I am currently heading into senior year of high school next semester and I was wondering if I have a chance at Cornell if I am a recruited athlete.
GPA: 3.6w (i know its really bad but there is an upward trend)
Class Rank: School doesnt have that
Race/Gender: Asian/male
SAT I First Try: 1800 (CR: 540 / M: 690 / W: 580)
SAT I Second Try: 1990 (CR: 630 / M: 710 / W: 650)
SAT I Superscore: 1990/2400
Probably will take the 3rd time and try to get above 2000+
SAT II US History - 650
SAT II Math II - 650
Japanese with listening: 800
AP Scores:
Sophomore Year: AP Euro (4)
Junior year: US History (not sure yet but confident I got at least a 4)
Senior year: Will be taking AP Economics, AP Psychology, APES, AP Japanese
No financial aid needed****
I am currently being recruited by the swim coach of Cornell and it seems like he is very interested in me. If the coach really likes me and helps me through the admissions, how much of a chance do you think I have?
Let me give you some insight. I have interviewed for Cornell, Hopkins, and Harvard Law (my alma maters) for 27 years. I was a recruited athlete at Cornell, and both of my children were recruited athletes at Cornell. Recruited athletes, legacies, the children of celebrities, and potential donors are referred to as “tagged”. That means that admissions has a special interest in you. ALL OTHER FACTORS BEING EQUAL, You get about a 5% statistical advantage if you fit into any ONE of these categories. Your SAT’s can be 5% lower than the class average, and your GPA can be 5% lower. However, you can’t combine tags. My children could therefore get a boost from being a legacy, but NOT necessarily from being a recruited athlete. Special status will only get you so far. Good luck!
@Stixvelo78, I would think that a 5%“bump” is a low estimate. With the average SAT sore right now of admits right around 1400, approximately 15% of admits have scores between 1,000-1,200. I would imagine that the vast majority of these are “tagged” applicants. That puts their scores roughly 15% (or greater) lower than the average score. Don’t know how it is with swimming, but I would guess with sports such as Lacrosse, Hockey, Wrestling, Football, & Basketball, the coach gets a certain number of admits ( if they qualify under the Ivy athletic index, which can go as low as a “B” average & a 1130 SAT(CR + M)).
I’m no expert, but at first glance, your stats look like this will be a reach for you. But then at the end of your post I saw “recruited athlete” and so I do think that gives you a slight advantage although how much, I would defer to the posts above mine from @Stixvelo78 and @csdad.