Chance me - Cornell University ED

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! Please chance me as I want to apply to Cornell ED:

SATs - took old SAT twice. First time: 2130 (710 math, 700 writing, 720 reading); second time, I killed it: 2300 (800 reading, 800 writing, 700 math).

SAT IIs: SAT II Math Level 1, taken as sophomore: 770. SAT II Spanish reading: 740 (junior year)

APs - junior year, took 3 APs. Psychology: 5; Biology: 4; U.S. History: 4

Cumulative GPA: 3.89 unweighted, 4.9000 weighted

Junior year course load: Honors Precalculus BC, Honors English, Honors Spanish 4, AP Psychology, AP Biology, AP US History

Senior year course load: AP Spanish, AP English Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics (dropping this because I have a terrible teacher and grade), Fractals and Chaos, Intros to programming 1&2.

Extracurriculars: Singing (choir at school, performs concerts and fundraisers); School newspaper (staff writer: I write artciles every month); Dev team (new member this year, computer science/math club); National Honor Society; Intern who researches history of my town for a local history project; Site-based student council (10th grade only); writing contests (see below section).

Honors/achievements:

  1. Gold key winner (highest rank regionally) in Scholastic Northeast Region-at-Large Creative Writing Competition, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, junior year. This made me a candidate for a National award, but I didn’t get one.
  1. Tri-county creative writing contest: have won or placed 6 consecutive years: 3rd place in fifth grade; honorable mention in sixth grade; 1st place in seventh grade; 2nd place in eighth grade; 2nd place in ninth grade; 3rd place in tenth grade.
  2. AP scholar award: scores of 3 or higher on at least 3 AP exams (many people get this award)
  3. Invited to sing at Area-All State Choir for NY state due to NYSSMA solo scores (10th and 11th grade solos - got a 98%)
  4. Winner of 1st place for creative nonfiction piece entered in writing contest hosted by school newspaper (junior year).
  5. National Merit Scholarship runner-up and commended performer (scores of 1440/1520 on new PSAT - 99th percentile nationwide)
  6. Test scores: two perfect scores out of three sections on old SAT, both at 99th percentile nationwide

Interests: Psychology, Information Science

Applying to: Arts and Sciences, ED

The main reason that I’m asking you guys is that I did very well grade-wise junior year, but this year has been tough so far and I’ve already had to change my schedule once because it was too demanding. My stats teacher is terrible, very anti-grade inflation but doesn’t teach, so I got a D on a project for her and I’m dropping the class. Calc BC is hard but I’m thinking I’ll get at least a B for when Cornell would see my grades. Spanish is tough as well because my teacher gives hard exams. I hope for a B plus or above but think I could get a B. All my other grades are/are going to be A’s. I don’t want Cornell to think I’ve slacked this year because that isnt the problem, the stats class is just too hard. My parents say that I can’t have more than two Bs for Cornell to see right now, so I’m dropping stats and trying to work hard at calc and spanish. Chance me? Thanks so much!

2

Can I ask what your class of Fractals and Chaos is? Sounds super cool.

3

It’s a one semester elective at my school, basically all work is done in class and it investigates the science behind fractal geometry and how fractals make up our world. It’s really interesting! I originally had it this semester but had to move it to next semester because I had too much to do with cornell apps and stuff

4

oops I forgot to tag you when I replied to your comment, but basically I said " I heard that Cornell cares a lot about class rank and course selections, and I’m sure they will really like that you kept up your rigor (a few college administers said that this was super important too )!! so I wouldn’t worry too much about Stat.
Idk how many APs students in your class usually take at your school, but if three is considered a lot, then i’m assuming your rank is pretty high?? If not, then it might be a little harder getting in; however your scores are most definitely good enough, and as long as you maintain your grade (at least through first semester xD) and write an amazing essay, I’d say you have a pretty great chance!!"

Good luck with your apps :slight_smile:

5

@YikeCollege Hey, thanks for the info! Yeah my school is over 2000 kids and doesnt do class rank reporting. my graduating class will be about 345. I should also note that there is a very elite group of kids at my school (I am in the group, but not the very best, just really good), and most go to Ivy Leagues, and many go to Cornell.

For junior year three APs was the standard: some of my very smartest friends took five, a few more took four, but definitely three was average. The APs are also, I should mention, different at my school depending on the teacher. What happens at my school is that we are in Ithaca, NY, the town of Cornell (btw my parents are both profs there and my older sis got in ED in 2004), so many of the teachers we hire at my school went to Cornell or similar places. Those teachers on average tend to grade very harshly and/or give extremely hard assignments, for AP classes these are usually beyond the AP curriculum by a long shot, So for instance, my APUSH teacher last year did not give us practice tests with the passages on the AP that come with each question: instead, he gave what seemed like harder MC questions without any readings. very annoying. my bio teacher was like that, also, but my psych teacher was good and that was the only AP I got a 5 on.

Also to update, I am officially dropping stats and the counselor said that there will be no mark on my transcript, no "W’ for withdrawn or anything. Cornell will never know I signed up.

Anyone else have opinions? My weakness is probably extracurriculars because even though I consider my writing awards to contribute, I think colleges want something more non-academic, like singing, which I do but it’s the only thing like that that I do.

6

@bloxJacket It’s a one semester elective at my school, basically all work is done in class and it investigates the science behind fractal geometry and how fractals make up our world. It’s really interesting! I originally had it this semester but had to move it to next semester because I had too much to do with cornell apps and stuff