Chances for a Desperate Senior (ED)!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Alright, I am a Senior who is looking for some chances to my dream school (College of Arts and Sciences). Here we go:</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Mexican/White
High School: 98th in United States (about 10% of us get into Ivy Leagues/equivalent or better)
Major: Psychology, 99% sure.
GPA (young ones, do not slack, you can do much better): 3.45 UW, 4.00 W, slight downward trend, but leap in Senior year, close to top 10% rank, if not in it.
SATs: 2030 (680 CR, 680 M, 670 W) (Will take it one more time, there still is room to improve, hoping for at least 2100, also taking act)
SAT 2: Biology: 720, Math I: 760, Lit: 620 (***! im retaking that again)
AP: Psychology: 5, European History: 4, Macroeconomics: 4, Government: 4, Physics: 3, Calculus: 3, Language: 5</p>

<p>Courses (One of the heaviest loads available):
Freshman year: H English, H World History, H Algebra 2, H Bio, Latin 2, Intro to law, Comp Graphics
Sophomore: H English, H Am History, H Latin 3, H Analysis, H Chem, AP Psych
Junior: AP Language, AP Economics/Government, AP Physics, AP European History, AP Calculus, Latin 4
Senior: AP Literature, AP Latin (Literature), AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, AP American History, Law Seminar, Ceramics (required art course)</p>

<p>EC:
-Key Club (Officer - in charge of website creation/management and organizing events)
-Latin Club (Officer - help with all Latin club projects)
-Tennis Team (Captain - Senior Year, our team is #2 in state)
-Table Tennis Club (Founder/President)
-Latin Honors Society (tutoring)
-National Latin Exam Gold Medalist for 5 straight years (got a free dictionary as a reward, awesome!)
-REPP (Ridge Encouragement for Political Participation)
-National Honors Society (nominated, chose not to join due to corruption reasons)
-Participated in national math contests
-Science club all four years (biology, chem, physics state competitions - no real significant awards)
-Economics Club
-Served dinner at a retirement home (100 hours)
-Volunteered at the VA Hospital (120 hours+)
-Worked at the town pool (75 hours)
-Various volunteer activities from Key Club outside of school, including Homeless Shelters, creating a prom dance for senior citizens, setting up various fundraisers (estimating about 100 hours)
-National AP Scholar</p>

<p>Letters: GC- decent, I guess; Teachers- 1 awesome, 1 okay (my two favorite teachers chose randomly since so many students asked, of course I did not get chosen.)
Essay: Great (really unique, to me at least, it has to do with my philosophy about life, and my central focus of helping elderly and it somehow relates to my Psychology major, not going to say it is one of the best essays ever written, but I feel it is unique)
Hook: Umm...well, I am Mexican? I'm only partially, but the culture is prevalent in my life, and URMs for the win?
Possible Issue: My parents got a divorce in the beginning of Junior year, which devastated me for a bit, it definitely contributed partly to a slight downfall in grades. Still debating if I should mention it.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for any comments!</p>

2

<p>I would say you personally do not mention it in your application, but make sure your GC mentions it, if that is in fact a significant reason for your downturn in grades.</p>

<p>Second, I would say DEFINITELY work on your SAT scores. Try getting all of them above 700, and most of them in the 730+ range. Also, try taking the ACT, most kids don't realize it but for some students it is much easier, and they get significantly better scores (99 percentile versus 83 percentile on SAT).</p>

<p>Make sure to stay at it with your grades, not only because of the mid-year report, but in the off chance you are deferred, they do become a factor in RD decisions.</p>

<p>Also, see if you can't find another teacher to ask to replace that okay letter of recommendation.</p>

<p>Other than that, I see lots of good things with your app.</p>