Cornell/Penn ED: CHANCE ME PLEASE!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi, so I'm a rising senior. I'm debating whether to apply ED to Cornell or UPenn, and I can't really make up my mind. I think that I'm more qualified for Cornell based on standardized testing, but I still have to take the SAT twice more. I'm also applying to WashU regular decision. What are my chances at each, and which do you think is the best option in terms of partying, academics, and social scene overall? Here are my credentials:</p>

<p>Grades: (ignoring the dual curriculum grades)
I have taken all of the most rigorous courses available to me in high school
Freshman Year:
All As except for an A- in Math and an A+ in English</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
All As except for a B+ in math and an A+ in English</p>

<p>Junior Year:
A- in History, Math, and Physics....A in everything else, and an A+ in English</p>

<p>Senior year Courseload:
-3 APs and other high level classes in dual curriculum</p>

<p>APs taken soph/junior year:
European History (5)
Literature (5)
US History (5)
US Gov (5)
Calc AB (4)</p>

<p>-College level Hebrew taken as well as 3 years of Spanish</p>

<p>SAT - 2200
Math - 710
CR - 690
Writing -800 (11 essay)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Student Council for 2 years
-Model UN (progression on team and award won at national level)
-Founder and President of Debate Club (not competitive)
-Chief of Writers for School E-letter
-3 years on yearbook
-3 years of creative newspaper (possibly the head next year)
-lead roles in the school comedies
-Director of Senior Graduation Video (big deal at my school)
-weekly tutor for a child with a minor learning disability
-weekly youth groups leader
-active member of Israel advocacy group both in school and out (selected by high school to attend two national conferences and invited to White House with out-of-school- Pro-Israel group)</p>

<p>Do I stand a fair chance for Early Decision at either of these fine institutions?
Thanks Guys!</p>

2

<p>What’s your class rank or percentile? And will you be applying to Wharton?</p>

3

<p>My school does not rank, but I am safely in the top 5%. Probably #2 or 3 in the class of 80 students.</p>

4

<p>And no, Arts and Sciences for both schools.</p>

5

<p>You should have a fair chance at Cornell ED, though Cornell doesn’t look at the writing section - your ECs are good</p>

6

<p>You have a good chance at both schools. My guess is the acceptance rate at UPenn is probably a little lower ED, but that’s mostly because it’s a smaller school and not due to any significant differences in admissions criteria (I also only do Cornell chances, so you’ll have to research that more yourself). </p>

<p>Really, you should apply ED to the school you think suits you the best, not what the admissions statistics are.</p>

<p>Academically, UPenn and Cornell are going to probably be more or less on par. I would guess Cornell has a nice advantage in terms of variety of courses offered. My guess is UPenn has a better social scene being in Philadelphia, especially if you are into going to city hot-spots. However, Cornell has a lively Greek scene and over 900 student organizations, so it all depends really what you are looking for.</p>

7

<p>Thanks Colene and Mikeyc. </p>

<p>Colene - you think only for Cornell but not penn?</p>

<p>mikey - I KNOW!!! I am so torn between the two based on all of the factors that you just mentioned. Will UPenn look at my writing? Also, I did not like Penn’s campus when I visited, but I have yet to visit Cornell (will do in fall). I am also anxious about Cornell’s icy temperatures, being a Florida boy. How should I narrow it down? Also, which school do you think will help me better prepare for Law School?</p>

8

<p>I’d say reserve judgment until you visit the Cornell campus. Obviously I’m biased since I went to Cornell, but it really is beautiful. I don’t think you’ll find UPenn all that much warmer than Cornell either (both are still in the northeast). I’ve only been to Penn a couple times myself, but Cornell may feel colder because you are outside more because the campus is physically larger. Once you get used to the cold, it’s really no big deal.</p>

<p>As for choosing, I can’t say anything about UPenn, but I’d research Cornell’s student organizations (over 900) to see what interests you. If you think you might be interested in Greek life, Cornell has that. I have no idea what your intended major is, but look through the course catalogs and see what interests you the most. Major courses for common majors will be near identical, but who knows which random courses will pique your interest. If you have no intended major, Cornell is awesome because it offers so many. If you didn’t want to do CAS, the ILR college at Cornell is good prep for law school.</p>

<p>I don’t think either UPenn or Cornell will necessarily be better for law school. Law school admissions is literally an easy equation of good GPA + good LSAT score (irrespective of major, though some majors correlate better with higher LSAT scores). Undergrad admissions is much more complicated.</p>

9

<p>You are so helpful; thank you so much. I have done extensive research, and I am definitely a bigger fan of Cornell’s curriculum, which is pushing me toward Cornell. However, I feel that Penn is a little bit more prestigious, but that’s just my snobbish side coming out. Also, I’ve heard from various people that Cornell works its students much harder than any of the other Ivies. But I guess only a transfer student would know that for certain…</p>

<p>This is going to sound very trite, but does Cornell have any sushi in its meal plan or great sushi restaurants nearby? Sushi is a huge part of my life; I eat it about 3-4 times weekly. </p>

<p>I have heard that the food at Cornell is amazing…is this true?</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>yup</p>

