ED Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I know most people hate all these chances threads, but I have a bit of disparity between my GPA and my SAT I scores so I'm more nervous now. I'm a senior come this fall which means I'll be applying soon. My ACT scores should be sent to me soon, but they probably match my SAT score. Probably doesn't make a difference, but Cornell is basically the Ivy our school sends kids too and of the few kids that I knowrecently accepted my stats are at least the same and I know fore that for a couple of them better (And I'm not just talking GPA).
Planned major: Physics</p>

<p>GPA: ~97 unweighted (Next year our school will be weighting averages, but they're gonna be stupid about it and also count sports/clubs/community service in additon to just a challenging courseload.) My grades through out high school have always been this way, although I guess I do trend upward even with harder classes this year since my average is up, but not by more than a point.
My school doesn't rank, but it's somewhere like 5/115 (Very competitive top 10 in my class)
SAT I: 1940
SAT II: World History - 770, Chemistry - 740, and Math I - 660 (Which was also my math score on SAT)
For some reason my math scores are kinda low on these standardized tests. In pre-calc and AP Stat I've had more 100's this year than not. </p>

<p>Courseload: Pretty much the most challenging my school offers. I will have missed one AP that it offers, but will still have 10 after next year if my schedule fits together right. I swapped the one AP class I didn't take for an AP Physics independent study next year. </p>

<p>EC's:
National Honor Society
Model UN
Key Club
Masterminds
Tutoring a 6th grader in math
Varsity tennis
JV cross-country
Concert band (9th, 10th, 11th grade)
Wind Ensemble (12th grade)
Karate (Black belt)</p>

<p>Awards in HS:
High Honor Roll - all 3 years
Biology Award - 9th grade
Model UN Award - 11th grade
AP Chemistry Award - 11th grade
Dartmouth Book Award - 11th grade</p>

2

<p>I'd go Regular Decision</p>

3

<p>Why is that?</p>

4

<p>You fit the median SAT range, EC's good, good rank, nice SAT II</p>

5

<p>i think if thats were you really want to go then deff. ED</p>

6

<p>Just remember what the inside message of the high gpa and "low" sat's means (if not that your school is easy) it means that you work ur @$$ off and that your ready for a challenge. GL!!!</p>

7

<p>lol my school must be easy bc my sat's are low to this website's standards and my gpa is good....but I never study! (my satii's are pretty good though...)</p>

8

<p>So my lower SAT's shouldn't really hold me back in admissions then? I'm not really sure how easy my school is, but I do know my class is unusually smart (Over 30% at least have 90+ averages). But then again, other kids from my school who went to Cornell I'm pretty sure had lower GPA's. And the top 10% of my class is very competitive (Probably no more than 1.5 pts separate 1 from 10).</p>

9

<p><em>bump</em> So how do high GPA and low test scores affect my chances? Is that better than high test scores and lower GPA for admissions?</p>

10

<p>BTw, just out of curiosity, would it matter to admissions if I have a Catholic mother and a Jewish father? Or is that sort of background info irrelevent. Just wishful thinking :)</p>

11

<p>If Cornell is your first choice, I'd apply early decision. I think that your chances for gaining admission ED are pretty good. Don't apply regular admission unless you're really unsure where you'd like to end up, it will hurt your chances of getting into your dream school.</p>

<p>I think that your parents' religious backgrounds won't help (or hurt) you at all.</p>

12

<p>How is 1940 at the median SAT? I would think median SAT at Cornell would be somewhere between 2050-2100. ED acceptance rate is 41% vs. ~ 20% RD, so if it's even near your first choice would go ED.</p>

13

<p>Hey my parents are the same!</p>

14

<p>Yeah, I'd guess the median SAT score to be closer to 2100 myself. </p>

<p>Still, I think you have a pretty good shot if you put the effort into the application and apply ED.</p>

15

<p>I looked at some website that had median SAT scores and it would appear of the kids who go to Cornell, for math and verbal I'm almost exactly at the 25th percentile...(No one seems to have writing statistics and I'm guessing that isn't a big factor).
Here is the site I looked at: <a href="http://www.ivywest.com/satscore.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ivywest.com/satscore.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<p>It is a factor, but it's just a new one for this year so...</p>

17

<p>Those SAT score averages you're looking at are seven years old at this point.</p>

18

<p>I just got my ACT score and it was a 30 which matches my SAT.
From a paid service my school applies to:
SAT Verbal:</p>

<p>400-499[1%]
500-599[11%]
600-699[45%]
700-800[43%]</p>

<p>SAT Math:
500-599[6%]
600-699[33%]
700-800[61%]</p>

<p>ACT:
18-23[5%]
24-29[33%]
30-36[62%]</p>

<p>From the looks of it, I appear to be in the 30th'ish percentile of standardized test scores for those who are accpted, but I think my GPA is above average so hopefully those two balance out in admissions and my EC's are good enough.</p>