Average applicant / Pre-med?

<p>I'm going to be a junior in high school, and I've been considering Cornell as one of my top choices. I just wanted to know my chances, and I was wondering if some people currently going to Cornell or have been accepted could post their GPA and SAT scores, and any special extra-curriculars they've done. </p>

<p>Also, how is Cornell's pre-med program? Is it extremely tough? How are the teachers? How is the guidance? Do you feel well-prepared?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot in advance.</p>

<p>The pre-med program is well-respected. It is very competitive; Cornell is well-known for the sciences. Some of the intro classes are designed to weed out. There are a lot of exams that are very detailed or seemingly “out-there”. The really hard exams work to your advantage if you are better prepared for them compared to others, as the means are a lot lower, and get rounded to about a b-/b for intro. On easier exams almost everyone does rather well, so small mistakes tend to really hurt you.
Professors vary. Some are great and care about teaching you, and some are there for research and want to trick you on the tests. The professors for courses tend to rotate from year to year, so they are not always predictable. You will not find this much different in the top, research-oriented schools. If you are not comfortable with this variety in teaching or testing, try exploring some smaller, not as research-centered schools. You have a lot of time yet.</p>

<p>No one is going to hand-hold you through the medical school app process, you have to actively seek help. But there is an office for bio which is very knowledgeable in the application process, and there are deans and advisors too. You have help options for any class available as well.
Not sure what you specifically mean by your last question. </p>

<p>I was accepted with a 4.0 UW and about an average score on the SATs compared to the applicant pool for my year. But it’s not all about the numbers. You need to stand out as a candidate apart from your scores. Really participate actively in something you actually love in high school. 10 common extracurriculars look really weak compared to 1 really central, passionate ec, and some other involvements.
You also don’t need to apply as a pre-med or a bio major if you want to consider that path. Plenty of people get accepted as something different and decide to follow the premed/bio-oriented path. </p>

<p>Hope this helps and good luck!</p>

<p>A pre-med program is supposed to to prepare undergrads to get into medical school. I would say that Cornell does an excellent job at that. From their health careers website. </p>

<p>“Eighty percent of those Cornellians with a GPA of 3.4 or better were accepted to medical school in 2009. Grade Point Average is one useful predictor of acceptance.”</p>

<p>Although no one is “going to hand hold you through the application process,” I found that there are a great many resources that help premeds at Cornell. The health careers office in Barnes hall has some very friendly and helpful staff (although with budget cuts, there are fewer and fewer people), and your academic advisor and other professors can also be very helpful. Also, asking other students, even uber-competitive premeds, is pretty helpful. </p>

<p>Also, you can just scour through the forums and search online to try and find what previous applicants had as scores. Also, Cornell posts every year what the middle 50% of applicants had as SAT scores and GPAs.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Also, for pre-med, should I choose CALS, College of Human Ecology, or College of Arts and Sciences? The first two are much cheaper as they are contract colleges, but I’m also interested in taking some music courses.</p>

<p>it doesn’t really matter which school you go to. i’d say go for human ecology, or agriculture if you are instate.</p>