<p> 10char '</p>

11

<p>“Colene - you think only for Cornell but not penn?”</p>

<p>I think for both. You’re more likely to get rejected from Penn though because they don’t have as rewarding of an ED program. RD will be risky for both schools.</p>

<p>"mikey - I KNOW!!! I am so torn between the two based on all of the factors that you just mentioned. Will UPenn look at my writing? Also, I did not like Penn’s campus when I visited, but I have yet to visit Cornell (will do in fall). I am also anxious about Cornell’s icy temperatures, being a Florida boy. How should I narrow it down? Also, which school do you think will help me better prepare for Law School? "</p>

<p>It’s really not cold at all right now or any time you visit in the near future.</p>

<p>" You are so helpful; thank you so much. I have done extensive research, and I am definitely a bigger fan of Cornell’s curriculum, which is pushing me toward Cornell. However, I feel that Penn is a little bit more prestigious, but that’s just my snobbish side coming out. Also, I’ve heard from various people that Cornell works its students much harder than any of the other Ivies. But I guess only a transfer student would know that for certain…"</p>

<p>The only difference in the two schools in “prestige” is pretty much a couple percentage points in admission rates. I’ve never heard of anyone really consider any of these two schools as having a significantly difference in prestige if you’re not considering wharton - some know penn, others know cornell, those who know both outside of cc (especially employers) really do consider them on par (outside of wharton) - I’m pretty much being objective here. As far as people (employers) care, they’re on the same tier - it’s up to you to distinguish yourself from the pack. What matters is the opportunities you can get at those schools and whether the school’s opportunities are right for you. This is what I got from another site:
" None of this is to say that if you attend a less well-known university, you doom your chances in the job market. You simply put yourself at a competitive disadvantage for some jobs. For example, a contact of mine who does recruiting in the financial services industry laid it out to me very plainly: if your degree is from an Ivy or “Ivy equivalent” (schools such as Duke, Stanford, Wash U, and Johns Hopkins, to name a few), your application will be considered if you have a 3.3 GPA or better. If you’re from a school that’s not on their short list, you need at least a 3.9 GPA to get your application looked at. With hundreds of applicants for each position, she needs easy methods to winnow out a lot of candidates, and while she admits that this system no doubt leads to the exclusion of some wonderful candidates, her department simply doesn’t have time to adequately evaluate the huge pile of resumes sent its way."</p>

<p>Also, I’m pretty sure someone mentioned this before but class difficulty really depends on your courses that you take. As for whether or not you will work harder than everyone else - I highly doubt it, we just have more complainers. The workload seems fine with me. This is another myth that is perpetuated by cc that doesn’t really hold in reality.</p>

<p>"This is going to sound very trite, but does Cornell have any sushi in its meal plan or great sushi restaurants nearby? Sushi is a huge part of my life; I eat it about 3-4 times weekly.</p>

<p>I have heard that the food at Cornell is amazing…is this true?"</p>

<p>The dining hall food is great compared to that of other schools, the off campus dining isn’t THAT great. The sushi (off campus) should be okay - nothing especially amazing though. I feel that the food is a bit overrated overall, but it is still quite good.</p>

12

<p>^^
Cornell has lots of sushi restaurants nearby. </p>

<p>[Sushi</a> Bars Ithaca](<a href=“http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=sushi&find_loc=Ithaca%2C+NY]Sushi”>http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=sushi&find_loc=Ithaca%2C+NY)</p>

<p>They also appear to serve sushi rolls in the meal plans based on the pictures they sent me. I doubt they serve nigiri, though, but I really wouldn’t want something like that in a cafeteria anyway. That’s best when it’s made-to-order. I stay away from raw fish in buffets.</p>

<p>You have a pretty good shot, although that 800 writing is kind of wasted since the adcoms apparently don’t look. I would try to get the other two sections up a bit if you can.</p>

13

<p>Regarding difficulty, all I can say is I have two good friends who transferred from top 30 schools and said the workload at Cornell was significantly greater (they did not change majors). I’ve also had a few professors comment that they can get away with assigning more work to Cornell students compared to other schools. That said, I tend to find people whine too much and pre-law shouldn’t be all that intensive (though I guess since pre-law can technically be anything, it’s really up to you how easy/hard you make it).</p>

<p>As for food, it’s certainly better than most other schools. It does get old, fast, but that’s true anywhere.</p>

14

<p>thanks guys. I am a little nervous about my scores, especially for Penn. I’m going to take the SAT once more in October…hopefully I can get a superscore of 2250. </p>

<p>Colene, thank you for reassuring me </p>

<p>Mikey - Your comment about the difficulty worries me a bit, but I come from a school that doesnt release me until 5:45 pm twice a week, so I think Cornell would seem manageable for me since I’ll have so much time on my hands.</p>

15

<p>saugus as long as tghey have plain salmon rolls im good to go!</p>

16

<p>Your scores are okay for both schools in ED. You can worry later for RD. They won’t make it or break it for you.</p>

17

<p>bump! would love to hear from others!!</p>

18

<p>Your SATs are fine.</p>