Chances for high school junior applying early admission AND ED

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi all. The title says it. I don't think I have much of a chance, but I'm so set on Cornell and believe I'm ready for college, so I'm applying with three years of high school AND early decision. I'd really love to go there; they have a great English progam and a great campus. I already got permission from the dean of CAS to apply, but I just wanted to get some outside input and suggestions on my chances early decision. I think they're pretty infinitesimal, but any comments would be nice. And any help?</p>

<p>Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota
Ethnicity: Asian-American</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.96 W GPA: 4.02
UW rank: 22 of 407 W rank: 17 of 407
(top 5% for both)</p>

<p>SAT I – 2100 (760 CR, 600 M, 740 W essay 10)
SAT II – French 720, Literature 730, U.S. History 740
AP – U.S. History 5, English Language/Comp 5</p>

<p>Secondary legacy: 2 cousins and an aunt</p>

<p>AP & Honors classes, by year</p>

<p>Freshman
Honors English 9 A-/A
Accelerated Geometry/Algebra II A/A-</p>

<p>Sophomore
Honors English 10 A
Honors British Literature A
AP U.S. History A/A
Honors Chemistry A/A
Honors Precalculus A-/A-</p>

<p>Junior
AP World History
AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
AP Government & Politics
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
CIS Honors 12 Composition</p>

<p>(On my six-week grade report, which I’m sending, I have all A’s)</p>

<p>College Courses for Credit</p>

<p>Harvard University – Beginning Fiction (A-), 20th Century American Poetry (A-)
University of Minnesota – French 1004</p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<p>-Coordinator of French Club (9, 10, 11)
-French tutor (11)
-President and founder of HEEK Club (fosters inter-student community, raises money for charity, diversity, etc.) (10, 11)
-Church youth group leadership committee (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-Teach piano: 3 hr/week, have had six students, they have played at nursing homes and recitals organized by me (9, 10, 11)
-Piano performance (12 years): Northwestern College finalist, passed “Superior” level in Northwestern College jury exam, passed level 7 of MacPhail’s Crescendo Club
-Shoreview Human Rights Commission: only student rep from my school (11)
-Acting on AIDS member (11)
-Earth Corps member (10)
-Davanni’s: work at pizza place around 10 hrs/week (9, 10, 11)
-Harvard Secondary School Program 2006</p>

<p>Other, Subjective</p>

<p>-Essays – solid: one is very straightforward, one is quirky
-Recommendations: teacher recommendations are great; APUSH/AP World teacher and I are great friends, had 108% in his APUSH class; was the only junior ever to be in my teacher’s CIS English class. Supplementary recommendation from AP Calc teacher; I have the highest grade in the class; hoping that will offset my math SAT score a bit. Counselor recommendation decent, she doesn’t know me too well, though.
-Am retaking SAT November 4
-Will have taken 8 more AP tests this May</p>

<p>Thanks. I'll be sending my app out soon anyways, even though it's a shot in the dark. I'm just, ahhhhh. I really really want to go there :)</p>

2

<p>Oops, essay is actually a 12. Sorry bout that.</p>

3

<p>great chances, but ED doesnt accept the nov SAT.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, Cornell does accept the SAT in Nov of ED, it says so on the web-site at least. I am also applying in my junior year under ED, but your chances are probably way greater than mine in getting in.</p>

5

<p>it says that if you're applying ED you should plan to take the SAT no later than october. it'll accept your SAT if it comes in november, but not if you take it in november</p>

6

<p>"Early-decision applicants are also strongly urged to take the SAT Subject Tests no later than November";
Oh I was looking at the Subject Tests info, since thats what I am taking.</p>

7

<p>Thanks, guys. So I shouldn't rush my November scores? Any more input?</p>

8

<p>Apparently word on the street (lol...) says that rushing scores totally kills the point. Just sucking up money like collegeboard knows how to. Send 'em in normal. Great friends with your history teacher, eh? Those charaters are a lil' odd :P</p>

