<p>GPA: 3.7 (School doesn't send un-weighted scores but this is counted as weighted, all the classes I take in my school are considered honors besides APs)
Class Ranking: School doesn't rank, graduating class size is about 300
SAT: 2270 (800 W, 760 CR, 710 M) *2 sittings, first of which was a 2240
SAT II: 740 US History, 780 Math II
AP: 5 US History, 4 AP Language
12th Grade AP courses being taken: AP Physics B, AP Literature, AP Macroeconomics</p>
<p>Extracurriculars/Volunteer:
1. Senior Daycare Center volunteer (Many hours)
2. Assistant at doctor's office (Many hours)
3. Paid assistant at doctor's office
4. Hospital volunteer
5. Economics Club, Secretary
6. Write articles for online music website/blog (not my own)
7. Track team for only 1 season
(Things that probably don't really count)
Write and record own music (nothing major)
Did tutoring, nothing through a program, just for friends/people
Did street vendoring in China last summer</p>
<p>Awards/Honors: N/A</p>
<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian-American
Income Bracket: High
School Type: Public
Hooks: Secondary legacy (Sibling attended Cornell)
Essays: 8/10? I'm a good writer or so I've been told
Intended Major: Undecided, will probably decide before I apply</p>
<p>******Just to pinpoint some of my weaknesses: My GPA is not very high because I did not do so well in my freshman year. However, it has been a real upward trend since then, since my last report card grades have been 99s and 102s and 98s when my freshman year grades looked more like 90 91 92 93. My course rigor and amount of APs are not many but my school allows a student to only take a certain amount per year depending on your GPA, so I'm only allowed to take 3 in my senior year. The most you are allowed take in a year is 5. My EC's are meager, nothing worthwhile though I have some decent volunteer service. I have no awards/honors, I don't even really know of any kids in my school who get awards/honors besides National Honor Society which is useless. ORM and high-income also spells doom. One of my strongest suits is my writing ability and I feel like I can boost my chances depending on how great my essay is.</p>
<p>I try to look at the glass half full rather than half empty but with people posting so great credentials especially with their extracurriculars, I can't help but worry and make a "chance" thread</p>
<p>Here are some of my school stats for Cornell:
Average Accepted GPA: 99.63 (I have a 95.76)
Combined SAT 1600: 1425
Single SAT 2400: 2119
Combined SAT 2400: 2135
Acceptance Rate: 104/572 (18%)</p>
<p>Just to give you some perspective on how bad my average is compared to the rest of my school, the average accepted GPA for Rutgers is 96.41, still higher than mine</p>
<p>I don’t know which college in Cornell I will be applying to yet, by the way (any suggestions?)</p>
<p>Also since Cornell reportedly doesn’t look at writing scores, how would that affect me since my highest score after all is my writing?</p>
<p>Your scores are good but your GPA does seem to be a little low if that is in fact weighted. Do you know whether you are in the top 10% of your class? Top 25%?</p>
<p>Also, Cornell doesn’t count sibling attendance as a legacy. Jason Locke, interim associate vice provost for enrollment, said that Cornell admissions defines a legacy candidate as “a student whose parents or grandparents — or great-, or great-great, etc. — hold a degree from Cornell University.” (Cornell Daily Sun)</p>
<p>As far as which college to apply to, if you are undecided you should apply undecided to the College of Arts and Sciences. Even if you just aren’t entirely sure what you want to major in, CAS is good because it offers so many majors and a ton of flexibility. </p>
<p>@Ranza123 If I had to estimate, in a class of 300 students, I would probably be around top 40%, maybe top 50%. I go to a relatively selective school where pretty much everybody is “smart”, so there are many people who can post grades higher than mine. This is truly a rough estimation, but I don’t think based off my cumulative GPA that I’m anything higher than maybe 30%. Like I said though, my recent report cards show my averages to be 99 and 102, grades that are definitely in the upper crust of my school. If I had a 99 average or a 100 average instead, I would probably be in the top 25%, top 20%. Again, there is even a good amount of students who can post grades with 99 and 100 GPA and some even better. Many of the people I know in the school have a 96 or 97 or 98 or 99 GPA. The very top 5% have over 100.</p>
