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<p>That’s fine. Passion counts for something. It’s hard to do something well (particularly something that’s difficult) if you don’t have passion. I don’t have qualms about Cornell looking for passion. I think most people would agree that the OP is passionate about something. It’s not dance or rugby or football. It’s programming. It’s not sexy but he has passion.</p>
<p>My main point in bringing up myself is that you also need talent and intelligence. I didn’t have any passion for physics in HS (obviously, since I didn’t take a single physics class). I didn’t have any passion for physics in college. Now, I’m entering arguably the most physics-heavy field of medicine (maybe second only to radiation oncology). But, I’m good at it because I have the intelligence to deal with physics. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to imply that I scored a 2400. I didn’t. I scored close to what would be 2400 today (back then the SAT was out of 1600 for you youngun’s). No one scores 2400 on the SAT and 36 on the ACT by accident. That’s why I think it was a mistake for Cornell not to admit the OP despite whatever flaws he may have had on his application.</p>