Chance Human Ecology ED PLEASE!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi, and thanks for reading (and hopefully responding!) I just finished the third quarter of my junior year at a small, rigorous, and well respected (in the northeast) private school in CT. My school doesn't publish GPA or rank, but expect I'm around top 20% of my class of only about 75. So far this is my transcript:
Freshman year:
English--A-
Spanish 2--C+
Geometry Advanced--B+
Environmental Science--B
Empires & Republics--A-
Public Speaking--B+</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Honors English--B+
Spanish 3--B
Algebra 2 Advanced--B-
Bio--B+
Modern Worlds--B+
Drawing--A
Studio Art-A</p>

<p>Junior Year (so far only 3rd quarter, but I don't elect grades to change except maybe English or History raised to an A and precalc to a B+):
AP English--A-
Spanish 4--A
Precalc--B
Honors Chem.--B
AP U.S. history--A-</p>

<p>and my schedule for next year is: AP Econ, AP Poli sci, AP symposium (highest english class at my school), Spanish 5, and either Stats, or AP Stats, not sure yet.</p>

<p>I've only taken the sat's once, and under less than ideal conditions (sick and leaving for a school trip to paraguay later that day) and i got a 1930 (CR: 680, M: 600, W: 650 w/ 10 on the essay). that was with no prep, and i plan to take again and get between a 2000 and 2100...hopefully. Haven't taken AP exams or Subject tests yet.</p>

<p>So all of that is pretty discouraging for Cornell, but I still have hope because I've heard that the school of Human ecology's admissions focuses less on grades and scores and more about how much you are interested in the specific college and what you have done to prove that, which is where i believe my strength is.
my mom is the learning specialist at my high school, and my dad is a pediatric neuropsychologist, which gives a little backdrop for my interest which is in either Education policy, or Pediatric Mental health care. For this reason, the college of Human ecology sounds absolutely perfect, I would probably apply as a human development major.
So i figured out that i want to go into this field from my out of school experiences. in my summers going into freshman and sophomore year, i volunteered at a program that promoted literacy and fun for inner city kids in a free camp, then this past summer and in the upcoming summer I'm working at a program that gives inner city children who are supposed to b in summer school an alternative that is a camp, but focused on academic classes so they can fill their requirements without losing a summer, and hopefully get them to think of learning and fun not as separate entities. I also got an internship this winter working for the Connecticut Child Health and Development institute that basically works in a variety of ways in the fields I'm interested in, I also plan to work there this summer when my camp job is done. </p>

<p>In terms of other EC's, they are:
--200+ hours community service
--Investment Club
--Part of literary Magazine at my school
--volunteer tutor at my school
--some specific leadership roles at my school (like tour guide to perspective students & senior advisor to incoming freshman)
--Model UN
--Varsity tennis freshman year, then i tore my ACl sophomore and junior year playing JV soccer (captain junior year) so sports are pretty much done there,</p>

<p>Im getting letters of recommendation from my English & Spanish teachers, and also the director of my summer program and i anticipate all of them will be very nice. I'm sure my essays will be very good, as writing is probably my forte, and it will give me a chance to explain why human ecology is perfect for me, and my activities that helped me realize that.</p>

<p>ummmm, if it matters I'm a white male from CT, don't need financial aide, and thats pretty much all, I'm going to visit Cornell this summer, and attend a Human Ecology info session and probably apply ED if that would substantially help my chances.</p>

<p>I would really appreciate any input, on both what my chances are and anything i can do to increase them, and truly honesty is appreciated! I kno my grades and scores are low, i just want to kno if i have a realistic shot.
Thanks a Ton!</p>

2

<p>It will be a huge reach even if you were URM and applied ED.</p>

3

<p>although theyre pretty holistic in their review process you still dont have much going for you since you have low SAT’s and grades and your EC’s dont have any leadership except for soccer captain of the JV team which, unless your school is really good at soccer, isnt overly impressive. so, like colene said, super reach</p>

4

<p>Thanks, i really do appreciate the honesty! Do either of you know about the difficulty of transferring in as a sophomore? Or any other schools with similar programs? I know Georgetown and Northwestern have good programs, but I assume those are as hard if not harder than human ecology admissions wise.</p>

5

<p>id imagine its as hard or harder to transfer in as a sophomore, but im not sure.</p>

6

<p>Well it can be harder or easier. If you had good scores, it’s harder because they don’t look at SATs for sophomore year transfer applicants in the contracts. In your case it might be slightly easier.</p>

7

<p>i actually just got accepted into the college of human ecology as a human development major. I have a lot of similar ECs as you, focusing on community service, leadership, and everything relating to children. I also participated in many service trips to 3rd world countries and talked about the role environment plays on the development of children. I was able to link everything I did together because I lived overseas for two years, which is when all these interests/passions really started. Upon returning home, i started up my school’s first ever exchange program. There are a bunch of other ECs but they don’t really matter right now.
However, I also have a 3.7 gpa at an extremely competitive public high school which is ranked in the top 15 public schools in NY, and I got a 34 on the ACT.
Even though human ecology does focus on the holistic approach, they are getting tougher and tougher and grades DEFINITELY matter.
I applied ED with good stats and great ECs and still got deferred then accepted RD… </p>

<p>dunno if that helped put everything into perspective but hope it did!</p>

8

<p>Your SAT score is about 100 points lower than where it needs to be & you have too many “non A’s” in your GPA. Chances for admission are slim. Chances are much better as a transfer IF you can get over a 3.5 where ever you start out at.</p>