Chances of me getting in?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
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Sorry for this being really, really long; I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t leave anything out regarding my profile.

Hello everyone. I am currently entering my junior year of high school, and I wanted to assess my chances of being accepted to Cornell University. My sister is going to be attending Cornell in a couple of days now - she has just graduated from High School - and she is going to be studying Bio on a Pre-Med track at the College of Arts and Sciences. I have heard that, in some cases, having a sibling that attends a college could be a form of legacy, but in many cases I have heard that it isn’t true. If possible, can anyone clear this topic up for me?

On another note, my high school is top-ranked, and offers something like 30 AP Courses or something like that. Classes here are extremely hard, and many students do extremely well after leaving this high school - ex. last year, both the valedictorian and the salutatorian were accepted to Cornell Engineering. The salutatorian ended up going there, as he ED’d there, but the valedictorian was also accepted to Johns Hopkins for Biomedical Engineering (the top in the country, and the hardest to get into), and other 7-year medical programs.

Alright - back on track! Stats-wise, I wouldn’t say that I’m exceptionally strong as of yet. My freshman year was atrocious, as I primarily got B’s in tough classes, and ended with an unweighted GPA of 3.25 or so. My grades during my freshman year were the following:

AP Physics B - 86% (B) , Computer Science I - 90% (A-) , French II - 91% (A-) , Honors Algebra II - 80% (B-) , Honors American Government - 87% (B+) , Honors English I - 83% (B) , Phys-Ed - 95% (A) , Freshman Orchestra - 95% (A) , Summer Course for Honors Pre-Calculus - 94% (A) <-- I ended up passing this course with flying colors, which allowed me to take AP Calc. AB the next year.

However, I steadily improved during my sophomore year of classes, as shown in my grades from this past year:

Academic English II (one level below Honors English II) - 93% (A) , AP Calculus AB - 92% (A-) , AP Computer Science A - 92% (A-), Honors Orchestra - 95% (A) , Honors Chemistry I - 90% (A-) , Honors French III - 92% (A-) , Honors US History - 85% (B) , Phys-Ed - 97% (A)

AP Exam Scores:
AP Physics B - 3 (won’t be sending this in) , AP Calculus AB - 5 , AP Computer Science A - 4.

Thus, my unweighted GPA for my entire high-school career so far averaged out to about 3.56 or so. Extracurriculars-wise, I would definitely say that I have an edge on most of the other academic-oriented students in my school. These include the following:

  • Vice President of the Financial Leadership Club
  • Team Captain of Robotics Team
    • Qualified for the Worlds Championship for Robotics and attended it. Won multiple awards.
    • Single-handedly wrote a business proposal for the robotics club, and attained funding for the club by communicating with my science supervisor. Met with multiple donors and got experience regarding this.
  • Intern at a local engineering firm, where I worked with IronCAD and got experience with building and assembling products.
  • Violin player in the highest orchestra of the school district, and in a prestigious orchestra near the area
    • Taking private lessons since the 6th grade; made tremendous progress.

My test scores are not done yet - I will be taking the older SAT (not the new one that is coming in the March of 2016). In my practice, I have reached a score of 2250 (using tests from the Big Blue SAT Book - the one that is made by the CollegeBoard) , though I aim to get it to a score of 2300 at the minimum (super-scored).

While I know that my grades are not amazing, I am ambitiously aiming for perfect A’s this coming year, as I am confident that with hard work, I can get them in the following classes: (if I get all A’s, I’ll have an unweighted GPA of about 3.7)

Academic English III, Honors Global Studies, Multivariable Calculus & Linear Algebra, AP Physics C, AP Physics C Lab , Honors French IV , Honors Orchestra, Physical Education

I am also planning to self study for the AP Calculus BC exam, as my Multivariable Calclus & Linear Algebra will be enough for me to learn the extra 3 chapters that are included in Calc BC, and not in Calc AB. I am considering self studying the AP Economics exams (one or the other, or maybe even both, if I feel comfortable enough).

So, to conclude, seeing that I will get all A’s in my Junior Year, and continue my rigorous schedule of extra-curriculars and schoolwork, is it at all possible that I can get accepted to Cornell as an ED or even an RD applicant? I would probably end up applying to the College of Arts and Sciences, just because my prospective majors for application would most likely be Finance and Computer Science - they merge my interests in both finance and computer science, which are shown in my extra-curriculars. Is it even worth it for me to apply to the College of Engineering? I might be interested in applying there because I definitely see engineering as a portential major for me in college - maybe a transfer could be in order.

Thanks so much for helping, if you comment on this post :P. Sorry about the long post; I’m not exactly known for my brevity with regards to things that I actually care about : D.

Regards,
A Concerned Junior.

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Omg too long :confused:

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Your GC will have a better idea than anyone here will regarding how much your freshman year grades will hurt you in applying to selective colleges. They have experience with previous students from your school, are privy to their stats & where they were accepted.

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@Renomamma Sorry about the length :stuck_out_tongue:

@csdad Thank you for your comment! I know I may sound stupid right now, but what is a GC?

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@csdad Nevermind - it just occurred to me that GC is Guidance Counselor

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Anyone else have any advice regarding my profile?

Bump.

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I got into Cornell Engineering this year, so your sister will be a classmate!

