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<p>I guess from a completely objective point of view, the optimal choice would be to apply Princeton SCEA, and Cornell RD, providing you an opportunity to apply to both places and gives you no bindings if you’re accepted EA. </p>
<p>If you believe Cornell is your best bet, I would apply ED then. </p>
<p>How large is the average desk in a dorm room? I plan on keeping a desktop computer in my room and I would love to bring my large monitor along with it for watching netflix and such. </p>
<p>People tend to view Cornell as the “easy ivy”. Do you find that it has become more competitive and more difficult to get in?</p>
<p>@Calavera Thanks for the help. Anything else i should keep in mind while applying. How do i increase chances if I don’t have any olympiad medal?
I also thought to apply Princeton SCEA and Cornell ED, but Cornell ED is binding and Princeton SCEA is not. So have to chose one where i have more chances of getting admission. For me Both are fine.</p>
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<p>I don’t remember the dimensions off the top of my head but it should suffice to hold a desktop and a monitor, many people use that set up here. There’s also usually a drawer next to the desk (same height) that can be used for extra desk space.</p>
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<p>The admissions process certainly does get more competitive by the year, and not just Cornell but probably many other universities. I believe this year, we hit a record # of applications and was considered the most competitive year in Cornell admissions history or something along those lines.</p>
<p>As biased I may be given my Cornell affiliation, I think the “easy ivy” title is quite misunderstood and thrown around too loosely. I think somebody on the forums proved that standard schools like A&S and Engineering having very similar statistics to other universities. Of course, part of what defines Cornell are also ILR, hotel school, CALS, etc.</p>
<p>I’d rather not go into a long tldr debate about how great Cornell is, but this post provides some great insight about Cornell: <a href=“Is Cornell Secretly the Best Ivy? - Cornell University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1099830-is-cornell-secretly-the-best-ivy.html</a> </p>
<p>Will Cornell continue to have a statistically higher acceptance rate compared to the other Ivies? Probably. Does that make it any less worthy than any of them? In the end, it depends on your choice and belief. </p>
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<p>I can assure you many of my friends and peers weren’t olympiads and they still managed to get accepted through their other fine qualities. I think I’ve given you every advice I can think of, so I’ll reemphasize some of the important points. Again, don’t try to be someone else that you’re not. I think you have more than enough to work with, and trying to do some last-minute activities to “improve your chances” might do more harm than good. For what it’s worth, you seemed to have far more of an interesting background than I did, so from here on out, it’s up to you to sell yourself well. Best of luck. </p>
<p>Oh good grief SS01, this is not a chance thread. If OP knows how Cornell adcoms work, he could be making a lot of money. He is just a student at Cornell, he doesn’t know any more why someone is admitted to Cornell than other 13000 students at Cornell. OP is nice enough to answer some practical questions about Cornell, not to chance people. </p>
<p>BTW - I really dislike chance threads.</p>
<p>what is the research opportunities at cornell in field of green technology and placements in CS. </p>
<p>I want to apply to Cornell ED. I’ve decided that’s the school I want to go to most. Do you think I have any chance of getting in? <a href=“Is 2040 impossible for Cornell? - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663009-is-2040-impossible-for-cornell-p1.html</a></p>
<p>I plan to take the ACT in September, then again in October if I don’t get 33 or over. I’m also taking Physics and retaking Math II in October. Aiming for 750+ on physics, 780+ on math II. I want to do Cornell’s engineering program. 
I’m interested in math/engineering and am considering a minor in Russian, but I’m not sure. Oh, and I’m Chinese so I know my grades and ECs should be a lot better… :(</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.mse.cornell.edu/research/green_technologies.cfm”>http://www.mse.cornell.edu/research/green_technologies.cfm</a>
<a href=“Placement Report | Department of Computer Science”>Placement Report | Department of Computer Science;
<p>While I don’t mind answering your questions, please keep in mind many of these, particularly objective ones, can be answered with a quick search on the Cornell website.</p>
<p>Err sorry if you don’t chance people, I was just wondering what you’d think… Anyhow, thoughts on the classes you took for engineering? Were they very difficult?</p>
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<p>I’m going to stop doing chance evaluations from here on out, since as oldfort mentioned, the purpose of this thread was to answer practical questions from a current student’s point of view. But since you seem like a good guy, I’ll do one last one.</p>
<p>I would definitely increase your SAT score, or as it seems, get a solid ACT score. I said this before, but as a general rule of thumb, someone who got a 34 vs a 32 is not that great of a gap. If you must know, I’m also Asian but didn’t get the best standardized scores (32 ACT, 750+ on my SAT II’s), so I wouldn’t stress too much about it. Once you get past a certain threshold, you needn’t worry about a few extra points on paper.</p>
<p>You said you’re interested in math/engineering and Russian, so are you sure engineering is right for you? Both the Math and Russian departments are in the College of Arts and Sciences (we do not have an “Applied Math” major in engineering). “Engineering” itself is also very broad. While our curriculum encompasses many great disciplines, there are some common majors that Cornell does not have (Computer Engineering, Biomedical, Industrial, etc). </p>
<p>I also feel a bit iffy about your extracurriculars. Usually, they project some sort of story for an individual and give an idea what their interests and passions are. So far, I can’t really picture what you’re into or what your aspirations are. You have work experience, but it seems unrelated to what you would like to further pursue (unless I’m wrong), and one chemistry research internship. Did you decide chemistry is something you don’t like after your experience? Does this, in any way, tie to your hopes for engineering? (Chemistry and Chemical Engineering are much different). </p>
