Chances for College of Engineering ED?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I visited Cornell a few days ago and I thought it was absolutely amazing. I am seriously considering applying early decision for the CoE now. I am, however, worried about my chances because now I REALLY want to get into Cornell. So, my stats are (briefly):</p>

<p>Scores</p>

<p>SAT: 2360 superscored (800 M, 780 CR, 780 W)
I got a 740 W on that test, so my highest score in one sitting is a 2320.</p>

<p>Subject Tests:
Chemistry - 770
World History - 770
Biology - 800
Math II was badddd because I messed up the test. I'm planning to retake this in October so I can get it in before the ED deadline.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.47 W, 3.97 UW (one A- for a semester class, haha)</p>

<p>Ranking: top 10% (school doesn't rank, but my GC said I am probably in the top 5)</p>

<p>AP Scores:
World History - 5
Physics B - pending
U.S. History - pending
Statistics - pending</p>

<p>Senior AP Schedule:
• AP Euro
• AP Calc BC
• AP Physics C
• AP Computer Science A (no more AB :()
• AP English Lang (probably the hardest course at my school)</p>

<p>Subjective</p>

<p>ECs:
• Member of volunteer ambulance youth corps (basically a junior EMT) - will probably write about this for the short Common Application essay
• Tutoring Coordinator for Mu Alpha Theta (math honors society) as a junior
• President of Mu Alpha Theta as a senior - actually, this club does a lot, and my math teacher's recommendation will hopefully reflect the effort I have put in
• Cross country for four years (I'm not really that great, but I've been really persistent with it and enjoy the challenge)
• Challenger Little League for 2 years (helping developmentally disabled children play baseball each Saturday)
• Volunteered as a junior patient advocate for local hospital
• JSA (debate club) for 4 years
• National Honors Society</p>

<p>Work Experience:
• Department of Personnel student worker for local government over summer of junior year
• Also worked for MIS (computer department for county government) during the summer assisting with a computer project and shadowing technicians</p>

<p>Awards:
• A bunch of departmental awards (e.g., Math Award, Biology Award) that are really only school-wide
• Rensselaer Medal Award
• Third place locally for National History Day during my sophomore year in the group documentary category</p>

<p>Thanks guys. :)</p>

2

<p>I was excepted to CAS, so I don’t know everything about CoE admissions… but i’d say that your resume looks outstanding! if you aren’t accepted then idk who would be</p>

3

<p>Thanks. :slight_smile: I really appreciate it. We’ll have to see though. Looking through some of the people who got rejected makes me a little nervous. :(</p>

<p>An I’m so jealous that you’re off to Cornell already! Ithaca looks like so much fun. Sadly there weren’t that many students when I went, but I can totally imagine it being a really great college town. And then the campus, of course. It was pretty big, but I like that. And all of the buildings were beautiful. The engineering program is just what I’ve been looking for, too: a very strong engineering program at a college with great liberal arts.</p>

4

<p>I fell in love with cornell when i went to visit last summer (sort of like you have) and I applied ED because i knew that it’s where i wanted to go. </p>

<p>As far as applying, I think you’re a good candidate because you are well rounded. I talked with my parents about this a lot and we think my intense academic schedule, 3 season sports, science fair/club involvement, orchestra (violin), band (bass guitar), community service, church, summer internship (usda), helped a lot. My SAT was only a 1420 (2130) and I only took 4 aps</p>

5

<p>How did early decision work out for you? Did you end up having to apply to other colleges as well and then withdrawing your applications? And how early did you submit your app for Cornell?</p>

6

<p>Test scores and GPA: Excellent
Schedule: Strong
EC’s: Good, but not science math oriented that much
Awards: Good</p>

<p>You definetley should apply, let your enthusiasm for Cornell show in your essays.</p>

7

<p>Thank you sir. :)</p>

<p>And speaking of which…I’m a white male from New York. No affirmative action working for me. ;(</p>

