<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm thinking about majoring in Computer Science and either applying to CAS or COE early decision at Cornell (but if you have any suggestions for other schools I might apply to, feel free to share). I am an asian female at a very competitive high school, but my GPA is not very good. It is a 3.75 unweighted, and a 4.56 weighted. At my school, the average person admitted to Cornell ED usually has a 3.7ish, and a 3.8ish for regular decision. Most of my classes are IB, but I have taken around 10 AP tests (and will take additional AP's in senior year). Unfortunately, I have mostly B's in my math classes, which I'm worried could hurt my chances of admission. </p>
<p>In summary:</p>
<p>Gender-Female
Race-Asian
GPA-3.76 (UW) 4.56 (W) [All AP/IB/Honors] (mainly B's in math classes :( )
SAT-2330 (800 M 780 W 750 R)
SAT Subjects: Chinese-800, Math 2-800, Physics-not yet taken (will definitely take; probably score 770-800), may take history/lit</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: </p>
<p>minor science research in the past (biology, not computers)
president/vice president/leader of a few clubs (though not entirely related to engineering/computer science)
part of many honor societies (around 5?)
Varsity Tennis (not planning on doing in college)
some awards for art competitions
500 volunteer hours (not really science related)
taking some programming classes this summer</p>
<p>I would appreciate if you could chance me. Thank you!</p>
<p>Your scores are very good; if I were you, I wouldn’t even worry about taking additional subject tests (I believe you only need two for both CAS and CoE). For ECs, it doesn’t matter how many you have as much as it does your leadership roles in them. It’s better to hold a high position in three clubs than be a member of ten. Applying ED will definitely increase your chances. Now as to whether you should apply to CAS or CoE, I think you should heavily research both and perhaps speak to computer science students from both and decide which is best for you. I believe CoE is slightly more competitive, but both are very competitive as it is so don’t let that hold you back from applying. Now from what I know already between the two (I will be attending CAS in August), CoE has more of a sense of direction. There are a bunch of required courses and lots of math and science and you will be surrounded by other engineers. CAS has more room for you to personalize your schedule. CAS offers classes from dozens of very different departments, which allows you to explore more or change your major fairly easily. Is one better than the other? No. But would one be better for you? Probably. Personally, CAS will allow me to be a much more successful student than I would have been in another college at Cornell. But if you are dead-set in engineering, then CoE is probably the place to go.</p>
<p>Correction: if you apply to CoE, you would need to also take the physics subject test because you need one in math and one in science. However, for CAS you can submit any two of your choice. </p>