**Decision: Accepted **
Objective: Dual Major in Psychology and Information Science, College of Arts and Sciences
SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (800 CR, 800 W, 700 M) - 2nd attempt (1st: 700 W, 710 M, 720 CR)
ACT (breakdown): Never took
SAT II: Math Level 1 - 770 (taken as sophomore); Spanish Reading only - 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Psych (5), AP Bio (4), APUSH (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP-Calculus BC, AP-English Literature, AP-Spanish Language, Honors Economics (required), introduction to Programming I and II, government, chorale (advanced music), health online
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
-National Medal finalist and Region-at-large Gold Key winner of Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for creative writing, Northeastern US
-Co-author with parents of publication on how gifted kids develop talents: interviewed friends and wrote part of paper - published in journal Annals of the NY Academy of Sciences
-Winner of tri-county regional writing contest from grades 5-10: 3rd place, honorable mention, 1st place, 2nd place, 2nd place, 3rd place
-Winner of 1st place in school newspaper’s school-wide writing contest for creative writing
-Commended for outstanding, almost-National Merit Scholarship-qualifying score on PSAT
-Invited to sing at Area All-State for NYS in 10th grade
-Two perfect NYSSMA solo scores for singing - 10th and 11th grade (98 overall, perfect scores on solos and A plusses on sight reading)
-Eligible for NYS Education Dept. Scholarship (got news after acceptance) based on extremely high Regents scores, which Cornell saw (90 Alg I, 96 Earth Sci, 100 Geometry, 98 Bio, 100 Alg 2, 98 chem, 98 US, 98 English, 97 World).
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-After-school Women’s/Treble Choir, once a week or an hour + concerts
-School Newspaper Features section writer, 10th grade
-School newspaper Staff Writer, 11th grade
-Dev Team: participate in local and regional computer programming competitions; help club fundraise for trips
-Tiddlywinks club (didn’t include on app)
-Produces song covers in free time; creates parodies
-Creative writing in various venues(see awards for writing contests I’ve entered)
-Math Explorers club at Cornell - 10th and 11th grades
Job/Work Experience:
-Intern and researcher at local history project: I uncover and write about histories of notable women during the 19th and 20th centuries from my hometown. My work is published online. I am very into researching people.
-Research assistant for Cornell Talent project: helped gather data and identify gifted students, wrote about how gifted students developed talents
Volunteer/Community service:
-NHS (National Honor Society) - 3 or more hours required per month: monthly meetings on group service project ideas
-Lead free, after school tutoring for SATs for juniors (acts as my NHS hours, but i created the sessions entirely on my own and prepped the lessons for 10 weeks)
-Site-Based Council (10th grade) - Listened to school officials’/teachers’ input on how to improve school
Summer Activities:
-None - worked on studying to get perfect SATs for summer before junior year, and worked on my internship summer before senior year
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
My Common App essay was, in my opinion, excellent and thoughtful and showcased my character. I wrote for the prompt about an event that marked the transition from childhood to adulthood. I wrote about how I had grown up going to a playroom at the local supermarket, but I reached the age limit in 3rd grade and had tos top. It was also the year my life became more adult-like because it was the first year of NYS standardized testing on my permanent record, many new types of schoolwork that had to be done, new social challenges as peer pressure intensified and we all became more self-conscious, etc. But I wrote deeply about how adult life became easier over time, as I adjusted to its challenges, and now, I have reached milestones like junior prom and taking SATs, but I will always be that little kid at heart. A major theme in my piece was that making good choices is integral to a positive lifestyle: I started with describing how choices I had to make at the playroom used to be the hardest I faced, but when I aged out I faced new ones at school that would define my life more.
Supplement - Arts and Sciences: really good, talked about why Cornell is uniquely fit for my interests in Psych and InfoSci because it offers college scholars program that lets me integrate these two disciplines and research uniquely what I’m interested in.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Didn’t read: FERPA waived: Psych teacher, assume was good but she hadn’t written many before
Teacher Rec #2:Again, couldn’t read due to FERPA waive, but it was my English teacher who loved me and quoted my thesis statement from my research paper. Her letters carry much weight for Cornell admissions (I go to local high school, which sends many students each year to Cornell so they know about her).
Counselor Rec: We basically wrote it for him, he was a temporary fill in and asked us to outline it so he would have a basic framework
Additional Rec: Esteemed prof. of InfoSci at Cornell: invited me to work in his lab: I read it and it was excellent
Interview: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Psychology and Information Science
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large public high school, 2000 kids approx: located in Ithaca within walking distance of Cornell: each year Cornell accepts many of us
Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Idk we’re middle class, both parents are Cornell Profs who make good salaries. We live comfortably but aren’t wealthy
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None - not a legacy (although my older sister went), also just going to the local high school with two professor parents at Cornell.
Reflection
Strengths: SATs (studied so much for those two 800s, I was so happy), awards, courses taken throughout high school were as challenging as possible, including math BC for all grade levels possible and special English/Global combined course for kids into the liberal arts - showed I was well-rounded, especially with the singing extracurricular. Common App essay and art sand sciences supplement
Weaknesses: In general extracurriculars could have been better. 85 in Calc BC for first quarter grades, but my teacher is a Cornell grad who is world-renowned and grades extremely harshly, so this average was among the top third of the class, maybe even top quarter. lowest grade I’ve ever had besides one 86 in Spanish last year (but final avg was an 89).
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Many kids from my school go, parents have worked there for over fifty years combined and older sis went, so we know the drill on how to get in. I was extremely well-rounded, and professional while also personal in my app, especially in my common app essay
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Didn’t apply anywhere else
General Comments : I am thrilled! I was always very confident about my chances - I’m one of the best applicants to Cornell that there were in my class, and many who didn’t have nearly as impressive apps as me got in, but I am grateful that I was accepted because I don’t have to pay tuition due to my parents and this has been my dream school for as long as I can remember, and I feel so validated! Go CU Class of 2021! Go Big Red!!! 
Congrats to everyone else who got in!