<p>Every class in my school (besides performing arts and health) is honors level with the exception of AP courses and some other classes which are college level. This means all of our classes are weighted, so it is not difficult to achieve a GPA in the high 90’s, taking into consideration that it is the weighted average (my school does not report unweighted averages). That is not to say slackers get grades in the high 90’s, so I would say I’m right in the middle of the class as far as cumulative average is concerned.</p>
<p>And yeah, I didn’t think sibling attendance counted as legacy, but hey for what its worth, I’ve slept in a Cornell dorm, visited the campus numerous times, ate in Cornell cateferias, and attended a couple Cornell graduation ceremonies.</p>
<p>I was thinking of applying to CAS but depending on my extracurricular and volunteer service and interests, would I fare better by applying to a different college? By the way, is there a difference between extracurricular and volunteer service? Does a school like Cornell focus more on your extracurriculars over your volunteer service?</p>
<p>Hmm well I think Cornell will appreciate the rigor of the courses you are taking.</p>
<p>Which colleges other than CAS were you thinking of applying to? As far as EC vs. volunteering, I think it’s just best to show passion for whatever it is that you’re doing. It looks better to have ECs you’re passionate about than to have volunteer activities you don’t really care about; likewise, it looks better to have passionate volunteer activities than nondescript ECs.</p>
<p>@Ranza123 SHA, Human Ecology, and ILR are options as well.</p>
<p>What about each of the schools appeals to you? They are all quite different and specialized.</p>
<p>@Ranza123 To be brief, SHA is business-management intensive which is something I’ve always been interested in, Human Ecology and interactions and whatnot are very interesting, and the future possibilities with ILR is also a big draw. </p>
<p>@Ranza123 I always wanted to ask, what is the deal with Cornell and SAT writing scores? Is it only Engineering that does not consider your writing score? Because my highest SAT score is my writing section so it would actually benefit me greatly if it were to be looked at and considered.</p>
<p>The reason I ask about EC’s and volunteer is because from some data collecting college sites, they say that volunteer service is considered while ECs are very important.</p>
<p>The Hotel School and ILR focus a lot on fit. Do you have prior business experience? To me, it sounds like you still are unsure about what direction you want to head in (obviously, only you can determine how unsure you are). I would still recommend CAS because it really allows you to explore a wide range of topics, and you don’t have to declare a major until the end of your sophomore year. If you go into one of the other colleges and then realize it’s not for you, you have to do an internal transfer which is a whole process with no guarantee you’ll be accepted into the other college.</p>
<p>From my understanding of the admission process, the writing score is available for the selection committee to view. How much they take it into consideration is probably dependent on the college you’re applying to, I would assume. My guess is they will take your 800 into account.</p>
<p>It doesn’t surprise me that Cornell would deem ECs as “very important” and volunteer service only as “considered.” But still just make sure you’re passionate about whatever it is you choose to do.</p>
<p>@Ranza123 What do you think about my chances though?</p>
<p>Well it depends on which college you end up applying to. I think your scores are there, especially compared to the other people previously accepted from your school. The only thing that stands out is your GPA compared to other kids from your school Obviously, there isn’t much you can do about that at this point, so all you can do is apply and hope for the best. Cornell is a reach for anyone. I think that you are a strong candidate, though!</p>
<p>@Ranza123 Thanks for the feedback. Which college do you think I have the best shot at?</p>
<p>Well the hotel school really looks for prior experience and fit, so I’m not sure that’d be a good match. ILR focuses a lot on fit too. If some of the programs interest you in human ecology as you previously mentioned, that might be your best bet. If you’re still undecided, then go for CAS.</p>
<p>Your SATs are very strong. However, your GPA is rather low and will probably hurt your application. </p>
<p>@newyork21 Tell me something I don’t know, the GPA will definitely hurt, I’m sure of that</p>
<p>Oh and do you think I could be denied in the ED round?</p>