Hello, I am really unsure what my chances would be if I applied early decision to Cornell University’s College of Engineering. Many people from my school apply and I’ve felt a little discouraged considering the competition in up against.
I am currently in the top 10% of my high school with a 4.0 GPA. I’m graduating with eight AP exams (including Chemistry, U.S. History, Literature, Physics A & B, and Computer Science A), a dual enrollment course from a local community college (I received an A+ in the course), and having founded two stem related clubs in my sophomore and junior years. One is dedicated to IT work within my school and I’ve dedicated hundreds of hours of volunteer time to and the other focuses on teaching underclassman how to program (Java, C#)/design circuits. We also attend annual hackathons in New York City which we travel to get to. I also spent three years volunteering at my local hospital maintaining biomedical devices and working in the pharmacy department. Additionally, I volunteered at a local wildlife reserve and maintained a job at a local travel agency. My standardized test scores are also pretty decent I think. I scored a 730 on my Chem SAT II and a 770 on my US SAT II. I also got a 32 on the ACT and a 2080 on the SAT (M: 690, R: 660, W: 730). I scored 4’s and 5’s on all my AP’s. There is a lot of competition though and I am not entirely sure how I am against other students. Any insight is appreciated. Thank you all so much.
To summarize: Would I have any shot at Cornell?
P.S. Just as a side note I’ve visited the school and I absolutely loved it. I would also be applying as a legacy student (I’m not sure how much this helps) because of my uncle. Neither of my parents went to college though and my mom didn’t finish high school.
I also forgot to include I founded the music honor society chapter at my high school and I’m a singer in the choir. I am also the president of a volunteer honor society as well. Besides that I’m in every single honor society except for Math (I sadly missed the application deadline but oh well). In addition I petitioned for the AP Computer Science A class at my school (this is mainly the reason why I chose not to take AP Calculus).
Your IT experience is solid especially the AP Comp Sci, write about it in ur essay. ECs are ok, but the singing is good, it stands out. I sing too! If you are a girl (which you didnt specify), then female engineering is a hook. Nice rigor in your schedule. ACT score is a TAD low, just a tad. I’d say your chances are 40%
Personally I think you have a pretty good chance in getting into Cornell. I somehow got into Cornell with a 1900 in the SATs and to this day, I’m still pretty surprised about it. My extracurriculars was not even half as varied as yours. I didn’t take as many ap courses as you. You’ll be good for Cornell as long as you try to separate yourself from the other 40,000 applicants hoping to get in the coming school year.