CAS regular decision chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

SAT I: 1570 (CR/W: 770 M: 800)
Taking Math and Physics subject tests in August. Been getting 800s on practice.
UW GPA: 4.15 (My school counts unweighted A+ as a 4.33)
W GPA: 4.60
I believe I’m currently first in my class, but my school doesn’t officially rank.
AP Scores:
Physics 1 - 5
Lang - 5
Calc BC - 5, 5 subscore
Comp Sci - 4
US History - 5
Took these five APs Junior year and will take Chem, Bio, Lit, Stats, and Microeconomics next year
Awards/Achievements: >Won school’s science, history, English, and Spanish awards (one selected for each grade)


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Probably qualified for National Merit Program (1510 PSAT)
New Jersey Governor’s School of the Sciences nominee
Several 4-H Herpetology awards–Herdsmanship, Teen Leadership, Best Record Book. I’ve also won a lot of awards for my snakes at small animal shows and fairs, although I honestly don’t know if that’s technically their achievement or mine, lol.
National Honor Society
Spanish National Honor Society
National Hispanic Recognition Program

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Subjective:

Extracurriculars: >NJ Science League


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FRC Robotics Team, community service coordinator and build team
Marching Band, saxophone section leader
Jazz Band
4-H Herpetology club. Teen leader and treasurer.
Student government homeroom rep
Working on a blog about largemouth bass fishing
Volunteering:
Teen volunteer for library’s summer reading program
Summer band camp for elementary school students
Tutoring for NHS and Spanish NHS
Various volunteer activities provided by 4-H, including volunteering at the summer county fair
I couldn’t tell you how many hours I have off the top of my head, but this year alone adds up a bit over 100.

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Summer Activities: Volunteering, robotics training, and marching band preseason. I also spend a lot of time pursuing individual interests like fishing and reptile ownership. Spent a lot of last summer looking after a family member with dementia.

Other:

State of Residence: New Jersey
Ethnicity: Multiracial–Black (Antiguan), White, and Hispanic (Guatemalan)
Gender: Male
Intended Major: Bio (possibly pre-med)

Thanks for the help in advance. If you could spare some advice, it would be appreciated.

2

Prediction: 70% accepted, 30% waitlisted. Solid application, I think you got a great shot at CAS! Where are you applying early?

3

@GoBigRed2021 I’m applying SCEA to Princeton. I’ve wondered if it’s best to apply early there, where I would still have a relatively small chance of getting in, or apply early somewhere slightly safer where it would significantly boost my chances.

4

Very strong chances as long as letters of rec are good.

5

@Amduseus Well for HYP applying early really makes no difference. You’re competing against a smaller applicant pool, but also a stronger one consisting of legacies, athletes, and highly motivated students. If you want to take advantage of applying early I would recommend any other Ivy, as ED certainly gives you a higher chance than EA. I would say if you ED Cornell CAS you’re pretty much guaranteed.

6

@GoBigRed2021 I can see how that would help, but at the same time, the idea of applying ED to somewhere that isn’t my first choice, even if it’s a smarter move as far as probability goes, kind of bothers me. If I don’t get accepted to the ED school, then of course it doesn’t really matter, but in the case that I do, I’m left thinking “what if?” for other top choices.

7

@Amduseus Yea that’s totally understandable. With your stats you can definitely be competitive applying to HYP, you’ll just be taking a risk of losing the ED advantage, but you could gain admissions to the big 3. There are other schools that are very close to HYP caliber like Columbia and Penn Wharton that you can look into. If those schools appeal to you then they might be the ED move.

8

@Amduseus An anecdote about my friend who was in the same boat as you. He had very similar stats, slightly higher actually, and he applied REA to Princeton and didn’t get in. He ended up getting waitlisted at Columbia and Penn, which were his next top 2 choices, and ended up attending Duke, which is an amazing school but not heavily prioritized by him. If you prefer Princeton only slightly over Columbia or Penn or any other top school with ED, I would go with applying ED given that you could afford it.

9

I would say you have a pretty solid chance at Cornell, or Princeton as you mentioned. Your ethnicity is interesting and possibly a hook. Your stats are great. Awards, solid. ECs, kind of average (I may be totally wrong on that). But overall I think you have a fighting chance.

I am also applying SCEA to Princeton, and I can probably say that you have a better chance than I do (If you really want to know specifics about me, I have a thread but it’s outdated). I feel like you have the scores to be competitive and pretty solid overall. Once you’re up there, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not you’ll be rejected.