Chances of getting into UT Austin or Cornell?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Junior in TX
I'm not in the top ten, but I'm the top quarter (22% (Based on unweighted GPA at my school)):
I got a 3.85 GPA (out of 4)
SAT: I got a pretty bad grade on my first attempt (1800), but I'm retaking it and hoping to get a 2020+ (I took a practice one few days ago and I got a 2050) I know it's still pretty low.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Varsity Ice Hockey all 4 years (assistant captain this year, maybe captain next year)
- Summer Ice Hockey League for 2 years
- Prep Hockey League during Freshman year
- Houston Travel League during Sophomore year. (We traveled to Dallas and Austin throughout the year)
- National Honors Society (Volunteering and Leadership)
- Interact Club (Volunteering) (4 years)
- Clements Earth (Promoting Recycling / Recycling in school) (2 years)
- French Club (3 years) I'm Treasurer this year, President next year.
- YES program (Volunteer Program)
- I've completed 100+ community service hours
- This summer, I'll be volunteering every weekday at the Memorial Hermann Hospital for 3 months. (I want to major in some pre-Med course, and I'll get 135 community service hours from that)</p>

<p>Curriculum:
At my competitive high school, there are only advanced and honors/AP courses. Advanced are "easier".
I took 1 honors freshmen year, 2 sophomore, 3 junior, and I'll be taking 4.5 senior year.</p>

<p>AP Exams: This year I'll be taking US History AP, and French AP.
Next year, I'll be taking Bio, Gov't, Human Geo and Calc AB.</p>

<p>Other:
I'm a minority, I have lived in 6 different countries throughout my life (I'll definitely stress that in my essay and talk about being open-minded and cultural), and I won the State Prize for French Poetry during my sophomore year. (If that counts in any way)</p>

<p>What are my chances?
Thanks for your input.
What else should I do?
(I'm taking SAT II senior year: Bio and Math)</p>

2

<p>Your EC’s look good, and having a diverse background is an interesting hook. If you get 4’s/5’s on your AP’s it will help, but your SAT, as you seem to know, is very low for Cornell. Do your best to bring them to at least the 2100 range and you stand a shot. What were the score breakdowns?
Definitely do not push off SAT2’s until senior year. Sign up for the May or June test so you have enough time to retake them if necessary.</p>

3

<p>I usually get 600 on CR, 700 on Math and 750 on Writing. I take an SAT every week-end, but the scores don’t budge too much. I’ve signed up for the May SAT and June SAT, so it leaves me only the October slot to take my SAT II. I will take practice tests, etc. during the summer, so I’m not TOO worried about those. For now I really need to practice on my SATs.</p>

4

<p>You’ll be able to take SAT and SAT2 testing in October and November so I’d seriously recommend doing one of the SAT2 days in the spring. Practice tests tend to exaggerate your score so don’t be too disappointed if you score lower then on practices. Also, if you’re taking them every weekend it sounds like you’re really stressing yourself out over the test which will only make scores worse. You can study techniques, but constant testing will probably not help your scores much.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the input!</p>