@xanthippe im founder and president of school club that works on environmental issues. we did over 14 campaigns
Great- talk about those campaigns and what you accomplished in your Cornell application. When you listed it as “Eco-committee” in your first post it wasn’t clear to me what work was involved.
@xanthippe so my 2 related ECs to environment science is the club and the seminar. i dont mean to brag but the seminar was a pretty big thing bc the environmentalist i invited was a prestigious one from hong kong and she delivered 7 sessions in 2 cities. in my essays i talked about coming to realize that environmental protection is a social and political problem rather than just a science one as I encountered the difficulties during advocating for it in school/ community. is this too little for cornel EES?
Just make sure you clearly communicate, with examples, how your experiences have prepared you to study ESS at Cornell. You should familiarize yourself with the specifics of Cornell’s program, and talk about why the major is a good fit for your interests and abilities.
GPA and SAT’s are the first litmus test.
EC’s shows them that you have kept busy. Unless your speaker brought in international attention and was in the news in the US, focusing on you, then your project is not considered a “stand out”.
GPA and SAT scores will get you a second look if they are above the average application.
You’ve already been told that your SAT’s are not high enough for Berkeley. That is not changing for your chances. Berkeley is a reach. You won’t change people’s opinions about that SAT score. Experience with admissions reports has been consistent with certain test scores at Berkeley.
Everything else is moot now until that SAT score goes up.
Additionally, our Governor is under political pressure to increase the number of California residents at the state universities. As an international, that does not bode well for you with a score that is just above average when other international students do have higher SATs.
You need to consider other schools if you seriously want to be considered for acceptance anywhere, instead of trying to convince people why you think you should get in. It doesn’t work that way.
@“aunt bea” in terms of SAT i have already retook the october SAT . im not using EC to make up for SAT scores nor am I saying my ECs are outstanding its merely a question to ask for people opinion on my ECs. Im not convincing people to let me in solely by ECs im just telling them my story to see if its a good story. In terms of school Im applying to 12 schools ranging from lower ones such as American U, Santa Barbara, Tulane, Drexel to the reaches like berkeley.
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