<p>By the way, I really tried hard to do as many math/science activities as possible. I did participate in math league and science league, but they weren’t national and I didn’t really win any major awards (and science league was disbanded after two years) so I did not include them above. My school doesn’t offer robotics competitions and such. Maybe I could make one next year? I’m afraid my school’s budget cuts wouldn’t allow for it, though.</p>

8

<p>I applied to 12 other schools (yikes) and paid all the fees and whatnot. I could have waited until i heard from Cornell and if I hadn’t gotten in, sent in the apps right away. But I had all of my applications done in September so I just felt like sending them in and getting it over with. I submitted my app to Cornell the second week in September =)</p>

9

<p>So do you think it would be a good idea to wait until I hear back from Cornell before I send my apps in with the hopes of saving my parents a little extra money? (I mean, I’m sure they really won’t mind paying if there is any chance that there could be a dilemma.)</p>

<p>And as for my Math II SAT Subject Test score…considering it’s pretty low because I messed the test up and I’m retaking in October, would it be a bad idea to submit my application before I get that score? Well, more like…how long does it take them to receive your application? I know I need to mail in the teacher recommendations, but does the rest of the application send instantly online? So if I waited until I got the hire math score to submit, would it be a problem (it will come out on October 27th, and ED deadline is November 1st)?</p>

10

<p>I got this from the Cornell website: “Plan to take the SAT before November of your senior year, or the ACT no later than October, if you will be applying early. Early decision applicants are also strongly urged to take the SAT Subject Tests no later than November, because the scores are used in the colleges’ early decision selection process.” (link: [Cornell</a> University Undergraduate Admissions Office - HOW TO APPLY](<a href=“http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/firstyear/early.cfm]Cornell”>http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/firstyear/early.cfm))… Also consider this: is it really necessary to retake that Math II? Was it really THAT BAD?</p>

<p>I was accepted to CoE, but I don’t really think my stats were that great. I had a lot of mixed things going for me and against me. In any case, your stats are better than mine! 80-85% chance you will get in, especially since Cornell actually accepts more EDers. Make sure to write some effective, enthusiastic, non-fake-sounding essays. I can proofread them for you when you’re done if you would like.</p>

11

<p>Hey, I’m a rising junior CoE student from Canada who had also applied ED. </p>

<p>If your Math II was above 700, I wouldn’t bother retaking. Instead, I suggest you spend your time writing your essays. Pick out a few books on how to write college entrance essays and listen to the advice. I found that really helped me write one that reflected me and I definitely would’ve written a boring essay otherwise. IMO the only thing missing that could make/break you are the essays. I would hate to see you miss out on CU for that reason.</p>

<p>As per application timeline, the deadline for common app (the onine stuff) is Nov 1, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY NON NEGOTIABLE. However, test scores don’t need to be fully included in the ED application. So as long as you send in your SATI and your other SATII scores and list “MATH II” as pending, you should be fine. I took SATI in May of HS junior, and the SATII in November.
So basically if you feel you want to study a bit more (after writing awesome essays of course) you can wait another month. CAUTION: the CoE really wants to see a Math + Science SATII at least so if you wait until last minute like I did (I messed up registration dates, didn’t really intend to delay), you’ll have to send in one of the scores regardless. If you’re doing it in October as planned, why not wait for the score before submitting? I submitted at 10pm on the very last day. The submit time is instantaneously recorded, but you never know when Cornell’s servers will explode in your face so try not to delay like I did lol.</p>

<p>The ED decisions (online) come out in early/mid December and the regular applications are due mostly on JAN 1. If you want to save some moneys (moneys is awesome, and not a typo ;), you’ll have roughly two weeks in between finding out your decision and submitting other applications in case it’s bad news :(.</p>

<p>If you’re applying for FinAid, you won’t get it until Feb/Mar, waaaay after apps are due so keep that in mind</p>

<p>For your local league activities, I would just throw them in if they’re anything more than one-day competitions. As long as there’s some sort of periodic meetings, it really wouldn’t hurt. It sounds like you tried to join what was AVAILABLE to you, which is the important thing. </p>

