CORNELL CALS. Rejections not an option!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I'd like to transfer to Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as a Plant Science major</p>

<p>My stats are below. Please be honest and rate my chances.</p>

<p>College GPA : 3.76/4.0</p>

<p>Courses taken in major: Chem I, Chem II, Biology I, Organic I, Environmental Pysch.
( Calculus is the only course I did not take that is in the course requirement for trasnfer Plant Science majors)</p>

<p>High School GPA: 2.99/4.0 ( I graduated in three years. The overload of classes caused me to have a low GPA)</p>

<p>I Interned at the New York Botanical Gardens and with a local environmental protection association, Honors College President, Commuter Senator for Student Government Association & much more</p>

<p>My papers are already written. Here are the begginnings</p>

<p>Common App:
Forty one : one. That is the ratio of future doctors to future field researchers in my Organic Chemistry lecture. That one student is me; the tree hugger, afro-centric girl who sits front and center. By the end of each day, the question, What is your major, is always asked at least once. My response is usually Biology, but hopefully plant science by next year. Subsequent to this answer is why, along with a perplexed expression. Why is everyone so confused? </p>

<p>Supp. App :</p>

<pre><code>"Voulez vous un peu de cherry", Roosevelt yells across the yard while shaking the branches of a cherry tree. "Oui, merici” I reply, while he hands me the orange fruits overflowing in a hand woven basket. These are not the cherries I am familiar with, but they are exquisite. In fact, everything in Lazil is exquisite. In Haiti, families like Roosevelt's have limited resources, but life is simple. Obesity and stress are not rampant in this village given that everything is built from the land. The village people and the plants have a symbiotic relationship. Amazingly, the simple Haitian lifestyle, just living off the land, is purity at its best, which I strive to understand.
</code></pre>

2

<p>Out of curiosity, how the Devil did you get into Cornell with a 2.99 high school GPA? Did you apply early?</p>

3

<p>Not gonna lie, your two essay excerpts come across really awkward…</p>

4

<p>I haven’t applied yet. But I doubt my high school GPA will really matter. I think it’ll actually be beneficial to me because it will show that I’ve greatly improved. To Zfantatic, I was not going for a start forward approach but any suggestions to fix it would be appreciated!</p>

5

<p>Transfers are almost always tough, so I’d unfortunately have to disagree with the title of your thread in that your chances of being rejected are very high. </p>

<p>It would help if you could provide more information about your application, like for example what school you go to now, your test scores etc. At a glance, a 3.76 looks good, but if that’s all you were able to maintain at some no-name CC, then your chances of getting into Cornell are effectively nonexistent.</p>

<p>And like ZFanatic pointed out, if those two excerpts you included are indicative of the overall quality of your writing, you are going to need to put a lot of time into the revising.</p>

6

<p>I disagree with the students and do think you may be a candidate - however, none of us work in admissions.</p>

7

<p>a few things about your essays, if you want feedback:
what is afro-centric as a personal characteristic? based on the usual use of that term, it sounds to me like you are just someone who really likes the continent of Africa, and that’s not so descriptive. also, I think the orgo essay seems like it might be better for the supplement, maybe combined with the Haiti anecdote.
why would the person in Haiti say cherry if they’re speaking French? why not cerise? and be careful not to be too sentimental about Haiti, especially since everyone is acutely aware of the all the travails that country has right now.</p>

8

<p>As an alum and former transfer, I strongly recommend that you also check out what cornell has done over the past few years to help integrate transfers.
Transfers were housed together in their own buildings and there was not a lot of support in place to make a smooth transition.
Here reads the opening paragraph of an article in the Sun I had the pleasure of reading in my senior year:
Of the biases that crop up in an environment that values diversity, one that I would like to here address is the bias against transfer students. A significant portion of each class is comprised of transfers — around 20 percent — but these students are often viewed as second-class citizens of sorts, inferior in intelligence and here by way of a watered-down admissions process lacking real rigor.</p>

<p>Luckily for you, the transfer admission rate for CALS was 51.47% (in 2007). However, I strongly urge you to see what’s been done (aside from demolishing '17) to make transferring to Cornell less horrible.</p>

9

<p>bravo, LaneSaysHi, for providing honest and intelligent advice</p>

10

<p>Thank you for all your advice. I am working with a staff member to complete my applications so I do not need any more post on this thread. Good luck to you all!</p>

11

<p>FYI: Your second essay excerpt could be construed as incredibly offensive. Please think about why that might be the case.</p>