I’d like to know what I should do in advance to try to contribute to my ability to be admitted to Cornell in 2026. I am planning on applying to the Cornell Pre-College Summer Program and am a Canadian student. I also take a mix of grade 10 and 11 courses this year and I am planning to enter the AP Capstone, AP Chemistry, AP English and AP World History streams next year.
Status: Canada Citizen
Grade 9: 90 average
Grade 10: 93 average
Grade 11: 96 average
Advanced Placement
Grade 10: AP American History
Grade 11: 4 AP Classes plus AP Seminar
Grade 12: 3 AP Classes plus AP Research
Legacy
Grandmother attended Columbia for Masters and PhD (I assume this only benefits me at Columbia admissions though)
Extracurriculars
Volunteering with Ontario Public Housing (bringing food and supplies directly to regular Public Housing units, and volunteering with programming at specialized Senior Public Housing units)
Political Experience (volunteered with several major Canadian political organizations and founded a politics club + conference at my school)
Mental Health Experience (executive position of Wellness Committee at my school and of a Chapter of a national organization focused on mental health)
Environmental Experience (presented at architecture presentations of the importance of environment and sustainability with my school’s environment committee which I am co-president of)
Model UN (attending 3 major Canadian Model UN Conferences this year)
Marketing Experience (involved with the design and marketing of the school play and school dances, this is also my planned major/concentration)
Work Experience (clerical work and online freelance captioning)
Questions:
How hard would it be for me to get into AEM or CALS?
What should I do to make myself stand out within the next 2 years?
How helpful is applying Early Decision?
Is it better to take the SAT or the ACT to get into Cornell?