Give me some hope please?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi.</p>

<p>I'm currently a junior and seriously nervous.</p>

<p>um.. this post is gonna be about the college that I wanna get into.. Cornell.</p>

<p>here's my little story.</p>

<p>I came to this country exactly three years ago from Korea.</p>

<p>that was when I was freshman in HS, and I didn't know what was going on around me.</p>

<p>first, I couldn't speak English so I didn't understand the school/class instructions.
It resulted in bad grades (somehow managed to get As) GPA 3.87 (regular 4.0, honor 5.0)
also, I was not THAT sociable to make a lot of friends with limited language. </p>

<p>and so I became sophomore.
in freshman, I had to take Essentials and ESL classes.
to this point, I didn't know anything about honors roll.
but, I became more skillful in English and could take regular classes instead of ESL and essentials. (with 1 honor in math because I'm Asian.. haha)</p>

<p>in sophomore year, I did little better than I did in freshman year . (like 2 A-s) GPA 4.1</p>

<p>so I became more familiar with what was going on around me, and got to know most of the people in the school. I became friendly with my teachers and got into all honors and AP classes except for English class. In junior year, which ends in about a month, I'm expecting an A- from my Spanish class.. so expected GPA 4.8</p>

<p>Next year, I'm taking AP physics,AP lang&comp, AP world, AP Calc BC, Spanish H, English H</p>

<p>Since I was so busy learning the language (I had to learn Spanish and English at the same time) and adapting into the society, I realized the importance of SATs late in sophomore year. I took PSAT at the end of my sophomore year, and I got 147. in junior year, I got 200 (ha!)</p>

<p>I took 3 SAT2s Math 1c,2c, and chem (770,790,780) and got 2070 on my SAT1 (I recently took May one and hoping it would break 2200)</p>

<p>And for ECs.. I loved singing.
But you know how the Asian parents are.
"Study, don't care about anything else"
I did not professional lessons for singing, but I was in auditioned choirs and got the solo performances in few concerts.
I was involved in many clubs in sophomore/junior year.
I'm becoming the vice president of multi cultural club, and possibly Chinese club.
I was qualified for AMIE, and was in Science League..</p>

<p>What I really want to do is getting into Cornell.
but I realize that my GPA is lower than other applicants because there was no way for me to take honors classes in freshman and sophomore year. I see this kind of unfair because I did my best in all my classes, and earned what I earned with limited language.. (imagine being in ESL and Spanish class at the same time. I thought the teacher spoke in Spanish when actually he explained it in English)</p>

<p>If you are the person in the admission office, would you see me as a potential student in Cornell?</p>

<p>p.s. I'm doing ED cornell and EA Uchicago. I want to major in engineering, but I think I'm gonna try internal transfer after I do agriculture in Cornell. Do you think that's a good idea?</p>

2

<p>As long as you take the most rigorous curriculum avaliable at your school, colleges don’t care about your grades. You’ll be fine so long as you take the most rigorous curriculum.</p>

3

<p>If you don’t do any extracurriculars (singing, or whatever else you enjoy), you will not get into a top college. The Ivy League and all the best universities want well-rounded students who have lives outside of their studies. You have to explain that to your parents.</p>

4

<p>No, his parents are right. He needs to take the most rigorous courseload and that is it.</p>

5

<p>Not if he/she wants to get into Cornell. The Ivies have the pick of the bunch. Why would they choose a kid with good grades, a rigorous courseload, but no ECs, when they could choose a kid with good grades, a rigorous courseload, and ECs?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/578047-how-much-does-hurt-have-no-extracurriculars.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/578047-how-much-does-hurt-have-no-extracurriculars.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>I understand the importance of ECs
can you guys give me some advices for me to make my ECs better?
Also, do you think it’s a good idea to apply Cornell agriculture and then transfer into engineering?
Would the fact that I came to American in freshman year and I improved really well academically be a good thing? (3.8 -> 4.1 -> 4.8 -> 4.82</p>

7

<p>Upward trends are very good, so long as you have been taking the most rigorous courseload avaliable.</p>

8

<p>Cornell has seen lots of applicants like you before. Don’t worry so much about your exact GPA. Do consider taking the TOEFL. With only four years in the US, some colleges and universities will want to see your score. Even though you are doing well right now, it takes five to seven years to develop full command of Academic English. Whether you end up at Cornell, or another place, you should take advantage of any writing courses offered specifically for advanced English language learners like you.</p>

<p>If you like singing, stay in chorus for another year. With all of those AP classes, you will need a break!</p>

<p>The place to ask about internal transfer from ALS to Engineering would be at the Cornell sub-forum. Click on “Discussion Home” in the upper left of this screen, and then scroll down until you find it.</p>

9

<p>Just as a note: urmom is a ■■■■■… ignore his posts. </p>

<p>EC’s are very important in the college application process. I was accepted to Cornell CAS myself, and I’m convinced my EC’s played a large role. my advice, Get involved now. It’s never too late to pick up some stuff and get involved. </p>

<p>Also I wouldn’t recommend doing ED and EA… as that would break your ED/EA contract… (unless the EA notifies after Jan 1st that is)</p>

10

<p>I got 2070 on the SAT1 and had no ECs at all. I got into Cornell.</p>

<p>I did get 800 in Physics and Math2 on the SAT2, took the most rigorous courses I could and wrote an essay for them demonstrating how much I love physics. And I’m international, if that’s relevant.</p>

<p>As you can tell, I am not well rounded at all. So it is possible to get in without loads of ECs.</p>

11

<p>Your story reminds me of a girl in my school who got into MIT after coming to america in Sophomore year. It’s definitely possible</p>