9

<p>shush, jeff</p>

10

<p>which college are you applying to?</p>

11

<p>College of Arts & Sciences.</p>

12

<p>I find the combo of 600M and hs junior make it unlikely, even ED. Does that mean you won't get a hs diploma? The last thing I was thinking about in Oct of 11th grade was actually applying to a college ED, which I wasn't even in position to do the next year. What's the rush?</p>

13

<p>If I go to college early, my college credits will take the place of high school ones, and I'll get my diploma once all my requirements are filled. Already, I'm only half a credit away from graduating this year. </p>

<p>The rush is that I feel that college is just the right environment for me, and especially Cornell. High school got old quickly, and my slim course offerings next year aren't an incentive to stay.</p>

<p>But yes, I doubt I can get in, and I probably will have to stick around. However, since I'm so into Cornell and early admission, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try.</p>

<p>Oh, and I'm getting a recommendation from my cousin who's an alumni rep, too. Not directed at you gellino, but just an addition to that in general.</p>

14

<p>i would just stay in high school one more year and just enjoy being a senior. but thats just my opinion</p>

15

<p>Apply, definately, the 'senior year' of high school doesnt sound so attractive. It even makes me sick just thinking about what a waste of time it would be for the you and I.</p>

16

<p>On the other hand ... while on the surface you look perfectly qualified for Cornell now ... what we don't know about you is absolutely crucial to an early admission. (And I am not asking you to answer -- this is just food for thought, from a parent of a Cornell freshman.)</p>

<p>What you need to know is that Cornell is "really big school" -- as in first grade was a big step from kindergarten and high school was a really big step from middle school. Cornell is a giant leap from high school.</p>

<p>The big 'elephant in the middle of the application,' in my opinion, is not how ready <em>academically</em> you are for Cornell, but how mature are you and how ready are you for the bigness of the school, the independent living at Cornell, all of the day-to-day stuff that goes along with a large elite university.</p>

<p>If you were saying you wanted to finish high school early and go to (insert a really good small LAC here) -- that is different than saying you want to go to Cornell at 16 or 17.</p>

17

<p>I totally get what you're saying. However, I'll answer that briefly. </p>

<p>I feel that I am ready. I spent eight weeks of my summer on my own in Cambridge, taking classes at Harvard and living in the dorms. I was able to thrive in that environment of independence, and the variety of people and "bigness" was revitalizing, not intimidating.</p>

18

<p>i think you should enjoy your junior and senior years. Sure, the classes aren't fun sometimes, but high school isn't just about grades. It is a time in your life that you get to grow and be a child at the same time. It is the time you can go home, chill with friends without thinking too much about "jobs" or "the real world." It's a time to experience. Four years that will never come back again. It's a time of youth, anxiety, excitement, joy, failure, success, and finally MEMORIES. After you're 35, you'll remember about your high school proms, your sleepovers, not what you got in your AP classes or how thrilled it was to get into college early.</p>

<p>You'll NEVER again come back to THIS time. This is the last time, you get to be a child, living under your parents' guidiance (annoyance.) This is the last chance. Getting into college early seems like a nice way out of the whole senior anxiety thing, but as you probably have realized, life gets stricter and pickier for everyone as he grows up. High school is just that special time in one's life, NOT because it's a time to show how well-prepared you are for college, but because you'll never be able to come back to be a high school student ever again.</p>

19

<p>That's a rosy view of things and, of course, I think that's true in some ways. Don't squander your youth, right?</p>

<p>But it's not like that. I actually have fun learning, and I'm not really the prom-sleepover-partying type. I mean, I have friends, I have a social life, but I think that college will be the high point in my life instead of high school. I know some people consider high school their golden years, the pinnacle of their lives, but that's not me. </p>

<p>Sure, maybe forty years from now, I'll want my carefree (uh, not really) high school days back, but that's because I'll be old and wrinkled and weighed down with family and financial responsibilities. Of course I'll want to be young again. But I'm looking at now and the more immediate future. I think it's the right move for me. </p>

<p>Oh well, we'll see. I probably won't get in anyways.</p>

20

<p>boijia- Just a word of encouragement: I graduated a year early and it was the BEST thing I have ever done. I’m at Colgate now and soooo happy I graduated early…if you really think graduating early is the best thing for you, go for it!</p>