Chances at Cornell - will ED help?

<p>Junior; male student at PA public HS, looking to go into Engineering</p>

<p>Old SAT - 1470 - 710M, 770V
SATI - 2130 - 720M, 720CR, 690W
SATIIs - 750IIc, 750Chem
Rank: 1/840
GPA: 4.75/5.0, 3.85/4.0</p>

<p>AP exam scores:
Phys B (9) - 5
Chem (10) - 5
Euro (11) - 4/5
Calc BC (11) - 5
Bio (11) - 4/5</p>

<p>AP Courses next year: Phys C-Mech, Microec., Stat</p>

<p>EC:
Newspaper (9,10,11,12)
Odyssey of the Mind (10,11,12)
Morning Star Community Service (11,12)
Young Engineers (11,12)
Job (9,10,11,12) - 10 hrs/wk</p>

<p>Leadership:
Editor-in-Chief (10)
Opinion Editor (11,12)
NHS Pres (12)
Young Eng. VP (12)
Morningstar Secretary (12)</p>

<p>Essays will be very good, recs will be decent.</p>

<p>Any feedback would be appriciated. Will ED help my chances much? How is the Chem E program at Cornell?</p>

<p>Slightly low math SAT and fairly typical ECs but otherwise stellar. You should get in ED as long as you make yourself as unique and appealing as possible. You need to stand out from the hundreds of others that look exactly like you on paper. Playing up your writing ability (editor-in-chief and op-editor and 4 years of newspaper) will help especially for an engineer. Are you an underrepresented minority?</p>

<p>nah, i'm just jewish. we're probably overrepresented.</p>

<p>i'm retaking the SATI next week and SAT IIs in october. i'm hoping for 800M and 800IIc.</p>

<p>ED helps, yes!</p>

<p>I agree with Sparticus. I think ED definitely helps. I know of several kids who applied ED and were deferred. BUT they were later admitted in April through the RD process. I know of at least 3 kids this happened to at my d's HS on Long Island. I truly believe Cornell "appreciates loyalty" so after they review all the applications, and if yours remains in their "ballpark" of admission standards, I think you can gain admission in April even if deferred through ED. So if you really want Cornell, I suggest you apply ED. Also word of advise- Visit the school and do an "admission Tour" of the engineering Dept. The Dept. tours differ from the general Cornell tour. My d did the ILR tour 2 years ago. She met with the Admissions staff of ILR. I think that really helped her gain entry to Cornell. Good luck.</p>

<p>ED does help.</p>

<p>I'm also considering ED and engineering at Cornell, and jewish. Nice rank there. </p>

<p>I've been told that you MUST visit before doing so. Of course, you are not required to by cornell, but you do not want to be stuck at a college you hate.</p>

<p>marny1, I do not think Cornell offers admissions interviews except for the architecture and hotel schools.</p>

<p>Hi again. ashernm- what I meant is that my d went to the "College specific" info session at ILR. The day she went, there were only 3 kids at the info session. So it was like having a private session with admission staff at ILR. The same day, she went to the Human Ec. session (as she hadn't yet decided which school to apply to). There were probably 30 + kids at that session. So there was little one on one at Human Ec. She may have just been lucky and picked a good day to visit ILR. Speaking of visiting. The Engineering- info sessions seem to be M & F at 9:30 and 2:30 and Wed. at 2:30 only-- during the summer. The fall schedule may be different. There is also a 1:30 tour of the Engineering school. The Univ. Info session (pertaining to all 7 colleges at Cornell) is 11:00 & 1:00 (M-F). I suggest everyone check the Campus Visit website- and get specific info for the college you are applying to. I think you have to call and make an appointment for the engineering school session. The admission process at Cornell is a bit more confusing than most schools so you need to take the time to understand the process. FYI- classes start at Cornell on 8/25 and Cornell students have a break and there are no classes around Columbus Day. I believe the break is 10/8-10/11. So keep those dates in mind if you are planning to visit the campus during those time periods. If I can give anymore "motherly" advice, just ask. Good luck to all.</p>

<p>Is Cornell really one of those colleges that really favor Early Decision deferred people when picking regular decision. I WANT INTO THAT PLACE SOOO BAD!!!</p>

<p>What's this "Odyssey of the Mind"?</p>

<p>woah man you're the only person i know on this forum thats involved in odyssey of the mind!!!!!! freaking awesomeeeee.. did you guys make it to worlds this year??</p>

<p>nah, 4th at states. the competition in pa is nuts.</p>

<p>my claim to fame is that in 8th grade my team got 1st in worlds.</p>

<p>wow 1st at worlds. thats amazing</p>

<p>its not that they favor ED people that much. theres definitely a significant boost you get, but another pair of factors is the particularly well matched/well presented applicant pool and the smaller number of applicants.</p>

<p>i forgot to mention that i'll be attending the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Agricultural Sciences for 5 weeks this summer.</p>

<p>also, the new SAT scores came in and i'm thrilled : 790 M, 800 V, 730 W = 2320. now on to boost those SAT II's in october.</p>

<p>your new scores are amazing, not to mention your rank, ap scores, and president of nhs.. i say youre MUCH more than qualified for cornell.. i'd say harvard yale princeton columbia</p>

<p>oh and governor's school too</p>

<p>very good you have an excellent chance.</p>

<p>yupkixtokki: did you read his intended major? why would he pick Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Columbia over Cornell?</p>

<p>If he wanted to aim higher, good picks would be MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Olin, Cooper union, maybe berkeley.</p>

<p>Nice jump in SAT score, 190 points. I had the same between PSAT and SAT.</p>

<p>why would someone go to Stanford or Harvey Mudd or Olin or Cooper Union or Berkeley over Cornell for engineering unless there were strong non-academic reasons such as location or aid? And it would be absolutely silly to go to Harvard, Yale or Princeton for engineering instead of Cornell. Why in any event -- engineering or not-- would someone opt for Columbia over Cornell for almost anything unless it was urban vs. rural? (i say this as a former Columbia and Harvard student myself...)</p>