Is anyone else having a really hard time with Cornell’s financial aid? I thought I was done after I submitted like 18 documents but apparently not…
You have a strong ACT. One trap people fall into is explaining the GPA. 90 overall is not that bad. I would rather focus on how ADHD chg your life, as a person, instead of school performance. These Ivies are never a sure thing even with top scores. I know people was ACT 32 get in and ACT 36 get rejected. It all depends on the whole profile. Engineering school for Cornell is very competitive in admission process. They look for everything, inside out. How are the other stuff that fits in… also, are you a URM female, that too will make a difference.
“90 overall is not that bad”
Isn’t Cornells average GPA quite a bit above that, though? Don’t mean to be contradictory, but I was under the impression they were looking for something else.
@BigflowerSusie
Way I heard about Cornell process is the GPA being 1/4 of the decision matrix… 90 is all relative… 90 in a top high school vs 90 in a so so high school… and the level of vigor - say one with 13 APs and one with 3 APs… my point is - dont use the essay to explain bad GPA… Use the essays to highlight the other stuff… the essay (again, based on what I heard) counts for 1/4 of the matrix … Cornell Engineering school is extremely selective, it wont be a cake-walk even an applicant with perfect SAT/ACT scores. The people I know who got into Cornell has good scores overall, but at the end of the day, I think the essays and fit count for tremendous amount of weight in the admission decision.
@BigflowerSusie
1/4th? Interesting. Does that apply to CALS too? My GPA is 95.6 at NOT a top school, with 8 APs and two other “honors” courses. Would you say that the AP factor could help explain why my GPA is a 95.6 vs 98?
(god, 95.6 is insanely high… although, admittedly, I do go to a “top” school, I’m sure that would be just fine, @realperson2990. unless there are a significant number of people with GPAs of 98 and 99 (how does that even happen? do you like… never forget things?) at your school, it should be fine.)
What about International applicants? How would the colleges know which school is a"top school" and which is not? Take, for example, the cases when there is only one applicant from a school,or even an entire region. Thoughts?
@scarletwitchx
Yes my school is very much not a top school, if any thing it’s on the lower end of that spectrum. And as a point of reference, I’m ranked 10 out of 150 with that 95.6, the rest cluster around upper 96 with a couple in the 98s… Which is what I’m worried about. From what I hear, a 95 only works out to a 3.83 GPA which is quite a bit below the average for Cornell… Unfortunately…
Focus on the Cornell Essay - that is a biggie in the decision matrix. If you are interested in CALS, you need to explicitly tell them WHY… the fit is everything. I know kids with spectacular stats got outright rejection because the “fit” essay is generic. For example, you can study Biology in CAS and CALS, so why one over the other? Some people say CAS is harder to get in vs CALS, maybe, maybe not, but if you can not demonstrate why you fit in either, you probably are in deep do do even with spectacular stats. JMHO
@realperson2990 a 4.0 generally corresponds to receiving above a 93% (or a solid A) in every class (although at some schools, it’s an A- or above, so above a 90%), so an average of 95.6 is, technically speaking, a 4.0. It’s better to look at individual class grades and calculate it that way, though.
Who applied to SHA? ;
Huh. All my financial aid tasks say " initiated" … Does this mean Cornell has received the appropriate documents?
Hey guys,
For applicants applying to AEM, what would be considered a “fitting” extracurricular activity for AEM?
Is a job AND a internship at a big RESTAURANT considered a business related e.c.? I mean it is a business setting and i did learn some basic business skills…the only prob is that idk how relevant an exp at a restaurant will be for a business major.
I feel SOOOOOOOOO screwed 
@Hopeful-TBivy Chill out dude, you’re like 17. They won’t hold things against you like that. You do things for you, not to impress AEM.
What date do students get notification for regular decision for CALS?
Last year it was around April 4th, right?
Does ILR release decisions on the regular Ivy release date (3/30 this year) or do the state schools release decisions earlier?
^ I have this same question
Does anybody know the Cornell email address for sending application updates?
I wrote on my application that I would be taking 7 AP exams but now I will be taking only 5. And I won an FBLA award yesterday.
@Nimisha99 I too had a few changes that I wanted in my application (award + anomaly) and the admission office asked me to send the update via undergradapp@cornell.edu. Be sure to mention your CommonApp/Coalition ID in the subject line and your name in the email body. 