Hi all. Cornell is one of my top choices. I know it is a reach school for pretty much everybody, but i would like to know if it is even worth pursuing. Ideally, I am looking to double major in Piano Performance and engineering. If I am not accepted as a music major, I would still love to go as an engineer.
My stats are a little different as I home schooled for junior and senior year, taking classes at NC State university. Because of this my GPA does not really matter (you may say it is a little low). I have super strong EC and a decent ACT score.
uwGPA: 3.7
ACT composite: 32
Senior classes:
Calc 2 (NCSU)
Calc 3 (NCSU)
Physics–mechanics (NCSU)
Accounting (NCSU)
AP Macroeconomics (self study)
Business writing (my own curriculum)
Spanish Immersion (self study)
By graduation I will have 32 college credit (transferable). I took a very competitive course load at the high school I attended as well. I write pretty “fire” essays and believe my CommonApp essay and supplemental will strongly help.
EC:
-Founded/captained two FIRST robotics teams-both achieving the highest level, going to World Championships in St. Louis. I have been reconized for my work with STEM in the community by the local Towne Council. Raised over $40,000 for STEM education.
-Competitive soccer-multitude of awards including best in NC
-Founder of Community Tech Drive–collect unused technology in my community tor underprivileged students. Recognized by NC House Representative Tom Murray.
-Piano–multitude of awards, including multiple 1st place in top competitions.
-Honor role at the high school i attended.
-1st in state in CYBERPATRIOTS hacking competition
-Participated on high school ethics team-national runner-ups
-Founded a business: Not Ur Mothers TieDye (tiedyed socks)
What do you guys think my chances might be?
Thanks a bunch
Do you have any hooks? (First gen, underrepresented minority,etc.) Your GPA and ACT are a bit low. The ACT doesn’t help support the idea that your GPA is low because of your course load. But your ECs are good so who knows? It can’t hurt to try.
However, at a Cornell Engineering Q&A I attended a student asked the COE rep about pursuing a double major, and the rep said that it is hard to do that at the engineering school unless you take 5 years to do it. This is true even if the the two majors are both engineering majors! The COE curriculum doesn’t have much wiggle room for courses outside the COE. So if you’re set on the double major, you’ll have to be prepared to spend extra time to do that. I don’t know what that would mean for financial aid.
My son also loves music and so his first choice for engineering school was MIT, because there one of the most popular minors for engineering students is music. He had higher stats than yours and a similar level of music and sports ECs, but much less in the way of science ECs, and was deferred and then rejected. Still, MIT might be worth looking at.
Now DS is enjoying Cornell and the thriving student-run music scene there.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful input! Congratulations for your DS’s success! I am ethnically Hispanic…
I realize the challenge of matching engineering with any other major, especially music. However, my course load (of transferable credits which Cornell accepts) from State pretty much matches that of a first year engineering student (Calc I, II, II, Chemistry). If I were to do JUST engineering, I would most likely be able to graduate a year early.
I feel like most of these highly selective schools are a crab shoot. I just do not want to waste my time writing applications that would not even make it through the first round… you know?
Your Hispanic heritage will help; Cornell is very interested in crafting a diverse student body. If you can nail your SAT II’s, that would solidify the rigor of your course work. If I were you, I’d definitely give it a shot!
If you do get in, it seems reasonable that having transferrable credits should help you with your double major. (I don’t know much about transferring credits, just that my DD’s school (A&S) doesn’t allow them to substitute for major or distribution requirements. But the COE may be different. Our high school doesn’t offer any real options for advanced STEM placement, just humanities.) Just be sure you don’t get into a situation where jumping into the sequences midway gets you in over your head. Taking the placement tests once you’re enrolled would give you a good feel for where you stand.
I know that everyone has to take a chemistry placement test online before they get to the COE; be sure you pay attention to using scientific notation, because even if you have the right answer, if you don’t put it in scientific notation, it’ll be marked wrong. DS learned this the hard way.
Best of luck! You sound like someone who would do well at Cornell and I wish you all the best.
They don’t just suggest that you take five years to complete a double major across colleges – they make you. If you wanted to double major in engineering and music you would have to apply to a five-year concurrent degree program. I’m pretty sure you would have to apply to engineering and (if you get accepted), once you arrive on campus you can speak to an advisor about applying to the concurrent degree program. You can, however, easily minor in music.
Also, piano performance is not a major at Cornell. Cornell isn’t a music conservatory. If you major in music, you just major in music (you cannot delve any deeper than that).
