Chance me for Cornell College of Engineering - 35 ACT/4.0 GPA

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m planning on majoring in CS through the College of Engineering. Does anything in my stats put me above the ~13% general acceptance rate? I’m a white guy from a smallish Midwest high school, pretty average income and such, no specific hooks. Thanks for any comments you may have!

ACT Composite: 35
SAT II: Chemistry 750, Math II 760
GPA: 3.994 UW, 4.129 W (as of end of Junior year, 1st semester grades will be all As)
Class Rank: 2/180 (#1 after first semester grades go in)
Senior Schedule (Dual Credit courses are taught at high school, for both HS and college credit):

DC English Composition (Through local state university)
DC English Literary Interpretation
AP Psychology
DC Spanish IV
DC US History
Teacher’s Assistant (for chem teacher I peer tutor for)
Physics
DC Finite Math

Essays: Should be quite good, I’m putting a lot of work into them
Recs: Should range from Very Good to Glowing, asked the chem teacher I peer tutor/TA for and my DC English teacher who thinks highly of me

Extracurriculars/Awards:

Marching/Pep/Jazz/Concert Band - 9th/10th
National Spanish Honor Society - 10th onward
President of NHS - 12th
Key Club - 11th/12th, President this year
Peer Tutoring - 2 hours/wk
Camp Invention Counselor last summer
Private Tutor in Chem, Calculus, Geometry- 11th
National Merit Semifinalist
Various other leadership-based clubs

2

Bump

3

Your stats are above Cornell’s average, so your chances are better than average but still a reach. Have you applied to some of the excellent midwestern engineering schools : Michigan, Purdue, OSU, UIUC, Minnesota etc?

4

@TooOld4School Thanks for the feedback! I’ve applied to UIUC, though I’ll need merit money to attend, which I know is in short supply. Purdue is my safety - I’ve already been accepted there, and with in-state tuition plus merit money, it should be quite affordable.

5

Well, Cornell and Purdue are about the same in ranking, so if you are not accepted your education will not suffer, and it will be a lot easier to go home than the long drive from Ithaca. Best of luck to you.

6

@TooOld4School I’m keeping that in mind, though it would be nice to have multiple great schools to pick between!