Evaluate a younger than average sophomore for Cornell?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Greetings,</p>

<p>My name is Pablo, and I'm a sophomore in Miami (Class of 2014). Can anybody tell me how I'm doing and what I can do? Anything you can supply me with, from what colleges I should apply to what I may do to help my extracurricular would be extraordinary.</p>

<h2>That being said, I'll start at with the basics, and I'll also try to include what I predict:</h2>

<h2>GPA</h2>

<p>Un-weighted GPA is : 3.2
Weighted GPA is : 4.2</p>

<p>SATs: N/A</p>

<h2>PSAT </h2>

<p>Reading: 58
Math: 50
Writing: 51</p>

<h2>Honors</h2>

<p>9th- English I
9th- World History
9th- Biology
10th- Chemistry
10th- Precalculus (Not sure if this counts as honors)</p>

<p>Please note that I'm part of the AICE Program, which can be compared to the IB program. (If anybody knows, how does AICE look on my transcripts?)</p>

<h2>AICE</h2>

<p>10th- Psychology
10th- English Language
11th- English Literature
11th- Math (Called AICE Math)
11th- US History</p>

<h2>AP</h2>

<p>11th- Chemistry
12th- Spanish (over AP Biology, since I don't want to get in on that current mess)
12th- Macroeconomics
12th- Government
12th- Calculus BC
12th- English (I forget which one)</p>

<p>I also take Dual-Enrollment at my local community college, which is Forensic Science and Criminal Justice. By the end of my senior year, I will have 12 of these .5 credit classes completed. They are considered electives, but I was also wondering if this influenced admission's opinions at all.</p>

<p>I plan to take my language classes online, which I'll do 2 years of spanish, before my senior year (to fall in line with AP Spanish).</p>

<p>The only other classes which I've received credit for outside of high school are:</p>

<p>Algebra 1: C (I'm retaking the class for an A)
Geometry: B</p>

<hr>

<h2>Extracurriculars</h2>

<p>Internship with a Fashion Magazine for two months</p>

<p>National Honor Society - Just member for now, perhaps future president</p>

<p>Ecology Club</p>

<p>Chess Club - Founder, President</p>

<p>Junior Statesmen of America (JSA)</p>

<h2>Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY)</h2>

<p>I am also running for Class President this year, but that's not guaranteed.</p>

<h2>For my senior year, I will run for SGA President, however, my NHS chapter states that I must choose between NHS Pres. and SGA Pres. Which should I decide with, when time is right?</h2>

<h2>If any of my information is missing, please let me know and I'll post what I can.</h2>

<p>Questions~</p>

<p>Considering all of this, where can I see myself getting in?</p>

<p>I for one, love Cornell and would love to know my chances in there. I would like to know if it's worth it doing ED Cornell. </p>

<p>My GPA is certainly going to rise; how high I'm not sure, but definitely higher.</p>

<p>Please note that I am two years younger than my class; I will graduate at the age of 16. Do colleges (Cornell) take this into account?</p>

<p>I'm interested in Political Science, what can I do during my summers and EC to emphasize this?</p>

<p>What should I do for my summers?</p>

<p>Also, Tips for SAT? Special tips outside of the regular stuff.</p>

<hr>

<p>Thanks for reading my long post :}</p>

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<p>I really don’t think anyone can assess the chances of a “young sophomore” getting into an Ivy league school. I would continue doing what you’re doing, gain leadership positions, join a sport(?), learn another language, visit another country for experience, and I would try and raise your unweighted gpa. Also, I would get off of cc for now and focus on your whole resume. Come back on the forum at the end of your junior year when you have taken your SAT/ACT’s, SAT II’s and AP/AICE’s and then we’ll talk :slight_smile: I was recently admitted into cornell and you seem to be on the right path.</p>

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<p>Hi Pablo, </p>

<p>I think your situation is kind of similar to mine when I was a sophomore, since I’ve also taken concurrent enrollment college classes and am a little younger than average. I think it is a little early to evaluate your chances, but it looks like you’re doing pretty well (demonstrating interest in your major, interning, joining meaningful clubs, etc.), though I agree you could raise your GPA and test scores. I’m not sure what AICE is though, so I can’t offer an opinion on that.</p>

<p>Anyway, traveling abroad during senior year really helped me gain a lot of perspective, so that’s something I would recommend. I have also heard that colleges like “well lopsided” students though, so if you’re good at something, especially if it’s unique, definitely give it your all. Also, according to the acceptance rate, ED Cornell is worth it, but only if you’re really sure you want to go there, so reflect on it over the next couple of years. And if it helps, here are my stats (I just got in):</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: Writing: 800, Critical Reading: 740, Math: 800 (first try)
[</em>] SAT II: Math II: 760, Physics: 740, World History: 750
[<em>] Unweighted GPA: 3.96/4.0
[</em>] AP: Language (5), World (5), US History (5)
[<em>] Community College: C++ Programming; Calculus I, II, III; Differential Equations; Spanish 2; Physics: Mechanics
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Literature, AP Micro and Macroeconomics, Chinese 3, Calculus DE, Yoga
[<em>] Major Awards: National Merit Scholarship Finalist, AP Scholar
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars: Key Club, Interact Club (President, then started one at new school), ASG (Treasurer), figure skating, pep squad west coast/USA/state championships, Mock Trial lawyer, etc.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Internship in solar industry abroad during senior year, opened ESL classes
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: YMCA gymnastics coach, Guest lecturer for Red Cross, nursing home volunteer, Rotary, Peace and Literacy (received congressional recognition), etc.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[</em>] Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
[<em>] State: CA
[</em>] School Type: Went to four (all public), one small, one middle college, one online, one large
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian (over-represented minority…)
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Income Bracket: free lunch
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): will graduate at age 15
[/ul]
But seriously, I didn’t even know about CC or competitions or anything when I was a sophomore attending a small school in the middle of nowhere, and then I had to move around a lot because of family issues. I just did what I really enjoyed (even cheer, which is pretty unexpected for a MechE major like me) and had a life at the same time. Besides, I’m Asian and I don’t even play an instrument, and I changed mind about my major sophomore year from pre-law to engineering. My ECs are all over the place, I never did academic competitions since I never found out they existed until now, I procrastinated on college apps, and I’ve only taken three APs. So, I’m sure you’ll be fine.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post, and best of luck!</p>

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<p>Why did you skip at least one grade?</p>

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<p>@csdad: Just to make sure, you’re asking Pablo, right?</p>

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<p>Kudos to you guys, you seem brilliant.</p>

<p>As for why I’m younger, I was simply able to process at a higher level at a young age, so they deemed it fit to push me up a grade (I skipped 2nd grade). Also, my birthday is in October, so I don’t turn 17 until the October following my graduation. Hope that answers your question!</p>

<p>I see what you guys are getting at. I just like to get a head start on my future and all that. Another question, how is it at Cornell? Are the rumors true? Easy to get into, Hard to stay in?</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>I can’t speak for other colleges at Cornell, but it’s definitely not the case for engineering. In my honest opinion, I find the difficulty of engineering to be highly highly exaggerated. If you are a pretty bright kid and can grasp material in an extremely short amount of time, you’ll do very well, with not too much work involved. Aside from that, Cornell on the whole is a ton of fun, and you’ll always find something to do.</p>

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<p>You are at 1080 on your PSAT, you are going to have to raise that by approximately 300+ pts.
on the SAT. In addition you need to get your GPA up to around a 3.7+ to have a good chance for admission.</p>

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<p>Get at least a 2100 for a good shot at a contract college. Also, NHS is a joke.</p>