Chance Me: Cornell

<p>Ok, so I didn't mature until 11th grade. Give me a break.
UW GPA: 3.7 (that's with electives how my hs reports it) (Without electives it's 3.6)
I ended hs with about 93 avrg. Avrg for my school going to Cornell is 95.75 BUT I IMPROVED SOPH TO JR YR SO MUCH!!!
My academic avrg SOPH yr was 89. My academic avrg JR yr is 98.5!!!!!!
I AM IN FULL IB AS WELL.
Classes:
ESS-100
English-98
French-98
History-96
Trig-100
TOK-100
Theatre-100</p>

<p>2250 on SAT</p>

<p>4 yrs of XC, indoor and outdoor track, 2 yrs varsity for those. (captain once)
Lead in musical for 11th grade (secretary)
NHS
Environmental Club
FOUNDER and PRESIDENT of French Speaking Club
AP World History Club (secretary)</p>

<p>Sadly, not in top 10% of class due to not great early grades, however, i am close and my avrg JR is almost valedictorian of entire school.
So....can I get into Cornell, and how to improve?</p>

<p>answer</p>

<p>I am by no means an expert so do not take my comments too seriously but I would say cornell is low reach for you. Your SAT I score is quite good, Your ECs are very solid, and I’m assuming your schedule is quite rigorous considering you are doing IB. Your GPA however is not all that great (but hey it’s not horrible). The only reason I would not make Cornell a high match is because of how unpredictable admissions are at top universities. To increase your chances I would suggest…

  1. Getting an internship this summer in something you are interested in
  2. Taking at least one if not two SAT subject tests
  3. Getting some community service hours (not random activities but ones focused around an issue you can claim to be passionate about)
  4. Maybe considering retaking a class online over the summer to boost your GPA
    5.writing a moving essay about how you turned your grades around</p>

<p>Just so you know more people will chance you back if you post under the “what are my chances” category. By the way I am going to be doing full IB next year as well.
Hope this helps!</p>

<p>^Just wanted to clear a few things up from previous post:</p>

<ol>
<li>With consistent and record low acc. rates over the last few years, to call Cornell a ‘low reach’ is a bit decieving. What’s going to make the difference btwn an acceptance and rejection is what these adcoms think you can OFFER to the university, NOT scores/GPAs (both of which i think OP is competitive enough in)</li>
<li>Depending on what school in Cornell u apply to, u MUST TAKE SPECIFIC SAT 2s TO BE AN ELIGIBLE APPLICANT! Definitely do well in these, as the majority of applicants are in the 700s.</li>
<li>Don’t write your essay about how you turned your grades around. They can see the empiracal evidence in your transcript and if u need to explain more, thats what the additional info section is for. Write about a perspective altering experience or interesting skill u have that tells a good story. Grades never make a good story topic. With the supplement, definitely incorporate your ECs into your passion for your intended major.</li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck and keep up the momentum into senior year!</p>

<p>Hey, I got in this year so I think I understand the process pretty well. I was actually like you in terms of gpa. I really turned things around in junior and senior year, getting really good grades with a lot of AP classes. I think it’s advantageous actually if you show that kind of improvement. It’s harder for other kids to show their growth in maturity.</p>

<p>But are you applying ED or RD? It’s significantly harder to get in RD, obviously. And which school are you applying for? You have to take into consideration how well you’re qualified for that particular school (you can research into that). And I don’t know how good your essays will end up being. Your ECs don’t show an affinity toward any particular field of study either, so you might have to play up your experiences for what you want to study in your essays or something. Because other kids might have research experience if they want to study science, hospitality experience if they’re going for the hotel school, engineering competitions for engineering majors etc. </p>

<p>Thank you Boester22</p>

<p>How would my chances increase if i retook my SAT and got a 2300 (YESSS!)
did stuff u said and applied ED?</p>

<p>I don’t believe raising your SAT score above 2250 really matters. You should just focus on tying your EC’s together because you don’t bring anything special to the table. They get dozens of applicants that have similar stats. </p>