<p>Hey guys, I'm sure you're all sick and tired of these threads appearing at least daily...but I'd greatly appreciate some feedback. I'll be applying pretty soon, and I wanted to know from your firsthand experience whether I'd have a decent shot at Cornell. I want to go into pre-med.</p>
<p>To the stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 4.7672
Class Rank: 2/303</p>
<p>SATs:
Math - 720
Crit. Reading - 770
Writing - 670</p>
<p>I'm rigorously studying for the October SAT's to try and boost the pathetically weak Math and Writing.</p>
<p>SAT II:
Math 1: 740
US History: 740
Chemistry: 800</p>
<p>AP: 5s on Chemistry, European History, and US History</p>
<p>My schedule this year consists of all AP and CHS classes</p>
<p>Honors/Extracurriculars:
-Varsity Swimming
-Rhythm Section Leader in Jazz Band
-National Honor Society
-National Society of High School Scholars
-Outstanding Work in American History Award from The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
-Second Place Winner in the Daughters of the American Revolution Award for Excellence in American History
-Top 100 in the Pittsburgh National Vocabulary Contest
-Recipient of Rochester Institute of Technologys Excellence in Computing Medal
-Runner-up in Outstanding Asian-American Student in Pittsburgh
-Model UN Student Leader
-Science Club
-Guitar Club
-Medical Explorers Program at University of Pittsburgh
-Interned at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine (wrote a research paper with a professor at Pitt)
-Volunteered over 300 hours at the local hospital</p>
<p>Well, guys, do you think I have a reasonable shot at Cornell? If not, could you recommend any other schools that might be a good match for pre-med?</p>
<p>Thanks for spending the time to read this!</p>
<p>I'd say you have a good shot, with your GPA/class rank. If you can boost your SAT and possibly get some leadership roles (you have none save Rhythm Section Leader) in those clubs it would be better.</p>
<p>Since pre-med isn't a college, or a major, which college are you considering applying to, and what major are you considering?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help chendrix!</p>
<p>For leadership, does being a student delegate leader for the Model UN program count? On that note, would being a front-end manager at a local Giant Eagle help at all?</p>
<p>I was thinking College of Arts and Sciences, and possibly something chemistry related for a major, because I wrote a paper on drag-reducing polymers with a professor at Pitt. On the other hand, I heard that it might be wiser to major in arts or humanities to differentiate yourself and stand out to med schools. Advice?</p>
<p>I don't know what a student delegate leader for MUN is, I've never encountered that position. And if the front-end manager is a job, then it counts as work-experience, which is a plus. </p>
<p>On the science/humanities point. You will want to be a part of research as an undergraduate for med school admissions, and it will be hard to be a part of science related research as an english/history/philosophy major.</p>
<p>90% ED
50% RD</p>
<p>It's more important to be a strong student than to worry about 'differentiating yourself'. Be a strong student first and the rest will follow.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info guys!</p>
<p>Cayuga, If I was planning on taking the Oct. 4 SAT over again to increase my Math/Writing, would I still be able to apply ED? Cornell's deadline is Nov. 1, while the CollegeBoard turnaround times vary. It could take a month until Cornell recieves my updated scores. Would this affect my application?</p>
<p>Once again, thanks for taking the time to reply</p>
<p>I don't know. I'm a little bit old to remember all the ins and outs of SAT score reporting. Somebody else should know, else pop an email over to admissions.</p>
<p>That said, you have a 1490 SAT, which is strong. I'm not certain a marginally higher SAT score would affect your ED application. </p>
<p>Are you in-state? For purposes of cheaper tuition, I might recommend being a biochem major through CALS.</p>
<p>You could even take them Nov. 1st and they would still be okay, as long as you rush the scores. It's like $20.00 or something, but it can often be well worth it. So to answer you question, October test date is fine as long as you rush them to Cornell.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info mooseman!</p>
<p>I've gotta say, this is one of the most helpful boards that I've ever visited. Thanks again all.</p>
<p>Anybody else have any thoughts about my chances?</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot to tell you what I thought about your chances. Duh...</p>
<p>You're academics are fairly strong, just try to raise you writing section of the SAT's a little. As for you EC's, just pick the ones that you are really passionate about. Your list is moderately padded, and your interests are somewhat scattered. If you want to do pre-med, highlight your EC's that show this particular passion like "Medical Explorers Program at University of Pittsburgh, Interned at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine (wrote a research paper with a professor at Pitt), Volunteered over 300 hours at the local hospital," etc. I would get rid of clubs like the Guitar Club, or the Science Club because to be quite honest, they don't care. </p>
