Chances for an URM at Cornell with low stats?

<p>Im a Junior. I had a bad freshman year of high school but im back on track and by the end of my Junior year I should have a 3.3 or a little higher, my school doesnt weight honors classes. Only AP's, which your only allowed to take your junior/senior year and they only give you a .5 for them. I have had a big grade improvement trend. 2.75, 3.57, 3.85 so far. Im African-American, and going to be a first genereation college student(parents were born in Africa). Im in numerous honors/AP classes, with a tough schedule.
SAT's should be around 2000, with math score really high. Im an intelligent kid but I had a lot of problems my freshman year, which I will explain in my essay.
My EC's include: FBLA(Chairman/Tresurer) National Business Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Senior Math Team, Freshman Basketball (Co-Captain), JV Basketball (Co-Captain), Varsity Spring and Winter Track for 11th and 12th grade(Captain). Technology Student Association. Tutored for a little bit. I am also volunteering at my church as an assistant teaching a 1st grade sunday school class, and im also a volunteer in the church office and have been doing so since last summer.
I want to be an Investment Banker and Cornell is my dream school, might apply ED if I can. I want to major in Economics/Finance and minor in Engineering. I live in VA. What are my chances for....
Cornell, UVA, Virginia Tech, James Madison University, Fordham, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, and Pittsburgh.
Are my chances good?, How important are Freshman Grades? Thanks</p>

<p>hey if your essays are good and you have good recs, I see you having a shot</p>

<p>thanks for your input, anyone else have thoughts?
forgot to add to my profile about my gpa, my overall gpa is probably a 3.3 UW school doesn't weight much. But I had a 2.75 FR year, 3.57 SO year, and I having a 3.85 JR year with 2 AP's and 2 honors classes. My AP's are weighted with a .5, but honors classes aren't weighted.
thanks</p>

<p>from what i hear, freshman grades don't matter as much as junior or sophomore year
I think you have a very good chance at Boston U, northeastern, pittsburgh and fordham
you should probly do ED at cornell if it is really you're dream school, b/c their ED acceptance rate is much higher than RD</p>

<p>thanks for your advice, anyone what does everyone else think of my chances at cornell if I apply ED? thanks</p>

<p>if you want to be an I banker go to UVA, while its obvious that Cornell will provide you with great opportunities even more so than UVA...for i banking in particular and your situation i would go with UVA Mcintire School of Commerce. You have a good shot at getting in, your instate, your tuition is going to be much cheaper, and the school is heavily recruited by I banks. However, If your still dead set on Cornell, i think you will have to raise your gpa to a 3.7+ and 2100+ at the very least to be considered competitive for AEM (cornell's B-school) which has an acceptance rate of 14%</p>

<p>if banking is your end result forget about all these schools, while they are all really good schools...</p>

<p>"Virginia Tech, James Madison University, Fordham, Boston University, Northeastern, and Pittsburgh. "</p>

<p>you wont have the opportunities you need to enter the competitive field of finance....purely b/c the recruiting is not comparable to schools like UVA/Cornell and other targets</p>

<p>^ cornell's "B-" school? CALS? I think it's a great school personally</p>

<p>Cornell is my number one choice, I think its a great place. I can get my SAT score at 2100 with hard work, but my overall GPA is the only thing hurting me due to my horrible freshman year. But I'm willing to go to summer school just to raise my gpa up .10 pts. What do you guys think of this route into I Banking? Majoring in Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and then going after an MBA later on. What should I minor in? Does it matter? Thanks I really appreciate you guys taking time to help me out.</p>

<p>B-school= Business School ....lol its far from a B-</p>

<p>route to ibanking </p>

<p>below is the most common and easiest route..</p>

<p>ugrad (top target ex...ivys and other top 20-25 schools) ....GPA 3.4+....Junior summer analyst (at bulge Bracket ex Morgan Stanley , Merrill,Lehman, Citi, Goldman etc or top boutique (ex greenhill, evercore, lazard).....Full time offer....2yr banking stint as an Analyst...top 10 MBA or direct promote to associate or PE/Hedgefunds...if you take the MBA route...after MBA...you become an associate..</p>

<p>If you come from a TOP target (ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc)...it really doesn't matter what you major in...if you don't i would suggest you major in something business related like finance, econ, accounting. What is important even more than what you major in is your GPA...frankly a 3.8 english major will get looked at over a 3.2 finance major.... however a finance major with a 3.5 will prob be considered over a 3.8 english major if that makes sense ...while you might have the advantage of knowing finance...alot of what you will learn is on the job blus bulge brackets have training programs....recruiters want to see excellence in whatever you pursue.</p>

<p>thanks any other thoughts</p>

<p>you guys have me pretty excited about my chances. Do I really have a shot, that is if my SAT's are around 2100? I'll be applying ED. I was also wondering if someone could suggest some schools by looking at my profile at the top. Thanks. I really appreciate all of you guys.</p>