<p>Not very optimistic about my chances :/
I'm a U.S. citizen(Chinese) who took all of middle and high school in an international school in Shanghai, China. My dad was accepted to Cornell 41 years ago on full scholarship.
My GPA: Roughly 4 ish, can anyone explain what "weighted" means?
Rank: Roughly 20/2-300
IB HL History, Chemistry, Eng
IB standard bio, chinese, math
AP Bio, Chinese: 5
SAT: 2150 or something, i forgot (Math 760, Writing 660(***), Reading~730)
SAT 2: Bio 770, Chem 760, Math 720 :(
Intended major: Biochem or something</p>
<p>EC: none, whatsoever. Maybe some astronomy club vp for a few years, some random ec a few hours for each event, helping out, volunteering, but all broken up and not too important to be listed as one thing. </p>
<p>As you can see, EC is probably my weakest, and my scores are nothing too special. I will be applying early. My family has an income of roughly 5-10k USD a year, which isnt very much, so im also worried about financial aid. Thus, the prospects seems to be very, very dim.</p>
<p>How did you go to Shanghai International school with an income of 5-10K, who paid for that? How is your family surviving on 5-10K, or is that what you are showing on paper? Most people wouldn’t apply ED if they need FA, but in your case it probably wouldn’t matter because if you should get accepted you probably would get full FA. Your dad went to Cornell 40 years ago…it’s at the tip of tongue to say something, but I won’t.</p>
<p>Well I wouldnt go into specifics but living in China is cheaper than living in the US…but there isnt much you can lie about income. I didn’t quite get your last comment though…is 40 years too long a span of time…or something?</p>
<p>haha I think he means that your dad getting in 40 years ago won’t really help you much. 40 years is a long time but I think that no matter how long ago your family went to Cornell, youre still considered a legacy student so its only in your advantage</p>
<p>Your EC’s will probably get you because you should be really involved in something during highschool throughout. Just apply, you have nothing to lose</p>
<p>Yeah, your chances don’t look good. With that kind of income, Cornell will have to supply you with a large financial aid package. B/c of your lack of ECs, you come off as a student who doesn’t explore his/her interests.</p>
<p>Your GPA and scores are very good. No need to be depressed over them. (Weighting is the method of computing GPA that awards extra points for AP and sometimes honors classes. It doesn’t matter if your HS does not weight.) Your ECs may not be great, but if you make it clear that you’ve been busy pursuing various interests, not sitting around watching TV, that’s better than nothing.</p>
<p>I am assuming your parents must have lost their jobs this year or there are some huge medical issues preventing the family from not working. If your dad is a Cornell grad I would be a little concerned about applying to the same school and hoping to get all need met when he has not made enough money to send you there. </p>
<p>I hope when my two kids graduate Cornell they will go on to have wonderful careers affording them the opportunity to pay for their kids to go to Cornell. I dont know OP, you may not get much sympathy from adcoms because you are not getting much here.</p>
<p>Don’t be sad. Your SAT scores aren’t bad, and being in the IB program has to be a huge advantage given the rigorous nature of the coursework, and the fact that you’ve traveled and lived abroad hopefully means you’re very cultured and open-minded. </p>
<p>Being VP of the astronomy club does count as an EC and there’s nothign wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with listing any community service you’ve done, regardless of how minor you may think it sounds. </p>
<p>For you, as for anyone else, applying to any of the Ivies is a toss up of luck and faith, a real gamble. In any pool of applicants they could fill their class thrice over, however, the fact of the matter is, some kids with the right combination of luck and quality get in, and others don’t. Therefore, even if you don’t get into Cornell, don’t tear yourself apart or feel bad… Stop being depressed and moaning on CC, because as momma-three pointed out, we’re not giving you any sympathy. </p>
<p>There are dozens of us in the same boat, wondering if we’re good enough, praying that lady luck is on our side when the admissions reviewers look over our applications… Not everyone applying has saved villages in Africa, developed communities Costa Rica over the summer, scored a 2400 on the SAT’s, managed to work 7 jobs while curing cancer in their spare time and reassembled Krypton -_- As long as you’ve done the best you could have, and accurately represented yourself in your essays, then if you get rejected, there are no regrets. There are many other schools out there eager to play a part in the molding of young minds, such as your own. </p>
<p>Even if you get rejected, look at it as opportunity. Cheer up =\ At our age, we get no where by being sad.</p>
<p>how does your family make so little money if your dad is a graduate from cornell?
No offense but that is a very small income for someone living in America, I make 10 gs during the summer from caddying at a golf club.</p>
<p>But your chances are very good, dont worry about financial aid for now. And try to cheer up and look at your life as full of opportunities. The worst thing to do while being depressed is wondering why you are depressed go out and do something</p>
<p>Average Chinese make more money than what OP is stating, especially for a well educated Chinese, and Cornell is a very respected institution in China. The international school he is going to is also very pricey. I don’t see how his family is affording his tuition based on his family’s income.</p>
<p>Are you sure your dad is making that little?</p>
<p>Anyways, with what seems to be a fair lack of ECs, and run of the mill test scores, added to the fact that you’re a Chinese male, chances are not looking good for you.</p>
<p>if you convert the salary into yen, then its roughly 6000 yen per month, which is realistic seeing how competitive the job market is nowadays as uni graduates are willing to work more for less. </p>
<p>Furthermore, scholars don’t get the dough in china. so if his father is more of a scholar rather than a businessman, which makes sense because only extremely intelligent students get to go study overseas back in the days in china, then his situation is not only possible, but also likely.</p>
<p>I didnt expect people to start debating about salary and everything. My dad did indeed use to make enough for me to go without aid. However, things happen and theres nothing one can really do about it. Just because he doesnt make alot compared to the US doesnt mean hes working as a janitor at mcdonalds. @oldfort: true, my school shsid is pricey, though it isnt the priciest. my parents still have some savings, or else i wouldnt even be here.
@shuai^3: yes, academic jobs dont really make much money, especially government agencies, even as a senior consultant. do you by any chance happen to live/lived in China too? I see you have a pretty chinese username there, haha @ananya: yes, that worries me greatly. I have never ever ever been good at test taking. But that really isnt an excuse for my bad scores. ECs are greatly lacking in Shanghai, but i guess its also my fault for not being active enough in looking. As of now, my only pros is applying for ED and legacy, though I dont know how much that factors in. I should be able to squeeze in the minimum cutoff with these scores, could I?</p>