Gonna try my best :), but how do you think I'll do?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>So....here we go.</p>

<p>Background:
Indian (help or hurt..dunno)
PA resident
- attended a school in the suburbs around Philly
- sends few grads to ivy league or top-tier schools</p>

<p>Classes:
All classes have been AP when available, or honors
Just a brief overview:
Spanish 1-5, with Spanish 5 being my Senior Year
AP Euro - 10th (only one I could really take, unless I wanted to do something like AP Bio instead of my architecture elective)
AP US History (4) - 11th
AP Eng Lang & Comp (4) - 11th
Senior Year Lineup:
AP Calc
AP Psych
AP Physics
AP Eng Lit
Honors Spanish 5
Architectural Drafting</p>

<p>My electives have always been gearned toward design and architecture, such as Photography, Senior DVD Production, Architectural Drafting, and Design and Illustration, but recently I'm considering switching my intended major to Psychology. So confused!</p>

<p>Grades: A's since 9th grade, except a B+ in photography :/ haha
Rank: 16/700, top 5%
GPA: 4.3 unweighted
SAT: CR-680, M-630, W- 650 for a total of 1960 the second time around. First time I had an 1860.</p>

<p>taking physics, math 2, n spanish in oct, expecting scores at least over 600</p>

<p>EC'S:
Model UN- attended New York Conference
Environmental Action Club
S.A.D.D./S.A.V.E.
Neshaminy Cares (officer) - volunteering activities
Debate Team - placed 6/32 in Southeastern Pennsylvania Debate League in LD Debate
World Affairs (officer)
National Honor Society (hoping to join Spanish NHS)
Attended Girls State ( selected through school, for a week, americanism/government program)
Attended RYLA (selected through school + local rotary, leadership program for 3 days)
Red Cross Volunteer
Salvation Army Volunteer
MS Walk
March for Dimes (aka march for babies) fundraise
Tour de Cure (diabetes) day volunteer
Work: Panera Bread associate from Dec 2007-present</p>

<p>Im hoping to apply to CAS with the intended major of Psychology. But I'm also very interested in Architecture, so I there is a chance I might try for CAAP. While my class rank and grades are high, my SAT's do fall on the low side. I enjoy writing both poetry and prose and have done well in this respect in my English classes. How much influence do you think my essay could have if well-written? </p>

<p>If you don't think Cornell is the match for me, do you have any other suggestions? Preferrably that have both Psychology and Architecture as an available major.</p>

<p>If this looks familiar....Ialso posted something similar in CMU's college discussion :)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your help !</p>

2

<p>What is your unweighted out of…</p>

<p>SATs too low.</p>

3

<p>I think it’s rare for an Architecture major to have another major. The demands and rigors of the course work are so high that many students work very hard and have little time for other activities. From talking with friends in the major, freshman year is an endeavor just from one design class that forces many students to spend countless nights in the studio. If you want to apply for AAP, then you have to show an intense interest in that field. Your SAT scores won’t matter as much as the portfolio that send them. I don’t know much about the application process, but I’m pretty sure they place a lot of emphasis on your secondary essays and portfolio. </p>

<p>I think your scores for CAS are probably a little low, especially for an Asian female. I would try to get the SAT score about 2100. However, your class rank is very high and with strong essays and recs, you would still have a shot.</p>

<p>At least at Cornell, I don’t think it’s feasible to double major in the two fields you are looking at. I’m not sure about other schools though.</p>

4

<p>Also, AAP is heavily portfolio based, not as much scores based.</p>

5

<p>Lollerpants, I’m not exactly sure what my UW GPA is. I’m going to call the school and find out shortly. And…portfolio :confused: What if I haven’t done enough in my elective Architecture Classes to have a portfolio? Also, they we’re geared more towards teaching how to use C.A.D. and applying it to our own drawing. I took one year of this in 9th, but I don’t have anything but my board model. In 11th I took 1/2 credit Architectural Drafting, so we didn’t get to do much designing of our own, other than the basics. </p>

<p>Meestasi, I’m not considering double-majoring in Arch and Psych, but I’m having difficulty choosing which major I would like to choose. Do you know what I mean? Definitely wouldn’t want to kill myself with both :P. I think you’re right about my SAT scores being a little low, but as long as I have the small shot I’m willing to go for it. Thanks for the little evaluation :)</p>

6

<p>You can make a portfolio without taking any relevant classes in high school, I promise! In fact, Cornell doesn’t really want to see CAD or drafting, but instead creative endeavors and conceptual thinking. I think most people who apply for architecture, unless they come from amazing art magnets, take the initiative and get the portfolio done outside of school. You definitely want a balance of in school and independent projects, as well.</p>

<p>As for applying as an architecture-psychology double-major, I’m not sure how that would work at Cornell. Wouldn’t you have to apply to either CAS or AAP? You could apply to both, but you’re going to only get into one, and you’re going to have to rank them by order of preference. </p>

<p>So, I would think about what is it you really think you want. If it’s architecture, get cracking on the portfolio because it’s really the deciding factor for that department. If it’s psychology, then work on maybe improving your SATs? I know that it’s a lot easier to move from AAP to CAS than from CAS to AAP, but I don’t know how much that helps.</p>

7

<p>60% chance of getting in</p>

<p>Remember: Base chance is roughly 20%</p>