<p>@Intellectual. I like how you managed to use “excepted” incorrectly and “accepted” correctly right after. :D</p>

12

<p>@ldftalk,</p>

<p>Thanks! I definitely appreciate the offer, and I’ll consider it as long as you’re not too busy. :)</p>

<p>@fallenmerc,</p>

<p>My Math II score was a 690. Honestly, even with the timing issues, I wasn’t expecting it to be that low. I really feel that if I work on speeding myself up I can definitely do better on that exam. And thanks for the suggestion with the pending thing. I’m probably either going to submit it towards the end of October or do that.</p>

<p>Anything cool about the school that I should know if I were to get in (and to further convince me to apply ED)? ;)</p>

13

<p>Why would I need to convince you to apply here? :slight_smile: You seem pretty intent as it is. </p>

<p>I could read over your essays as well. I like reading those lol.</p>

14

<p>Hey I read your posts and i am wondering about Cornell ED as well. How does Early Decision work? Do you really have to withdraw all of your applications when you send in the Early Decision application?</p>

<p>Also… (and btw, thank you all for this helpful information)… @ fallenmerc… what did you mean you won’t get the results back if you apply for financial aid? Did you mean that if you apply early decision with financial aid, then you won’t get your results back until later?</p>

15

<p>Also if you plan to study at the College of Engineering do you have to mention that in your application? Or is it a general application and then you choose what you want to study once you’re accepted? </p>

<p>And thanks again for the help. You guys seem to be well informed.</p>

16

<p>You apply separately to the different colleges. If you chose to apply to the College of Engineering, you will be put in an applicant pool with only other prospective engineering students. It’s worth adding that you can apply to an alternate college if you wish (e.g., CALS) and this won’t affect your chances for being admitted to either school (just engineering would remain your top choice).</p>

<p>If you are admitted to Cornell ED, you have to withdraw any applications from other schools. By applying Early Decision, you are claiming that Cornell is your top choice, and if you are admitted you MUST attend Cornell. The only way you could get out of attending Cornell is if you have a problem with financial aid. However, applying ED won’t get you any more or less money in aid.</p>

<p>If you are not admitted to Cornell ED, you can attend any other school you want that you applied to REGULAR DECISION.</p>

17

<p>I am going to clear up a misconception here:</p>

<p>If you apply Early Decision, you will receive your financial aid notification in mid-december. You should have any Regular decision applications almost complete by mid-december, and can decide if you need to finish them once you get your aid picture.</p>

18

<p>ED @ Cornell is “binding”. This means that if you are accepted through ED, you are “required” to withdraw your applications. If you actually read through all the literature on the website, it’s a few sentences that are more or less a gentle threat saying something along the lines of “our peer institutions respects our ED policy and should we figure out that you haven’t retracted your applications elsewhere once Cornell has extended an offer, you will risk your placement at Cornell”. I’ve never met or heard of anyone getting screwed over by this nor have I heard anyone try to test it. Care to try lol?</p>

<p>I meant the FinAid doesn’t get processed until much later. the ED will be given you to early/mid december. Finaid comes out like March or so.</p>

<p>Applying to Cornell requires you to select a College within the university. ex. Engineering/ Arts&Sciences / ILR etc. check the website for listing. You can put undecided as your major though. For the best chance of being accepted, apply to the college which your profile fits the most.</p>

19

<p>Alright thanks for the help guys… but I have another question…</p>

<p>Because Cornell is my dream school and I will do anything to get accepted… would it help if I applied early decision undecided and then switched into the college of engineering (because I’m afraid of going up against those beasts at engineering)…</p>

<p>Or do I have a better shot at declaring say… an arts and science college and then switching into the college of engineering if I am accepted? Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for the help again guys! Greatly appreciated.</p>

20

<p>No, definitely apply to the college you want, not undecided.</p>

<p>Engineering actually has one of the highest acceptance rates.</p>