<p>A lot of students, particularly the ones that apply to ED, come with an idea what they want to do. Many of them will have competed in many programming competitions and hope that the CS department will further their skills, or some will have started their own small, successful businesses and wish to learn more from the hotel school. Bottom line, I don’t exactly see why you’d like to attend Cornell other than generic reasons such as “it’s a great school, I heard it’s for me, it feels right, etc”. Please note that this is not me trying to be critical of you. If you, by any chance, failed to mention anything that defines you well, by all means, use that to your advantage when you apply.</p>
<p>Best of luck though, you only have 0% of admission when you don’t apply. </p>
<p>EDIT: Added a few more closing thoughts, edited typos</p>
<p>I can’t do anything about my SAT score at this point, so I’m hoping my ACT score will carry.</p>
<p>math was more of something I would do if I don’t get accepted into cornell. Like I would most likely study actuarial science at a CUNY/SUNY school. And Russian is just something I’m considering, but not something I’m really set on doing. At Cornell, I wouldn’t study Russian (I saw the listed minors for engineering online). As for my major, I want to study engineering physics.</p>
<p>My extracurriculars are weak and scattered mainly because I didn’t have an idea of what I wanted to study until junior year. So it’s definitely not going to look like the ECs of someone who knew what they wanted to study early on. Sophomore year, I thought I wanted to do chemistry, so the summer following, I worked in a chemistry lab at CSI’s chemistry department. That was when I realized I actually DON’T like chemistry so I didn’t continue after the summer. My volunteer and work are completely unrelated I guess. Volunteer is mainly like the helping out others in need kind of thing (fund raisers, soup kitchen, etc) and I was a teacher assistant for my school librarian. I also volunteered at a NYPL branch but that was only for a summer. </p>
<p>There was another reason I wanted to go to Cornell but I didn’t want to mention it on here because I guess it’s kind of weird but it makes sense to me.</p>
<p>Thank you for your feedback : ) !</p>
<p>and i will be in a heck of trouble as i am applying for CS major though i haven’t done anything significant in it. All my research work belongs to chemical engineering and mechanical.</p>
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<p>I think I might’ve given off the wrong message. I suppose my point about consistency with EC’s was that it’s advantageous to a certain extent in that it makes it easier to see a fit between one’s needs and what the school provides. There’s totally nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to do, and that’s what college is for, to explore and find yourself. There’ll be many candidates with broad, scattered EC’s that are well qualified. It seems like you like to volunteer, and if that’s one of your passions, highlight that. What I mentioned about those with those particular EC’s was my guess of what the average applicant would be for ED, since they’ve committed to the idea that Cornell is going to be their first choice school. </p>
<p>In the end, if you’re able to convince the adcom why Cornell’s best for you and how it’s such a great fit, your EC’s won’t matter. You don’t need an Olympiad medal, or some high prestigious academic award. I think “weak and scattered” are very relative terms and don’t necessarily put you at a disadvantage. Be confident in yourself and show what you’re capable of. Don’t get discouraged. </p>
<p>So far, I’ve only been talking about ec’s, ec’s, and ec’s. I failed to mention that the essay is very crucial and while I may have indirectly implied that ec’s should be discussed in your essay, that’s not the case. Essays are arguably one of the defining factors in your app. They can really showcase one’s true qualities and personalities and in the end, I’d rather take a student who’s personally engaging, witty, eccentric, as opposed to someone with more achievements but fails to deliver him/herself. </p>
<p>Disclaimer to all: These posts are all merely my thoughts and opinion. I have absolutely no affiliation to the admissions committee at the university and do not, in any way, represent what Cornell believes. My beliefs, are at best, pure speculation and do not reflect what’s to be actually expected. It is even quite possible what I’ve said no longer applies, as the admissions procedure is probably different to what it was 4-5 years ago when I applied. For all we know, what I suggested could be the very polar opposite of current standards. Please heed this warning. </p>
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<p>No, that’s totally fine. When you apply to the engineering school, you’re not binded to the major you apply for anyway, many people will switch during their freshman year. </p>
<p>Is it easy to transfer between colleges at Cornell? I’m starting in the fall at Arts and Sciences, but I think I want to transfer to the college of human ecology because I’m more interested in the majors offered here.</p>
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<p>Yes, I would say it’s pretty flexible. Transferring between colleges within Cornell is known as Internal Transfer and pretty commonplace. I believe you need a minimum of 3.0 GPA and certain prerequisites (such as a course for the intended major). Here’s a page with all the details for HumEc:
<a href=“http://www.human.cornell.edu/admissions/undergraduate/transfer/internal-transfer.cfm”>http://www.human.cornell.edu/admissions/undergraduate/transfer/internal-transfer.cfm</a></p>
<p>Or if you end up being interested in other colleges:
<a href=“http://internaltransfer.cornell.edu/application-requirements/colleges-and-schools/”>http://internaltransfer.cornell.edu/application-requirements/colleges-and-schools/</a></p>
<p>For the common app essay (and maybe supplement), can I write about something that is completely unrelated to my intended major? I mean I know that I can, but would it going to “hurt” my chance?</p>
<p>Also, do you know anything about CS game design minor? This is one of the main reasons why I want to attend Cornell over some other top CS schools</p>