Chances ... Sorry

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Well I would love to go to Cornell but I was wondering if I am setting my sights way too high. I decided that I would apply to one extreme reach school next year and Cornell is on the top of my list. Please be honest about my chances and any advice is greatly appreciated. I would be applying to CAS.</p>

<p>Basic Info:
White Male from small town outside of Pittsburgh
Public School. Current Junior. (Don't know if it helps but my school rarely has people apply to top schools. Usually the top one or two go to CMU).</p>

<p>Rankings:
I'm currently 3/190 but will probably graduate 2nd.
I have 4.1 but my school doesn't offer many AP Classes and Honors classes aren't waited much. I still take the hardest classes my school has to offer and I get all A's with the exception of English which is either a low A or very high B. My GPA will probably go up to a 4.2 senior year.</p>

<p>Classes:
Senior year I will be in:
AP Calc II ... My school actually had to create this class for me and 2 other students.
AP English
Physics II
French III
AP Chem
Psych/Econ
(This may have to change slightly due to scheduling errors. I will probably have to drop a science.)</p>

<p>SATs:
My big downfall. I have only taken them once and got 600's across the board with a 10 on the essay. I know I can do better than this and will be taking them at least 2 more times along with the Lit and Math II Subject Tests. I'm aiming for a 1900-2000 min. I also just retook the SAT today and confident that I got around a 700 on the math (would be higher if it wasn't for some very stupid mistakes). I'm confident that I can get 700+ Math, 600-650 Reading and Writing (min).</p>

<p>Others:
I'm taking Calc I for college credits from University of Pitt and will do the same next year with Calc II. I also applied to the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Global Entrepreneurship this summer and am hoping I get accepted. If I don't I'm going to take a summer class at UPITT</p>

<p>I'm involved in French Club, TFIM (student career exploration program and helped organize a career fair for my school -- first one we ever had), Guitar Club (Vice-Pres), school academic competition team, golf team, Boy Scouts, History Club, Junior Engineering Technical Society and I created a stock-market competition to be held at our school for about 15 high schools in the area. Senior year I will be in the NHS. </p>

<p>I have also accumulated around 85 service hours but I am trying to do some things for my church next year to get some more hours. I have also been an alter server for 4 years, helped with a bike marathon for MS, and done some other various service work with my boy scout troop.</p>

<p>I'm very confident in my essays and teacher recs.</p>

2

<p>Your SATs are your downfall. Try to get a 2100 or above and I think you'll be fine.</p>

3

<p>Does Cornell look at the writing section?</p>

4

<p>I'd assume that they'd look at everything. But I think they would treat the writing section like an SAT2. I'm not sure though. I'd just try to study for the SATs more and retake it later.</p>

5

<p>I was just wondering because Collegeboard says they do not consider it.</p>

6

<p>Take the SATs again... I had similar stats and the first time I took them, 600+ across the board... the second time I got a 2170... didn't study too much more, but I was a lot more focused. It's definitely possible, so good luck.</p>

7

<p>Do interviews count towards your admission chances?</p>

8

<p>for cas its not a real interview, its like an informational session, or so i've heard. i didn't get an interview but i did get a likely letter.</p>

<p>and about your sat's, should go up a lot with just practice. i got 1750 on my first practice test, then my first sat was 2080, then i got 2200 my 2nd time. if you can pay for classes i definitely recommend that you take them, because they help a lot.</p>

9

<p>What is the minimum score I should be aiming for? Oh and how is Cornell's economics and math program?</p>

10

<p>There's no set minimum, but I'd aim for a 2100. I personally wouldn't take classes, because if you're focused enough you can make the same progress just through working out of a book.</p>

11

<p>I know I can get over 700 in Math, Reading my only problem is vocabulary, and Writing my essay's are high but grammer is not really my forte.</p>

12

<p>then practice SATs, that really helps a lot. The writing section, as of right now is not even considered due to the absolute crap that it is. Memorizing vocabulary is pretty much just sitting down and doing flashcards a lot of times. I've also found that reading a lot helps, especially news journals like TIME or newsweek where the writing is pretty good. But in the end, doing a lot of practice SATs is key.</p>

13

<p>I did some practice SATs for about 2 weeks before the March 10th SAT and noticed a large increase in my scores so I'm hoping if I put more time into practicing my scores will reflect that.</p>

14

<p>So how is Cornell's economics program?</p>

15

<p>The applied economics and management program (AEM) is very good and it's through CALS. A straight up economics major through CAS is also very good.</p>

16

<p>I didn't know about the program through CALS; that actually might be more of what I'm looking for.</p>