<p>Hey all.</p>
<p>I applied to CALS with the intent of majoring in Environmental Science.</p>
<p>I'm currently taking AP ES in my high school and I'm doing really well. The teacher, who I've known since Freshman year, wrote one of my rec's (she was also supervisor to the Earth Science team that year, where I competed and did well with a few classmates).</p>
<p>My English teacher from last year wrote my other rec, because she knows I'm a strong writer (she's seen essays and poetry that I've written outside of class as well).</p>
<p>My guidance counselor wrote a rec as well- I'm sure all of these were well-written, but we are not allowed to see them.</p>
<p>Another rec was sent in by my friend's mother (who I have known since my earlier childhood). She and my friend's brother and father all went to Cornell and she said she'd have a lot to say about me.</p>
<p>My essays were really well-written and the personal essay is very unique as well- I wrote about someone who has greatly influenced me, and this is a girl who is currently attending Cornell at CALS as well.</p>
<p>I met with an Alumnus in January for an Interview/Information Session, and he loved my enthusiasm for the field I want to study. It went really well.</p>
<p>I also took AP Computer Science my junior year and did well with that (I've gotten straight A's in both of my AP's). I took a few Honors classes as well- Accounting and MCAS, both of which I've gotten straight A's.</p>
<p>My GPA started lower than I'd have liked my Freshman year (we weren't even allowed to take AP's, and I had not had my mind set on Cornell at the time). It went from 3.6 to 3.6558 to 3.9769 to 4.2225 this year. I'm hoping they'll notice the strong increase and that I've been doing better as my classes have become harder. My weighted GPA for all four years is 3.8266.</p>
<p>My SAT and ACT scores are my major flaw- I scored 1760 and 26, respectively, having only taken them once each. I did not take the SAT II's as CALS does not require them, and I am a bad standardized test taker.</p>
<p>I've played soccer for my town since I was very young and played for Junior High School and High School as well (at the JV level).</p>
<p>I have work experience for my town's soccer club, where I helped run the Kinderkickers Program with professional trainers. I also did some volunteer service for the program each year, helping run tournaments and food stands.</p>
<p>Another volunteer service I took part in, which I consider most important to me, was being a student consultant for the Healthy Community Healthy Youth program. For this, I and my peers spoke with parents from around the town about what life and the high school is like, and what their children might be going through. It dealt heavily with the idea of "The Stress of Success." They learned a lot from us, and we from them as well.</p>
<p>I took part in several clubs the past four years, including: Key Club and FBLA (contributed several hours of service to each), the Earth Science Academic Team (which I mentioned), and Inner Voices (to which I'm criticizing and contributing poetry, which will be published at the end of the year).</p>
<p>I go to a very academically competitive high school and have done well overall. I've gotten honoroll or high honoroll every marking period each year- high honoroll much more often. My school does not tell us our exact rank, but looking over the interval chart, I am well within the top 20%, and I'd say looking at the numbers I'd be around the top 15%. To have been in the top 10%, I'd have had to have much higher than a 4.0. I was also admitted to both the National Honor Society and the French National Honor Society.</p>
<p>Another interesting thing I told them about in my app is how I taught myself how to play Guitar my Freshman year (I still play now).</p>
<p>I think that's it- go easy on me.</p>
<p>Steve</p>