<p>I am not sure yet, but I might be getting a verrrrrrrry solid rec from a very famous tenured professor at cornell, who is one of the most famous persons in his field. Would this help me. BTW, i called up columbia today, and I asked if i would get an edge coming from a top school over someone from a thierd tier schools, she asked where, i said cornell, and she said ABSOLUTELY.</p>
<p>Keep in mind a third tier school is something like an average state university. Not, say, WUSTL, despite what some CCers may think. Believe me, you will have plenty of competition from other top schools.</p>
<p>What the rec says is more important than wrote it, but yes, a rec from a well-known professor would help.</p>
<p>it also depends on your connection with this professor. do you know him personally through an academic relationship? because colleges HATE when random prominent figures give recommendations to someone they don't really know.</p>
<p>without revealing too much, put it this way, the rec will be very personalized and will show that he knows me very well.</p>
<p>Are you that special bball87? :]</p>
<p>special ed</p>
<p>Just don't get your hopes up to high. Think of it as the ace up your sleeve - it doesnt change what schools you have a shot at, but it might just tip the balance in your favor.</p>
<p>um...my hopes aren't high at all. I am fully prepared to stay at Cornell, and most likely, I will be here...b/c I am pessemistic about my chances. I know that places like Penn, Columbia, Brown are crap shoots for anyone. Cornell arts/sciences is reallllllly hard to transfer to as well.</p>
<p>just out of curiousity, why are you leaving cornell?</p>
<p>want to be closer to my family is one of the main reasons</p>
<p>bball87, umm you're looking at brown AND UChicago to be closer to your family? Where do you live?</p>
<p>lol, my thoughts exactly. They're in opposite dirrections, you know. </p>
<p>At least it's a better excuse than you other posts where you say "Cornell's average SAT score is a little low, and I'm thinking of transfering out for exactly this reason."</p>
<p>which 'famous poliscientist' is this?</p>
<p>um...chicago is not a top choice...my top 3 are all close to where i live (my parents moved btw)</p>
<p>Penn, Columbia, Brown</p>
<p>any academic-wise reasons why you want to leave? I just don't understand some of your posts and/or reasons.</p>
<p>um...if u haven't noticed, it's more personal than academic. Cornell is a wonderful university. It just doesn't fit my needs as much I would like. Of course, there are academic things I don't like about this place. At a place like Brown, I won't be taking a biology course that tries to cut pre-meds out like water. There are so many aspiring doctors here who would make wonderful doctors (doctors should be more personal btw) and all this places fosters is that only the book smart people should be doctors and this is simply ridiculous.</p>
<p>can we answer my question, please?</p>
<p>um...why do u care so much...he is a very famous political scientist. I just don't want to give away 2 much of my identity.</p>
<p>i guess if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.</p>
<p>you can pm it to me if you want; i dont really care, i mean, if you want help, its better for you to give more information, considering that the 'famous political scientist' may have ties at the respective institutions through papers. that's essentially one of the main reasons why the reccomendation may hold any weight, because adcoms arent composed of political science evaluators, they're comprised of different people from different fields. myself, i'm getting a 'realllllly' famous economist to lend a hand, but he has institution-specific ties to the campus that I would be applying to (prev. professor emeritus), but again, if you're not interested in help, whatev.</p>