Chances for Columbia or Cornell?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am currently a high school junior attending Stuyvesant High School (a very competitive and high-ranked public school) in New York, and I am planning on applying to Cornell Engineering or Columbia (I'm not sure whether to go for Fu Foundation Engineering or just Columbia College, I would appreciate if anyone could steer me in the right direction). I want to major in finance or CS (possibly a double major, or a major/minor), so I would appreciate if anyone can provide insight on that as well. Here are my stats.</p>

<p>Academics
• SAT (November 2011): 2320 (760 Reading 760 Math 800 Writing)
• PSAT: 224
• SAT II World History: 800
• SAT II Math II: 800
• GPA: 94.2 (un-weighted) Roughly 3.8-3.9 out of 4. My school doesn't give class ranks, but I can safely say that I am among the top 10% of ~800 students in my year.</p>

<p>Education
• Physics Research Course
• Honors Pre-calculus (as well as Geometry and Trigonometry in years previous)
• Honors Chemistry
• AP Physics B (5 on Exam)
• AP World History (5 on Exam)
• AP Statistics (most likely a 5)
• AP US History (most likely a 5)
• AP English Language (most likely a 5)
• AP US Government (Senior Year)
• AP Comparative Government (Senior Year)
• AP English Literature (Senior Year)
• AP Computer Science (Senior Year)
• AP Calculus AB (Senior Year) (Will be taking the BC exam, however)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
• 3 years Physics Research (Research Team Leader)
• 3 years Speech and Debate Team
• 2 years ARISTA (National Honor Society)
• 1 year Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council (internship at NYC mayor’s office)
• 2 years <a href="http://www.MidnightSwan.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.MidnightSwan.com&lt;/a> (Founder and Chief Designer of website designed and developed to serve as a social networking tool for schools and students.)
• 1 year Teen Advisory Committee (Advisory council to the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center)
• 2 years Community Jazz Band (Saxophone player)
• 3 years Stuyvesant High School Symphonic Band (Saxophone player)
• President of PQRS (a weekly publication at Stuyvesant High School)
• President of The Society of Independent Filmmakers (competitive filmmaking group)
• Chairperson of the SUVH (Student Union Video Homeroom, the video news department of Stuyvesant’s Student Union) and IT departments of the Student Union
• Producer at Domination Studios (filmmaking group that makes commercial film/video productions for profit)</p>

<p>Awards:
• Semifinalist at Columbia Invitational National Speech Tournament
• Brooklyn Friends of Clearwater Award (Physics Research)
• National Society of Professional Engineers Award (Physics Research)
• Toshiba ExploraVision Honorable Mention (Physics Research)
• 2nd Place Film in Stop Piracy in NYC Advertisement Competition</p>

<p>Language Skills
• Fluent in both English and Mandarin
• Intermediate mastery of Spanish</p>

<p>I have taken all the honors courses that have been available to me, and am engaged in a variety of ECs. I don't know if this is enough, however. Please give me an honest analysis based on my current standing, and if you have any recommendations for me, I would very much appreciate them. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>About average-above average chance at Cornell (higher if early decision), slim chance at Columbia.</p>

3

<p>I would say that you definitely have a chance for both schools. Your application is very strong overall, but with ivy league schools accepting so few students, the chances are always low for admission. I honestly think that you’re gonna get in to at least one of those two schools though. Can you chance me back please? My thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1372710-chance-me-emory-ed-1-please-recommend-other-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1372710-chance-me-emory-ed-1-please-recommend-other-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>Can I have a few more opinions please? Thanks to all those who responded!</p>

5

<p>cortana431, what did you mean by “average chance?” Do you mean that I have as good as a chance as any other prospective student (18%), or a chance of 50%? Thanks.</p>

6

<p>how do you go to stuy and not join the math team? xD
i think you have a pretty good shot at Cornell but it’s going to be tougher to getting into Columbia simply because the other applicants’ stats are going to be beastly :P</p>

7

<p>@masterofpupets I was actually on the Math Team my first year, but I decided to quit in favor of other extra curriculars, haha. It definitely will be tough getting into Columbia.</p>

8

<p>Bump bump bump</p>

9

<p>My two cents: Most people on this board aren’t admissions officers to prestigious universities, and as such, probably don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m also no expert, but if I had to pitch in, I’d say you have a great chance with the sheer quantity of your ECs and you extremely high test scores.</p>