Hi, I’m a white female student from New York City and I applied to Cornell Engineering for ED this year.
I have a 96.5 weighted GPA (~95 unweighted)
SAT Superscore: 2250 (CR: 740/ Math:740/ W: 770)
SAT Math II: 740
SAT Physics: 730
I took AP Physics my junior year and got a 5 on it, and I am currently taking AP Calculus AB.
(I also took APUSH (5), AP English Lit (5), AP World (5), and am now also taking APES and AP Macro)
I am also dual-enrolled at a local community college and am currently taking 12 credits of courses (Mostly in Anthropology classes)
My extracurriculars include:
Girls Varsity Soccer (4 years, captain senior year)
Boys Varsity Wrestling (2 years)
Girls Varsity Wrestling (2 years)
Science Olympiad (4 years, board member (leader) my senior year)
School Band (4 years, section leader my senior year)
SING!- School Musical (2 years)
I’m not a legacy student, and Cornell typically accepts about 15-20 students from my school, but most of them are to CALS or Arts and Science. Last year only one was accepted to CoE.
Based on grades and scores alone, you have a good chance of admission. The fact that you’re a female going into engineering gives you a huge bonus when applying. I’d chance to say that you’d get a likely letter if you applied RD or be admitted ED.
I unfortunately did not get a likely letter, nor did I apply early. So I guess I’m just waiting til the 31st.
You don’t have long to wait. What drove your decision to take Calculus AB and not BC? How did you do in your other math classes and science classes, overall. Do you have a history of A’s in math and science (unweighted)? Why are you taking so many classes in social sciences rather than in science and math? Are you taking 3 college classes and a full course load in your high school? Are you a good enough athlete to be interesting to a coach? How did you do in your own events at SO? did your team go to states? Your credentials don’t scream engineering but perhaps your SO events were the builds? I think Cornell relies more on scores and grades than other Ivys but they will still be looking for evidence that you are a strong committed engineering student.
I realize now that I should have taken BC, but it’s a bit late for that now.
My school is a Humanities-oriented school, hence all the social sciences, but I have taken math and science classes at every opportunity possible.
I’m not a good enough athlete to be interesting to a coach.
Our team in SO placed 1st in the city 3 out of the past 4 years that I was on the team, and we went to states every year (though I was only on the states team my last two years). I did mainly build events: It’s About Time, Game On, Bungee Drop, Air Trajectory, Wind Power, with some study events thrown in my first two years (like Forensics, Triple E, etc:)
I’m pretty sure the AB instead of BC thing was a huge mistake, but my performance in pre-calc was only a 90 so I wanted to make sure that I’d be able to handle the work load. It turns out I find actual Calculus much easier than pre-Calculus so I think I would have survived BC. Do you think that the AB instead of BC could be a determining factor for my admission?
No I don’ think AB or BC would be a determining factor. Good luck.