That being said here’s what I have to say based on what I know:

You said your school is very difficult. Are your averages on par with the rest? GPA is a lot more important than people credit it for, and admissions will take your school profile into consideration. Even if your grades look bad, if they aren’t bad among classmates, you will be seen as the same as a kid who has a 4.0 GPA in an easier school.

If you already took that many APs, I’m guessing you’ll have at least 7 APs on your belt by admission time: this is a good amount and you’ll even have a good chance at one of the AP awards (put this in your application).

Math is very very important. The dean said that at the info session so let me tell you, you’re solid on that point with what you have planned.

ECs are good. And next the SAT:
Okay admissions are pretty much random (like the above statement) after a certain cutoff. So if you have certain things, they’ll take you into consideration, if not, you’re dropped. The cutoff SAT score from what I know is 2250. So you’re good for that. If for some reason SAT doesn’t work out, immediately try the ACT.

All in all, you have a really great chance for ED or RD. Here’s my tips for you

In your essay about why Cornell Engineering, add in some specific things, or specific people, such as professors. It shows unique interest in the particular school.

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What is your rank? That info would help give your GPA some context.

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Siblings do not count as legacy at Cornell. It seems like you are on a good track, though! As other people have said, your class rank would help put things in context, but seeing as you still have two years left of high school, I think you’re doing pretty well.

There isn’t a “finance” major in arts and sciences, but there is an economics major. If you are considering that as a potential major, I would say apply to arts and sciences rather than engineering. That way, you could double major in CS and econ. If you decide purely finance is the way to go, there is a “finance, accounting, and real estate” concentration in the Hotel school.

Also just as a side note, there’s no need to bump a post 4 times in a day, especially not in a forum that doesn’t get dozens of posts each day. We can all see your post right on the front page :slight_smile:

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@helewidis1005 Thanks for your advice! I’ll definitely make sure to take that into consideration in my application process. My grades are okay with comparison to the people at the top, but given that I’m taking tougher classes, they are pretty good compared to the majority of my grade. What was your GPA/profile like, if you don’t mind telling me? I know that cornell engineering is usually known for only accepting highly qualified students, so I’m curious.

@mdcmom Thanks for your comment! I don’t know my rank because my school doesn’t openly give them out to students. However, I could try asking my Guidance Counselor.

@Ranza123 Thanks for your comment! Yeah, sorry about my bumping :P. I’m knew to CollegeConfidential, as you can probably tell. Like I said before, class rank isn’t offered at my school, but my UW GPA and grades are okay, considering the tougher classes and my freshman year screwup. Thanks for your advice about the majors - I’ll definitely look into that when I apply to Cornell.

Does anyone else have other advice/comments for me?

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@helewidis1005 Also, would my below-average freshman year grades hurt me a lot? I’ve heard of people getting into good schools even if they had to improve over the course of HS, but I’m still not sure that I’d be able to compete with others grade-wise.

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Well my GPA was 4.0 UW, but that was only because my school only offered like 8 APs and was is not that great. I self studied a lot and took about 11APs in total including Senior year. However, like I said I have heard cases of people getting in with lower GPAs, because the admissions office looks at your school’s profile.

Your school website probably has it so it is easily accessible to colleges. On there it states the colleges kids have gone to in the past year, what APs they offer, what grades they have gotten on the APs and etc. You said that previous students have gone to Cornell and other good schools, so that’s good because they get a sense of what type of students go to your school. Don’t be that concerned.

From what I see your yearly averages have a trend of going up which many colleges like to see. Also, though Junior year will be hard, it is still a great chance for you to raise those grades. You have plenty of time to move those grades into Ivy material. If you really need it after Junior year, you can apply RD and add in those first second quarter senior grades.

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@helewidis1005 Thanks for the encouraging advice! I’ll be sure to try my best in my junior year, as I know that it is usually akin to a judgement-year of sorts.

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Bump. Anyone else have any useful advice? Just trying to gather as much info. that I can as I’m heading into my junior year of HS.

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Our son is an incoming CS major freshman at School of Arts and Science. He had a bad HS freshman year: 3.2 GPA thanks to too many difficult classes. His grades steadily improved while branching out to many EC activities including tons of volunteer work and being in a crew rowing team. In short, your credentials are not worse than our son’s.

However, I believe what got him in was his essays. He clearly articulated his career aspirations, what he wanted to learn at Cornell and how Cornell and the society at large will benefit from him attending Cornell. He demonstrated his superb critical thinking ability, creativity and a very unique voice in his essays. Your desire to getting into Cornell or getting good grades cannot be your ambition that will compel admissions officer to pick you. You need to build an authentic core accompanied by EC activities to support it. Don’t compare yourself with others and don’t do things just to look good.

Good luck!!

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@Redadd0 Thanks so much for the advice! Yeah, I did hear that the essays are a big, if not the biggest, part in separating the qualified applicants from the admitted applicants. I’ll be sure to take that into account when I apply for colleges. Also, I always only do things that I genuinely enjoy, like being in robotics and in the finance club. Hopefully, I’ll be able to encorporate this passion into my essays for college.

Bump. Does anyone else have any ideas or opinions about my application? I’d love to hear from more people and gather as much info as possible!

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Bump. Anyone else have advice/comments to give me? School is starting soon, and I’m probably going to be really wrapped up in that+SAT studying, putting these thoughts on the back-burner.