SAT: 1520/1600 superscored (took 2x, 750R, 770M, 21/24 Essay)
did not take ACT
GPA: 3.85/4.0 (UW), 4.1/4.5 (W)
top 10% of class (school does not rank, but there are about 350 people in my graduating class)
state: CT from a pretty competitive area
race: white so rip me
gender: F
legacy: grandmother attended Cornell (so did my aunt but I didn’t actually put that on my app)
APs: chemistry 4, u.s. history 5 (my school doesn’t offer much in the way of APs until senior year, so I couldn’t take any more than 2 as a junior)
senior year courses: AP Lit, AP French 5, AP AB Calculus*, Honors Physics, AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP Euro
*noted on my application that I could not take BC calc even though I was well within the qualifications b/c of scheduling conflicts.
awards/honors: NHS, Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society), French Honor Society, National French Exam Silver Award, Dartmouth College Book Award, Veterans of Foreign Wars Award (for excellence in debate, community service, and history), Coolidge Cup Quarterfinalist, debate State championship 3rd place
Activities:
president/founder of school’s tutoring club. works w/ 7 local centers and offers up to 20-25 hrs of tutoring per week. I also tutor for pay with my school’s ABC program and tutor privately. (I tutor about 7 times per week.)
Vice President of global outreach club that has raised $/organized drives for refugees, hurricane Harvey, etc.
Vice President of DECA (business club; largest club at school w/ almost 200 members). registered members for events and helped plan community service drives. placed 3rd at state competition and attended the international competition in Anaheim, CA.
Historian of Support Our Soldiers. helped organize/spoke at Veterans Day and Memorial Day assemblies. served at bake sale and worked w/ local veterans.
Track Captain. varsity since I started as a sophomore
Creative writer and writer for the school newspaper. wrote and self-published 2 novels for nanowrimo (wrote each novel in 30 days).
Senior leader in church’s youth group and teacher of CCD to first graders for the past 2 yrs. I do a lot of volunteering thru my church.
Debate team member. Just won a competition and got 3rd place at another at varsity level. Got 3rd at States as a sophomore (in Novice division). Attended Dartmouth and Yale programs and was a quarterfinalist of the Coolidge Cup debate competition (got food poisoning and couldn’t go to the next day).
essays: commonapp essay is pretty creative (8.5/10), Cornell essay is well-written but not particularly special (7/10). I am a pretty decent writer and I don’t think the essays would raise any red flags.
recommendations: teacher #1 (9.5/10). he loved me and said he wrote me a great rec. teacher #2 (8/10). she liked me a lot and is an amazing writer so I’m sure it is good, but less personal. #3 guidance counselor (7.5/10). she knows me well b/c I have been seeing her every week since jr year (by choice). not sure about how well-written the rec will be, but I’m sure it’s pretty good.
interview: 10/10. my interviewer was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met (except now I have my hopes up and I shouldn’t). she told me that she was impressed w/ my résumé, got the right idea of my character, and said she thought I’d have no trouble “getting in the door” w/ Cornell. she said she’d write me a double thumbs up report and was amazing
I will chance anyone back who comments on this and tells me what they think! good luck to everyone applying
I’m sure if you can chance someone else, you can chance yourself.
Conversely, if you don’t know enough to chance yourself, how can you possibly have anything useful to say about someone else’s chances?
I can chance myself but I want a second opinion…
I’m not an adcom, but you look pretty solid to me. Scores are all within range. From the school profile, Cornell should know about AP offerings at your school and won’t be surprised if you didn’t take as many till senior year. Your ecs definitely show leadership; other than that, I couldn’t find any trends. I definitely think you have a chance and hope we both get accepted!
Thank you!! Good luck
oh shoot I also forgot to mention a couple things on here:
SAT II: US History 750, Math L2 780
Did not apply for financial aid
Link Leader. I lead a freshman advisory once per week to help freshmen get accustomed to the high school and volunteer at social events.
I also took an economics class at a local university in order to gain exposure to Econ, which is the major I’m applying for in the college of arts & sciences.
I didn’t mention this in my application, but talked about it in my interview… I’m a part of my school’s newly founded sign language club and have been helping that to get started.
you look like a really solid applicant. id say 50/50 shot but i have no qualifications whatsoever yknow…
hit me back i have a different thread from a few days ago thx
I always forget to mention things… (though I don’t think these things will affect my chances all that much)
I’m also a PSAT Commended Scholar, I read the announcements every week at my school, and was a synchronized swimmer for a team that attended Nationals and received third place when I was a freshman (I quit during sophomore year because the time commitment was like 25 hrs per week and the sport wasn’t getting me anywhere).
You have a great chance of getting accepted. I mean really good chance with the ECs, I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you.
Here’s a short chance me:
SAT: 1230
wGPA: 3.8/4.0
Ranking: Top 3%, ranked #12
Gender: M.
Race: Asian.
APs: Lit, Eng, Calc AB, Global, Environmental Science (all my school had to offer).
First Gen.
From shi**y/underfunded NYC school.
EC: I don’t wanna type it out, essentially it’s middle of the pack school stuff, nothing big, just clubs, etc.
I don’t know which school you’re applying to, but I can find that you are a great writer and debater +DECA. I don’t think any of your activities look shady either and (I can already tell from the length of your post) you seem to be genuine as well. Little weakness might be GPA and AP but oh well I suck in those areas too haha. If you showed an upward trending curve, you should be all good. I would say Cornell ED would be a low reach for you, but I think it depends on major you intend to pursue because you would look great if you had applied to economics, but not so much when agriculture… you know what I mean? Lol
Chance me back too please! It’s under Cornell University with a title (Chance me - ED Engineering)
Your app seems good but idk what school you applied ED to so I can’t make an educated decision.
Also, I went to Coolidge during Summer 2017 who dis?