Cornell, Prerequisites, and my whole wanting-to-transfer-against-the-odds situation

<p>I have three questions. If you respond, I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>1) Cornell's website says:

[quote]
*Advanced-placement credit will count toward the graduation requirement but not always toward major or distribution requirements.

[/quote]

So to satisfy the Calculus I prerequisite for CALS/AEM, will I have to retake Calculus I (I'm already taking, or "retaking," Calculus II because my school wouldn't give me a higher-level math class my first semester) even though I got a 5 in Calculus BC in high school?</p>

<p>2) How do I figure out the parallels between courses, and whether they will transfer? Two of Cornell AEM's prerequisites are Biology I and II, without labs, but none of my school's biology offerings (which are severely limited since my school's not very diverse in academia) match that really. The closest-named courses that my school offers are Principles of Biology I, and II, but they include labs, and are 4.5 credits--and like 6 hours--instead of 3 credits. I don't want to waste 6 hours a week in a worthless class, especially since no one in my college even takes these classes besides (the few) science majors.</p>

<p>3) Speaking of wasting time . . . As of now, I'm nowhere near competitive for Cornell. My GPA in high school was like 3.0, I took barely any AP courses, I had no leadership positions, nothing really, although I did work all throughout high school and had a 2200+ SAT score. But I really want to go, as ****ing vain and pathetic as it is, the college I'm in isn't even ranked, and I've convinced myself that as a junior transfer I will have done enough to prove I'm worthy and will have beat the odds. Please convince me that my chances are so low that I should drop my plans and not even think about Cornell again, so I don't waste my time.</p>

<ol>
<li>call and ask</li>
<li>the bio is really not an issue; just take it with a lab. it’s better to have the prereqs done than not. keep in mind that CALS has “life sciences” in its name, so you’re probably going to have to do some sort of science at one point or another</li>
<li>well if you don’t have a 3.7+ for aem, then yes, you’re wasting your time.</li>
</ol>

<p>Many beat the odds. 2 great college years with your standing out and getting great revs from profs will go a long way. Go for it! Good luck!</p>