CHANCE ME: UPenn and Cornell

College List

ED - University of Pennsylvania(Wharton)
Cornell (CAS)
Georgetown (McDonough)
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
NYU Stern
UVA
Michigan
Northeastern
Pitt

Grades

GPA (weighted): 4.31
GPA (unweighted): 3.95
Class rank: top 2% (9/560)
AP Classes: 12

Test Scores

SAT: Never took
ACT: 33 (31 English, 35 Math, 32 Reading, 32 Science)
SAT Subject Tests: Math II - 780 | Physics: (taking in November)

Extracurriculars

  1. Cross Country (4 years) multiple awards
  2. Boy Scouts - Eagle Scout
  3. Intern at local financial company
  4. Started an iPhone repair business
  5. Built a website to teach kids to code
  6. Vice President of Future Business Leaders of America
  7. Track (2 years)
  8. Volunteer work

Academic Awards

AP Scholar with Honor
National Honor Society

Demo/Geographics

Race: White
Gender: Male
Region: PA

Thank you to all who chance me and give me advice! It would be very much appreciated if you could also give me an approximate score that I should aim for on the physics subject test to keep me competitive. Thanks

What will make you memorable and stand out for the admissions committee?

@ClarinetDad16 Well I know that Wharton looks for high math scores (both of mine are near perfect) and leadership (boy scouts, clubs, and my businesses). I also worked very hard on my essays and I think they will help me stand out a bit more. What else do you suggest I do?

You’re not by any means a poor applicant, but you seem relatively typical to me. I ask you the same question as @ClarinetDad16. What SPECIFICALLY makes you stand out?

Your ACT is rather low for both schools:
Cornell- low reach
UPenn - reach

How would you be a valuable addition to the campus? They have thousands of applicants with high math scores.

I have helped many kids who thought they had excellent essays that actually were below average. Remember your reviewer will read perhaps 50 applications that day. Does your personality shine through and how at the end of the day will they remember yours from the stack they read. Did you hook them in with your opening sentence, and then tell your story conversationally like you were talking to a friend? Did you take a different angle than others or was it I failed, tried harder and did better?

You need to market yourself and know what makes you unique. The essays need to highlight your special qualities. If you do not know what makes you special, the essays are probably not extraordinary…

@uclaparent9 I thought Cornell’s average ACT score is 32. I realize 33 isn’t a huge jump, but I thought it wouldn’t be below average.

@ClarinetDad16 Thank you for all of your advise! I really appreciate it. I also tried to stress in my application that I am very entrepreneurial, but I guess many other applicants will do the same. Could you give me an example of something that really does stand out with these super competitive schools?

@jarrett211 Could you give me an example of something that does stand out with these super competitive schools?

Do you want to be an entrepreneur, an accountant, work on Wall Street, or be a marketer?

Try and tie in your passion, with your activities, with your leadership to tell your story. Show as an Eagle Scout how you also are a good person and show compassion for X and weave in some of those experiences.

There is something special about you - try writing out ideas and share them via PM, with your parents, etc. there is a good story to tell. You got this.

@ClarinetDad16 Okay that helps a lot! I will try to do that. Also, you seem very knowledgeable about selective admissions. What score do you suggest I get for my physics SAT subject test to stay competitive? (650+, 700+, 750+, 780+)?

For admission to business school? The SAT physics score is not extremely important. Any number with a 7 will not hurt.

OP
Keep in mind that you are applying to Cornell’s CAS. Applicants to CAS and COE at Cornell have higher stat than the other schools. 33 might be a little bit below average for CAS.

Does anyone have the stats for the specific schools for Cornell? I knew AEM was more competitive, but I was unware that CAS was harder as well @2018dad

@deeznuts I know that Cornell’s AEM program at CALS has an acceptance rate from 7% to 8% (admission officer gave me this information). That’s the reason why I am applying to the CAS. I’m not sure what the actual score range is though.

@Sweeterman No one thinks you are being funny. We are all here to try to gauge our chances at very selective universities. I feel bad for you, since you have to “t r o l l” people on some forum to feel good about yourself.

@ClarinetDad16 @deeznuts @NotVerySmart Could I also get a (safety, match, and reach) for my entire college list. It is also helpful to add whether it is a high or low (safety, match, reach). Thank you

Anyway, to return to the thread’s actual purpose:

I think @Accepted100 has a chance at most of these schools (though a higher ACT would help for Wharton/Stern). GPA is definitely in range, and the math II score isn’t a big positive at those schools (due to the sheer number of 800s) but neither is it a negative. ECs aren’t exceptional, but won’t sink his application. Average shot at Wharton and Stern (though below the overall acceptance rate for Penn/NYU), average to above-average chance at Cornell, Georgetown, CMU, UVA, and Michigan. Reasonably good chance at Northeastern and Pitt.

EDIT: if I had to rank them in tiers:

Wharton/Stern: medium-high reach due to selectivity
Cornell, Georgetown, CMU, UMich: low reaches
UVA: high match
Northeastern, Pitt: match

@NotVerySmart Thank you so much for your input. However, I do have a couple questions.

  1. Is Stern really that selective? I was told that Cornell, Georgetown, and CMU are more selective than Stern.
  2. Also, I thought UVA is much more selective than Michigan.
    I’d be interested to hear your input. Thank you again!

Just have a look at some of the applicants to NYU Stern here on CC - most are extremely qualified. Stern is as selective as any Ivy League school, with close to 11,000 applications for 600 spots last year for an acceptance rate in the vicinity of 5%.

If not for UC Berkeley, Michigan would be the arguably the top public school in the country, and its stats compare favorably to UVA (though the difference is slight). SAT midranges (25th and 75th percentiles) for UVA and UMich:

CR: 620-720 UVA, 620-720 UMich
Math: 630-740, 660-760
Writing: 620-720, 640-730.

In short, Michigan has a slight edge in writing scores and a larger one in math (perhaps due to the well-regarded engineering and CS departments).

The difference isn’t significant enough to say that one is clearly better than the other - I tend to regard UMich as a slightly more difficult school for OOS applicants, but UVA is also up there. UVA isn’t “much more selective,” however, as the two are quite evenly matched.