<p>how far of a reach would it be for me to go Cornell ED with these stats? I would like to do the Plant Sciences major with the specialization in Plant Breeding in the ag college... hopefully that isnt too competitive. while we're at it, do you guys know of any other good schools that have plant breeding majors? playing god just looks so fun :)</p>
<p>GPA:3.32 W... i think i calculated my Cornell GPA to be 3.06 :( damn minuses! if i knew colleges cared i wouldn't have let myself get A- in all my easy classes.
SAT (the new one): 2010 (720 math, 640 reading, 650 writing)
my school doesn't rank
on average half my classes are advanced (math and science)</p>
<p>I would say your chances are low. weak GPA, average test scores, and nothing really standout on the qualitative side to make up for it. If you really like cornell, it's worth a shot, because you will want to know if you could have gotten in if you never applied, but quite honestly I think you'd be better off applying in the ED round somewhere else. You'd just be throwing that bonus away applying to cornell IMO.</p>
<p>Remember these are just opinions, and technically I don't know anything for a fact about the adcom's inner workings...</p>
<p>From what i've seen here, you probably have a low chance. However, with top colleges, you never know what will happen. If you write a great essay and get good reccommendations, you might just get in.</p>
<p>do you guys know how competitive Plant Sciences is? would i be applying to cornell in general, the college of agriculture and life sciences, the plant sciences major, or the plant sciences major with plant breeding?</p>
<p>Do you have anything on your resume that indicated plant interest. Cornell admins are not dumb, they realize why some people may try for a less popular major. If you have nothing in your resume to back it up, your screwed</p>
<p>"Do you have anything on your resume that indicated plant interest"</p>
<p>like what? in 6th grade i dug and laid a 64 sq foot garden in my backyard and then earlier this year i made another 18 square foot garden outside my bedroom window. (dig fat hole, line with wood on sides, chicken wire on bottom, fill with soil/dirt/perlite) my great grandfather, grandfather, and dad all grew up on a farm.</p>
<p>"Plant sciences major from CA lol"</p>
<p>california has such good ag land. well, we grow 90% of the US grapes, 71% the lettuce, 18% the dairy... did you know that California is the nation's top agricultural state, and has been for the last 50 years? Ag generates about $26.7 billion a year, more than any other state. the following are ONLY grown in california: almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwifruits, olives, persimmons, pistachios, pomegranates, prunes, raisins, and walnuts... </p>
<p>i dont have any plant breeding experience, just growing...</p>
<p>......thank u for the ag lesson...............i feel so enlightened as to the economic standing of california and all that they produce that i will no doubt sleep better tonite</p>
<p>ok thats good stuff. you obviously have an interest in the agriculture, not just getting into a top school. it's evident from that stuff you've done that plants have been a major part of your life for a while now. make sure to write about that stuff in your app. I can tell you're not just going for an obscure major just by knowing that. those gardens are great material for the "describe your intellectual interests, how they evolved, and what makes them exciting for you. If you put plant sciences as your prospective major and write your (cornell supplement form) academic interest 1 on that, and 2 on research jobs or facilities or corses in relating to the plant science major, you bring your chances up alot.</p>
<p>You are competing in a way with cornell as a whole, but I think most specifically your are competing within CALS applicants. To a certain expent you are competing among plant science majors. If there are a ****load for '10 you're certainly screwed, and if there are none you MIGHT have a better chance.</p>
<p>Your background in your major is good news, it brings up your chances. You have a shot, albeit a long one...don't get your hopes up. Apply RD is my advice, knowing full well it is a major, though certainly not impossible reach for you. If your SAT went up 150-200 points, you'd have a much better shot.</p>
<p>GPA and SAT can compensate for each other. If you're in the top 25% of your class (this only matters if your school ranks) and you have a high SAT, you're ok, because even if you're not top 10% you're not low enough to adversely affect rankings, and your SAT justifies your acceptance by bringing up the SAT average considerably compared to a student just a few points above average. This is because colleges are playing the USNWR rankings game.</p>
<p>what makes you say RD over ED? looks to me like ED acceptances are insanely higher. plus, i dont think any of the other colleges im looking at have ED and even if they did i would wanna keep my options open if not accepted to cornell.</p>
<p>ok well if none of the other colleges you have are applying to have ED or SCEA (and of course you should really like them if you apply ED, then applying ED to cornell is fine. I was just saying that cornell might be such a reach for you that instead of ED helping you, it might just be wasting a chance to have an admissions bonus at a good college in general--perhaps not as highly regarded as Cornell, but still a very good one considering your stats. However, considering this whole plant sciences factor, perhaps cornell ED is a good idea. Yes ED chances are higher, but that increase seems to be for the more competitive applicants, since theres more of a question if you will attend if you have higher stats, since more competitive and same-tier schools will accept an applicant if he is applying to a match relative to a particular school, see what I mean? This paragraph is slightly confusing so ask if I didn't make sense.</p>
<p>The way I would do things in your shoes is like so: if the only other school you could apply to ED is a safety or low match, or a school you aren't very attracted to, do ED to cornell, but if you have a reach thats more reasonable than cornell and you like, do ED there. where you apply ED is sort of like a card you are playing. You have to pick which school you want that bonus, and that sends a message to the school (both figuratively and explicitly) that you like this school best and would pick it over any other if accepted. I wouldn't want to waste that boosting a 5% chance of admission to a 10% at cornell when I could boost a 20% up to a 40% at somewhere like Lehigh or Rochester. Wherever you ED, do hella research on that schools social life and academic programs/curriculum, and DEFINITELY visit campus. You wouldn't want to be stuck somewhere you don't like just because it's a good school--you won't do well if you're not enjoying yourself</p>
<p>And don't necessarily get caught up in the glamour of Cornell, or any other college for that matter (until you get accepted to them:)). Yes it's an awesome place, but don't think of it as the be all and end all. It will get your hopes too high--your sights too set. You will realize later on that it really doesn't matter where you go to school. You will enjoy yourself at whichever one of the very good schools which accept you you choose to attend.</p>
<p>thanks for all your help sparticus, and i probably should have mentioned my grade trend, i dont know if it helps or hurts me, but i got a 3.5 freshman GPA, 2.6 soph, and 3.8 junior gpa (all weighted, not on cornell scale. cornell scale i think it was like 3.4, 2.4, 3.4). freshman year i was in advance/soph classes but none counted as 5.0, maybe cornell looks at that differently.</p>
<p>you should def. explain that drop in gpa from freshmen to soph year, maybe in your essay ^-^..it's good that you raised it again jr year though! ^^</p>
<p>don't mold your essay to fit some random "excuse." If your essay topic isn't really conducive to explaining the GPA drop, don't waste your precious 500 words on it. Just write a short supplementray letter if thats the case.</p>