chances for indian nerd from jersey?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Gender: M
Race: Indian
Location: suburban NJ (HS ranked 4th statewide recently)
SAT: 2370 (800 M, 770 CR, 800 W), 1 sitting, not superscored
PSAT: 226 (so should get semi-finalist before ED time rolls around)</p>

<p>-SAT IIs: 800 Chem, 800 US History, 800 Bio, 800 Math II, 800 World History
-GPA: 95.50 weighted, 4.1/4.0, top 10%, school doesn't rank </p>

<p>APs
-Chem 5
-Bio 5
-Stat 5
-US Hist 5
-Calc AB 5
English Lang 5
-I guess I would be "AP Scholar with Distinction", I know it doesn't mean much</p>

<p>Senior Year APs
-Calc BC, Physics C, English Lit, Gov + politics, Econ</p>

<p>-ECs: 4 year wreslter, JV sportsmanship award, no great awards/hooks</p>

<p>-300hrs comm. service at local hospital
-3 yr Model UN and Youth and Government member
-Exec Council for Model Congress (club got funds taken away end of soph year, had to disband)</p>

<p>-spent summer between jr + sr yrs in EMT class (120 hrs class) + will be EMT for 3 months before applying ED to any school (4hrs/week commitment)
-summer jobs as lifegaurd (summer before sr year), 10 hrs/wk</p>

<p>-prospective bio major</p>

<p>I'm applying to Cornell ED. College of Arts/Sciences is my 1st choice, CALS is my secondary</p>

<p>What are my chances of getting into one of the two?</p>

2

<p>You have excellent chances…You should consider applying to a bit ‘higher-tier’ schools with those grades. I’d say Cornell CAS is a match for you. Try HYPSM, you stand a great chance. Good Luck!!!</p>

<p>If you don’t mind me asking, how did you study for SAT II Bio?</p>

3

<p>A bit more leadership could help. But overall pretty strong.</p>

4

<p>Pretty typical applicant, but above the median in terms of numbers. Definitely have a chance, but nothing spectacular</p>

5

<p>higher tier? excuse me?</p>

6

<p>yea- it’s funny how some desperate hs seniors are so stuck up with the superficial rankings. “Oh, Harvard is #1, then Yale Princeton and Stanford…oh yeah those lower Ivy schools like Cornell, and then those other schools like Duke.” Quite the atrocity.</p>

7

<p>Looking at ifisher’s post history, seems he shooting is for UPenn. Now it makes sense.</p>

8

<p>anyone else? would u say it is likely/unlikely I would get into one of the two?</p>

9

<p>IMO, you have great stats but nothing out of the ordinary compared to most Asian high scorers. If you apply for fin aid, it will be a kiss of death.</p>

10

<p>how is that a kiss of death? he’s not an international, therefore admissions is need-blind.</p>

11

<p>jerseyindian, know that the secondary choice is rarely looked at.</p>

12

<p>not sure why a chances thread is needed…you’re above the median even for someone of your race…</p>

<p>you should apply anywhere you’d like…</p>

13

<p>Unless you are not following the news, all Ivies and top schools have lost tons of endowment during this past year. The notion that fin. aid is need-blind is somewhat disingeneous on the part of the schools saying it. Because of this false advertising, many working class rising seniors are applying to all the top Ivies in the hope of getting fin. aid. It would actually be cheaper than attending the local State school. At the same time, the surge in applications create a false sense of exclusivity for the Ivies and top schools when their admission rate goes down to single digit since they have to reject so many good candidates. </p>

<p>I know of a couple of top Asian scorers who have almost identical stats and ECs as the OP but got rejected to most of his/ her reach schools because he/she applied for fin. aid. Just be cognizant of the fact that even Harvard is in pain and they are cutting back real hard. Go read the Vanity Fair article that came out recently about Harvard’s woes. </p>

<p>I am not saying that fin. aid will not be given. It is merely reserve for academic superstars that have great ECs and accomplishment like Intel, Seimen awards etc. For these kids they will gradly throw them a sort of life lines to pull them in. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, kids that have moderately good stats and ECs and can afford full fare will have better chance of reaching their reach schools than kids who needs fin aid. It does not take a rocket scientis to figure this out. What I said above would not be true if the financial markets did not implode back in 2008!</p>

14

<p>I don’t think whether or not I get into Cornell will be decided on if I need/dont need fin aid. I think you are crazy making<em>a</em>point. Can anyone sane give some more chances? Thanks.</p>

15

<p>jerseyindian, don’t get me wrong. I am not discouraging you to apply to Cornell or other top schools. You certainly have the stats for it. I am just pointing out that if you apply for fin. aid, your chance of getting the fat envelope is lower than someone who has the same stats as you, and not Asian (another factor to consider). As you probably already know, Asian is ORM. Good luck and don’t let me get you down.</p>

16

<p>it’s clear you have no concept of need-blind admissions.</p>

<p>your few anecdotes of “top asians” who got rejected from top tier schools because they applied for finaid is ridiculous. </p>

<p>post hoc ergo propter hoc, buddy.</p>

17

<p>the only time need-blind doesnt apply is for waitlists…and maybe early decision (not sure)</p>

18

<p>making<em>a</em>point, please stop feeding lies to all the future applicants. just because you “know a couple of top Asian scorers” who got the short end of the admissions stick, doesn’t mean that it was because they asked for aid. far more likely is that they simply lost the huge game of chance that admission to these top schools has become. i have seen hundreds of kids who got great financial packages even this year without being superstars who won intel or siemens, as you claim.</p>

<p>and i’m pretty sure need-blind applies for ED as well…though the people who apply ED are generally those who know they can pay for it anyways. (at least i think this is true, for it seems stupid in my mind to contractually bind yourself to something you can’t pay for)</p>

19

<p>well, you may only know you’ll be able to pay for it assuming you’ll get financial aid.</p>

20

<p>i think you should apply RD.</p>