<p>But overall, I would say you are an above average candidate, with about a 75% chance ED, 50% chance RD. Good luck and I hope that helped!</p>
<p>wait why get rid of the clubs?...they don't care, but it's not like they would hurt (unless they were somehow pernicious activities, which science and guitar aren't).</p>
<p>btw I retook the SAT in October and then applied ED. I just sent the scores to Cornell and I'm pretty sure it was all fine. I think by the time I applied I even had them at my house so I could self-report them on the common app.</p>
<p>I would concur with mooseman976 and get rid of the science and guitar clubs. Have you been very involved in Varsity Swimming? Is NHS a prestigious award? I just know a lot of students have it. I am not an American, so I don't know much about NHS.</p>
<p>Just a quick, possibly stupid, question: like faust said, isn't it better to have more clubs listed than less?</p>
<p>Shifu: I swam for a couple of years at the varsity level, but was mostly average. Not exceptional in any way. National Honor Society is very common, and really isn't all that prestigious, but I assume it helps.</p>
<p>
[quote]
like faust said, isn't it better to have more clubs listed than less?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No. Not necessarily. It is not necessarily better to have more clubs listed than fewer.
Let's say I am an admission officer and I am staring at your list of ECs right now. What do you love? Do you like swimming, or computer science, or guitar, or medicine, or jazz band, or model UN, or American history?</p>
<p>What do you love? What interests you? What motivates you?</p>
<p>...Precisely why I got a 670 on Writing. :(</p>
<p>So it looks better if I tailor myself to one or two fields of interest? So, I should try to demonstrate that interest by carefully choosing only a select few ECs? Thanks btw.</p>
<p>And let's see this list of ECs (mine):</p>
<p>Swimming:
- 2nd place in an inter-school competition in 50m breast stroke *don't want to reveal the name
- 4th place in an inter-school competition in 50m freestyle
- founder and organizer of school swim team
- swim team member of former school *I transferred
- level 11/12, and 12/12 of the Red Cross water safety program
- bronze star in a program sponsored by lifesaving society of Canada
- CPR-C, CPR-A, blah blah blah...</p>
<p>Piano:
- Royal Conservatory of Music
- practical 8/10, 9/10, and 10/10
- theory preliminary/5, 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5
- history 3/4?
- set up a program aimed at promoting music appreciation among children in poverty - co-founder
- Kiwanis music festival in Vancouver - 3rd place in senior Beethoven division
- 4th place in Romantic Era</p>
<p>Wheat Research:
- How does Common Wheat achieve homeostasis in environments with different pH?</p>
<p>That's all I am putting on my application, and some jobs. That's about it.</p>
<p>So, the question is, what do I enjoy, from your perspective?</p>
<p>I see, so I should focus on one or two areas, instead of my spasmodic ECs? That makes sense. Thanks for the advice Shifu...hopefully I'll see you next year!</p>
<p>Any other comments?</p>
<p>I would say focus on about two, maybe three areas. I might add in my community involvement with local library (also a leadership position).</p>
<p>The goal is to show the admission officer what you enjoy. What defines you as a person.</p>
<p>Since you're applying for pre-med (?) I would put down some major-related ECs (I am gonna apply for undecided because I really don't know what to do) in addition to ECs that you have been involved in a lot.</p>
<p>btw NHS is a good thing to stick on. sure a lot of people get it but it's a good confirmation that you are recognized as a good student in your school community. it stands for National Honor Society, for Shifu. at least at my school it's also a significant time commitment because you have to complete a specified number of community service hours to graduate as a member in good standing.</p>
<p>I still don't see why listing all your activities is bad.
in high school I did a ton of different activities and I cared about all of them. when you're only in your teens (or any age for that matter) there is no reason you can't say "I really care about my sport, I am going to devote myself to practice and my teammates" and at the same time say "I really want to succeed at that solo competition. I am going to practice a lot and really pay attention at my lessons." you can enjoy doing more than one thing and not be ashamed of it! and music and sports are totally "different" but both legit.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about applying to CALS, but would I have a higher acceptance rate at CAS?</p>
<p>Thanks again guys.</p>