chance me? columbia and cornell

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm currently a sophomore at a public school in California. My school's not really competitice at all, so its fairly easy to get a 4.0 GPA with regular classes(not counting AP or Honors). Recently, my family has visited both Cornell and Columbia and I really like the environments of both schools. </p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Freshman: 4.0</p>

<p>Honors Geometry(you can't take any class higher than that)
Biology(no honors biology)
French 1
English 9(no honors)
orchestra
world geo/health</p>

<p>Soph: 4.0</p>

<p>honors algerbra 2
astronomy
chem(no honors)
english 10(no honors)
ap world history
French 2</p>

<p>took SAT: got 2190(800 math, 730 verbal, 660 writing) Essay 8</p>

<p>at my school, all aps are offered junior year, and I plan on taking all AP classes next year.</p>

<p>EC:</p>

<p>member of key club, CSF, speech and debate, academic deacthlon, science bowl
(yea, im into this studying stuff-pretty good at it. have won awards.)
planning to run for office next year</p>

<p>played violin 10 years
first violin in regional symphony</p>

<p>passed AMC 10</p>

<p>ran cross country(ok at it, not worst, not best)</p>

<p>volunteer at local hospital
volunetter at local blood bank</p>

<p>Things i kinda want to do:</p>

<p>-into writing, start a writing club? </p>

<p>I'm really into math and science, but i don't really have chances to explore it. </p>

<p>i know i need leadership, but other than club offices, I really don't have much. any suggestions?</p>

<p>how big of a chance do you think I stand of getting into cornell/columbia?</p>

2

<p>Your academics are right on track, and if you could boost that SAT score 100 points or so, it would be solid. However, there’s not really anything about you at this point that “stands out”; I would consider trying to find more opportunities to take all your extracurricular pursuits one step further (e.g. ask around at the hospital you volunteer at; perhaps there might be something you could help organize). That would certainly be a unique twist on just mere volunteering, as many other applicants will have been involved with that too.</p>

3

<p>yea, im not really sure what to do :/. for right now, I think I’ll just keep volunteering and doing what I can. thanks for replying!</p>

4

<p>I would def. do something unique that sets you apart but aside from that your on the right track! I would also suggest looking at summer programs for cornell and columbia.</p>

<p>chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/910712-chances-uf-cornell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/910712-chances-uf-cornell.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>ashattack18 is definitely right about doing something that sets you apart. Almost all of the Ivy League schools are basically crapshoots when it comes to admission. I am a senior and a girl I know got into Princeton this year, but got rejected from Cornell. So it really is critical to do something that sets you apart, otherwise they will admit based on their criteria for the year, unknown criteria, of course.</p>

6

<p>you have solid stats but top school need people that STAND OUT, you need something really big on your app</p>

<p>chance me back, or anyone else plz :)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/910986-chance-me-plz-ill-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/910986-chance-me-plz-ill-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>how did you “pass” the AMC 10? second round?</p>

8

<p>I’d say that you have a decent chance at columbia and cornell. Your gpa is high but as you said if it’s really easy to get a 4.0 then it may not mean much (try to better substantiate it by doing well on SAT IIs and AP exams) Also if you think you can do better on your SATs (2250 +) retake them next year.
Your extra curriculars are OK in my opinion (aside from the violin, which you seem to be really good at)- you seem to be doing a lot of activities but not excelling in them, nor focusing on a specific type. You say you’ve won some awards, but since you didn’t really tell what they were, i’m not sure how substantial they are.
Also what you say is kind of conflicting. You say that you are really into math and science, but then you want to start a writing club + like writing, so it doesn’t seem as if you really know what you want to do yet.
I say if you really love one of these colleges apply early decision, and i think you would have a good chance. Try to spend your junior year finding out what you really want to do and then focusing on that.</p>