very good with those test scores. Show a lot of passion in your essays. You never know where that will get you</p>

4

<p>“are you from an economically disadvantaged family?”
Now why would think that?
The answer is no.</p>

<p>I am actually going to be helping at a hospital and in research at a local university. Definitely more pre-med EC’s, I know.</p>

<p>Government is a required course so I can’t change it to Bio.</p>

<p>And yeah the test scores…working on getting them up. The acceptance in the common data wasn’t too bad for the ACT range I have.</p>

<p>Either way, it is a reach, but no harm done in applying…except $65.</p>

5

<p>well i asked about the economically disadvantaged b/c you mentioned a charter school and i guess i’m thinking of houston area charter schools that get mentioned in the news…but mostly it was that your test scores are lower than mine and i’m both a URM and from an economically disadvantaged family. I applied to a less competitive ILR program (accepts 1/3 of all applicants) and was able to get cornell to waive my $65 application fee (along with other schools)</p>

<p>for the sake of chance at cornell and other colleges, do excell at your pre-med ECs…have you considered a non-traditional pre-med program that cornell offers such as natural resources (a friend of mine is this major and works for a coral reef lab at cornell, similar to your tank experience) or maybe plant science?</p>

<p>government might be required, but can you drop that to a non-college level and maybe squeeze bio in there somewhere? </p>

<p>i really hope you studied for those Standardized Tests this summer…I do think you can study for these tests as i raised my math 50 points in a 2 month period…you definitely want to get the math SAT up to 750 is possible…</p>

6

<p>You might be thinking of magnet schools? Magnet schools are usually in the ghetto and try to bring in other kids to boost the ratings.</p>

<p>Charter schools are state funded and receive national funding…so smaller classes…with bigger budgets for computers, teacher pay, etc. Our schools sends a profile to every school students app to. We have been ranked top 3 in the state for the past 4 or 5 years. Also a 97% graduation rate.</p>

<p>I could probably take Bio instead of Math 111.</p>

<p>I am not taking the SAT again. Instead I am taking the ACT which I am better at. (Had it rescored, I had 29s on practice tests that were harder than the real thing…so i have no idea what happened.) I would definitely not submit those SAT scores.
Check out this-Page 11 With a 25 I have a “chance”…just not a good one. Same with SAT scores.
<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000395.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000395.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Industrial Labor Relations doesn’t really excite me though and I heard changing colleges is harder than getting in the first place.</p>

7

<p>i just brought up ILR to remind you the odds are against you…i had 670 reading, 610 math, 640 writing and managed to get into ILR…</p>

<p>i couldnt imagine doing so (even being a URM) with CALS…</p>

8

<p>If I can get my ACT to 28 or 30 then I think I will have a much much better chance for sure.</p>

9

<p>Just some added information, if you received high school credit, and it counted towards your HS degree requirements, it is non-transferrable to Cornell, regardless of if you took it at a College. </p>

<p>The tank thing is the type of quirk that CALS generally likes to see.</p>

<p>But yeah, if you can get your ACT up to a 30, I think you will be definitely in the running.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, I read that the college classes with not transfer most of the time. It said there are rare cases in which it will depending on the college and course but I am not really counting on them transferring.</p>

11

<p>dont be so sure, I raised my ACT from a 28 first time to a 31 second time, had a 96 gpa, ranked 12/305 kids (top 5%) had 2 SATii’s above 650, and great essays. I’m hispanic, first generation, and met one of the adcoms and kept in close contact with him. I applied Early Decision, was deferred, and was ultimately given a guaranteed transfer for 2009, which I plan to use. Sure kids get in with lower stats, but I GUARANTEE you many with higher stats than myself got in, and I am really happy/honored to have the opportunity to go there in a year. Common data is such B.S. I thought the same thing you did. Bottom line: this is an ivy-league school, and pending on the major and school you apply to, they could be looking for a multitude of things that you have no idea they are looking for.</p>

12

<p>also, 1. good luck, I really HOPE you get in. I’m not trying to make you think any less of yourself, I just want to to prepare for possible bad news.
You remind me of myself, freaking out about numbers and figures</p>

<p>and 2. If you are flat-out rejected, and your heart’s set on Cornell, go online and read the prepatory coursework for your major, take those classes at your other college, get a 3.0 or above, and you will have a VERY strong shot as being accepted as a transfer, or at least to CALS. best of luck!</p>

13

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<p>Do you have to have ECs close to your desired major?</p>

<p>I just have leaderships, but do not volunteer at local hospitals, etc. I am applying for CALS biological science?</p>

14

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<p>While that is always another viable option for students who are set on Cornell/CALS…and although we are thinking far into the future…just want to point out that transfer applicants to CALS Bio must have at least a 3.5 or higher to be considered.</p>

15

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<p>no…but dont be surprised if you dont have the edge over those who not only have fun ECs but also ECs that are medically-related…</p>

<p>i made this comment about his non pre-med ECs b/c he lacks pre-med high school academics as well…no computer science or advanced biology :(</p>

16

<p>To the OP: You should consider taking SAT IIs, since math and one science are RECOMMENDED, meaning highly suggested.</p>

17

<p>CPT 101 is computer science and I have 4 years of lab science with an aditional 25+ hours in a lab. They are not AP but definitely accelerated classes. ( School doesn’t offer AP)</p>

<p>I get what you are saying about EC’s relating to your major.</p>

<p>grantortue: That’s rough. It sounds like you were very competitive but just didn’t get in. I have some friends that have had similar stuff happen to them or someone they know. You never know what they are looking for that day I guess. </p>

<p>The website says those who do not take them will not be at a disadvantage so i don’t know. I am not very good at the SAT or ACT so I do not think that taking them would be a good representation of me academically.</p>

18

<p>dudeguy, it sounds like you’re in a bit of denial. Your grades aren’t stellar, your scores aren’t good, you have no SAT IIs, and your ECs, while nice, don’t correlate with your prospective major. “The website says those who do not take them will not be at a disadvantage… I am not very good at the SAT or ACT…”? Come ON now, if CALS recommends a math and a science you MUST take those and do well on them! I hate standardized testing too, so I took a kaplan prep class for the SATs, took them once, and got a 2300. And I only got a 1990 on the PSAT. Don’t make excuses to yourself about testing, that’s the best way to fall behind in the college admissions process. Take that math and science, do well on them, and then you have a better chance. As you stand right now, it’s very iffy.</p>

19

<p>No, I would not say that I am in denial. It is more of I am finding out where I stand and what I need to work on. Trust me, I took those classes and Kaplan is a joke. Reading a book and taking practice tests improved my score more…which I plan to continue with. Anyways I started this post to maybe to find out what would boost my chances. Rather than it being a HUGE reach…maybe just a reach. Like the poster that said “have pre-med like EC’s”. I wasn’t looking for comments like HEY YOU CAN GET IN NO PROBLEM. Constructive criticism I guess which I did get.</p>

20

<p>oh dewdrop good catch, I always forget bio is 3.5</p>