Freshman

<p>Hi,
I was wondering what grades/SAT scores would give you a fighting chance to get into Cornell. Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>my SAT-- M 800 CR 800 W 700
gpa 4.0 unweighted, 4.6 ish weighted
5 SAT IIs
CHinese 800
US history 780
Bio Eco 780
Math 2c 770
lit 730
but of course, i know people with much lower stats that got in</p>

<p>isolabella,
thank you for your response. Your grades and scores are beyond impressive but can you tell me anything about ec's?
Do they really matter if your grades/scores are as good as yours?</p>

<p>ECs are going to matter a lot, regardless of numbers, especially seeing as each of Cornell's colleges looks for fit. Your ECs should mainly be aligned with your interests. </p>

<p>Your numbers don't need to be THAT high. Averaging lower mid 700s per section and being in the top ten percent of your class would probably make you competitive.</p>

<p>depends on how good EC is. friend of mine got into cornell for having 1 EC (volunteered in summer for about 30 hours in a hospital)
this majorly helped her since her grade was only 93/100 unweighted.</p>

<p>well, my stats aren't as great as isolabella's, but they were good enough for me to get in! (and they're not bad..)
SAT: M 780, CR 730, W 700 (2210)
SAT II's:
Math IIC 800
Chem 700
Physics 690
US History 650</p>

<p>gpa is 4.099 weighted, and this is at the very very very end of the top ten percent (96, where the cutoff is 100 - our school has 1008 students)</p>

<p>But this was because I was in a different country, so my grades transferred weird. And I worked pretty hard my junior year to make it into top ten % by the end of the year. </p>

<p>I applied to the school of engineering and the only ec that was relatively close to being math/science related was the fact that I am in Math Honor Society, which doesn't say much because you can sign up if you want :)</p>

<p>My other ec's involve dance, music, instrumental - both cultural and western. Also, I think the fact that I was a girl applying to engineering may have helped (??)...well this didn't help for other schools, though, so I'm not sure if it helped for Cornell. </p>

<p>I did have the standard volunteering hours, and nhs and all that, but most people have those, so I'm not sure that helped me compared to my ec's. I also had zero leadership. </p>

<p>Now that I think about it, I'm not real sure why I got in. Because there were a lot of people smarter than me that applied from my school and didn't make it. And they had ec's, too. </p>

<p>Maybe since I'm a girl? I have no clue. </p>

<p>Sorry, I don't know if this was helpful or not.</p>

<p>Based upon all of the postings, it doesnt seem like there is necessarily a gpa or sat score that necessarily mean you are in or out. Cornell seems to be a university that really does look at the applicantions as a whole. It seems like many accepted applicants are in the top 10% of their class (at least) and have SAT/ACT scores that are in the 90th percentile. In addition, most applicants seem to have taken challenging courses while in high school. Even if you meet or surpass those numbers, it doesnt mean you are in. If you are below those numbers, it doesnt mean you are out. You need to demonostrate that you have something to offer the major that interests you. If you are deficient in some way (scores/gpa) you need to make sure that you make up for it in other ways.</p>

<p>flixflex,
don't worry about gpas THAT much
Bs are definitely okay. i know for a fact that two people at my school got into cornell at gpas and SATs much lower than me
BUT they had great extracurriculars and that's what matters the most.
one of the people didn't get into UCLA or berk b/c the numbers were lower than the average applicants but private schools care more about you as an individual than test numbers.
as for me, my ecs weren't stellar. but i did show commitment in my ecs. i was in track for 4 years, not varsity but just chugging along; 3 clubs for four years and president of my own club that i founded as a sophomore.</p>

<p>Thank you to isolabella and all the others that responded to my question.</p>

<p>it depends on what major and what program...</p>

<p>NYS residents get more leeway when applying to state funded programs...</p>

<p>My SAT was a 1960 with a 800 on Math. Other two sections were sucky. I, however, had decent SATII scores.</p>

<p>2340 SAT I (780 on all sections. a bit surprised that math wasnt higher and writing wasnt lower) and 34s during the times I took the ACT
800 IIC, 800 USH, 780 Physics, 780 Chinese (which puts me at like sub 50th percentile lawl), 750 Bio M</p>

<p>keep in mind that my gpa was less than stellar. my essays couldve been better (serves me right for discovering the brilliance of desperate housewives, the office and extras in the middle of december when i started writing essays)
ECs: nationally competitive at quizbowl, and i have sciency ECs, with limited volunteering (<100 hours during entire hs)</p>

<p>Several others i know were admitted with lower test scores (typically in the 2100-2250 range), decent gpas (>3.80), and generally had a good variety of ECs, nothing overly spectacular though...our physics olympiad guy excepted. </p>

<p>yes, ECs are important, but I would definitely recommend applying to the college in cornell that fits you best (i did CAS/Eng in that order), because I recall someone with stellar scores applying to engineering and getting rejected, while a girl who recognized her strengths and managed to get in early despite modest scores.</p>

<p>with that said, I was admitted to CAS as a bio major. I visited, really enjoyed cornell, and after being especially captivated by the engineering school (lol i bailed on CAS stuff on cornell days), I am definitely considering cornell, along with berkeley and uchicago. Anyway, I am rambling on and on...so yea, best of luck next year. if you are in a similar situation and have questions for one who learned much after stumbling around the admissions process this past year, pm me.</p>

<p>err felix, dude, calm down. Cornell does weigh ECs very highly. Unlike Harvard or Princeton (which tend to be stricter on the numbers), cornell is a bit number friendly.</p>

<p>I'd say anything more than three SAT IIs is overkill--and take the ones you want to, don't bother taking lit, for example, if you hate reading.</p>

<p>Your SAT I and strength of transcript are ultimately the most important. GPA is very relative--from what I've heard about applications recently, they'll look at it, but more in terms of the classes you took and your class rank.</p>

<p>If you apply to Arts and Sciences the essay is especially important. ECs won't get you in, they only reinforce it. So choose one or two and really commit to them.</p>

<p>i got in with a 2060 SAT 1 with 750M 680CR and 630W
about a 3.8 uw GPA
sports were my only EC's
(u never know)</p>

<p>lol, i had a 3.9 gpa weighted. and did lots of ECs. i was in the 18% of my class, so thats not terribly impressive. but i did get 800M 740CR. but screwed with my sat IIs, [480 chemistry, 560 physics, 770 MathIIC]. people were extremely surprised i got in, so i think there's something with luck too :]</p>

<p>No offense on you, but what exactly happened to your SAT II scores?</p>

<p>me? i didnt study much.</p>

<p>Hey you! On the sidebar, click the one that says "stat profiles"
search, in the box on the right.
College: Cornell
Class: 2012
Status: Accepted/Attending</p>

<p>Not only do you get stats, some people actually fill them out past that and put ECs, etc.
Crazy.</p>