Chances of Israeli double-legacy getting into the School of Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hey all,
I am a current Junior, and was wondering if someone could tell me an estimate of where I stand when I apply ED next year to the Cornell College of Engineering.</p>

<p>I do not have official SAT scores yet, but have scored in the 2150 range on my most recent practice tests (despite English being my second language). </p>

<p>I am an Israeli student that moved to the States only 3 years ago (started freshman year). I am fluent in Hebrew, and English, and am somewhat proficient in Arabic. </p>

<p>I have a 4.0 Unweighted GPA and a 4.63 weighted (because of APs and scores exceeding 97). My school does not believe in class rankings, but if it would, I would be ranked #1 or #2 in my class. </p>

<p>This year I am taking AP Calculus AB, AP Chemistry, and AP English 11 (language and comp). Over the summer I am planning on taking either Calc II and Introduction to Computer Science Harvard (which will give 8 official college credits), or attending a summer school course at Columbia -- Mathematical Boot Camp for Budding String Theorists.
Next year I will be taking AP English 12/AP English Special Topics (specialized AP English course for my school), AP Calculus BC/Calc III, AP Computer Science (hopefully advanced), AP Physics C (counts as 2), and Statistics. </p>

<p>I am the Captain of my school's Cross Country Team, founder of the Half Marathon Club, Initiator of an international Jewish Leadership Program, and a statistical analyst for a start-up test-prep company based at MIT. I am also a member of my school's A Capella club, acting as a both a base and soloist, and swing dance as one of my electives. I am a math and science tutor as well as an officially trained Red-Cross Lifeguard. </p>

<p>I have double legacy at Cornell, my mom went to Med School, and my dad to ILR. My dad has strong connections with ILR because he does grant work, and research on their behalf. </p>

<p>A list of high-school awards:
* Book Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement for an Underclassman
* Maximae Cum Laude - National Latin Exam
* Achievement in Classical Languages (x2)
* Robinson Math Scholarship ($1500)
* Overall Academic Achievement (x3)
* Coach's Award in Basketball
* Effort in Mathematics
* Achievement in Science
* Chess Club Award
* Summae Cum Laude - National Latin Exam
* Effort in Science
* Overall Academic Effort</p>

<p>My other top choices are Princeton, MIT, Columbia, CMU, Technion (free tuition backup in Israel, ranked 3rd for Electric Engineering), Stanford, Dartmouth, Michigin,and Tufts. </p>

<p>Going to a competitive American Engineering School has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I intend to do all in my power to make my dream a reality.</p>

2

<p>You look like a strong candidate. Of course, it helps if you apply early (ED). Most schools only let you apply early to one, but they all have different rules. Cornell lets you apply to other nonbinding early schools, but I’m not sure about the others on your list. Stanford has REA and only allows one early app. But pick your favorite and go for an early app. It increases your odds and relieves stress in your senior year if you get in. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Wow! Just wow! Did you visit some of the schools to see where you would like to go? Cornell will have that Israeli/technion thing going soon. That might be a good choice for you because of that.</p>

4

<p>I am doing my first college visits this April and Cornell is at the top of my list! The Roosevelt Island project (joint Cornell and Technion venture) is particuarly appealing to me as it focuses on Engieering AND Entreprenurialism, both major interests of mine. I always hoped to get an MBA after completing a Bachelors in Engineering for the sake of obtaining the knwolege necessary to start my own company in Israel.</p>

5

<p>Check Cornell’s visit calendar closely before scheduling an April visit. There are ten or so weekdays during April when the university is busy hosting accepted seniors and they do not offer admission info session or tours for Jrs. There are some Saturday sessions during this timeframe, but nothing on the weekdays.</p>

<p>As noted above, must apply ED to leverage your legacy status.</p>

6

<p>I think as a double legacy applying ED you’re in excellent shape. Did you get a good score on the math part of the SAT? Take is again and take the ACT.</p>

7

<p>I have yet to take the SATs officially yet, only the ACTS, on which I scored very poorly, realizing it was not the test for me. So far I have been working towards raising my SAT scores (through courses and practice tests) into the 2100-2200 range.
I find standardized testing very difficult because English is still a second language to me, and I have only studied in the states for less than 3 years. I am working hard on the English section, putting hour upon hour every week to raise my vocabulary and catch up on my grammar.
Math is easily my strong suite. On my 4 most recent practice tests I have scored: 660, 730, 770, and 800 on the math section (scoring lower on my earlier tests but getting better as time went on).
I am planning on taking the SATs 3 times: March, May, and Octobor. I am not planning on taking the ACTs again. I am going to take the SAT IIs in Math (II), Chemistry (averaging a 100 in AP Chemistry), and possibly Hebrew (since I speak fluently).</p>

8

<p>The ACT you can take as many times as you want and no one has to know. Some people advise not to take the actual SAT more than twice. See how it goes. If you get an 800 on the math section and do really well on math and science SAT IIs that will be great for engineering. I don’t think Cornell considers the writing section of the SAT. Not 100% sure on that. So you are smart to be working on the reading section. My kids (who are native English speakers) both really improved over junior year in reading. You read a lot in your AP classes.</p>