<p>Asian (Korean) male
East coast
School: Very competitive public school, usually sends 10+ kids to ivies and many more to top 50 schools every year
Rank: School doesn't report
GPA: 3.4 UW (upward trend)
SAT: 2220/1470 (retake for a 2300+?)
APs up to jr year: Lang, Chem, Bio, Calc AB, Enviro. Got all 5s.
SAT II: 800 Math IIC 800 Chem
Sr year APs: Econ, Calc AB, stat, literature, psych
ECs/volunteering/awards:
-Award winning solo violinist, played for 10 years, competed in many competitions and played in Carnegie Hall, won international competition in Paris once, tutored since freshman year, passed highest level of ABRSM exam with distinction
-Chamber orchestra 4 years
-Hip Hop Club 2 years (president both years)
-Academic League 3 years (varsity)
-Unpaid internship at Deutsche Bank
-Volunteer in nursing home 100 hours
-Water sampling 50 hours
-AP scholar with honors</p>
<p>Will I stand a chance at all with such a low GPA? If I get a 4.0 1st semester sr year and a 2300+ on the SAT, will that help a lot? Will applying EDII help a lot too? Thanks. I'm also applying to the business schools of UMICH, UNC-CH, NYU (possibly), CMU, and UCB. Will I still have no chance for those too?</p>
<p>Honestly, with all of these “Should I bother” threads, I think that the same answer applies to each and everyone of them.</p>
<p>Look, SAT and GPA is IMPORTANT, but really, fit is even more important. Now, I’m not saying that you can be failing and have interest and still make it in, all I am saying is:</p>
<p>IF YOU LIKE THE SCHOOL, THEN APPLY FOR IT.</p>
<p>Case in point: My friend, who is in CALS now, got in with a 1600/2400, but he got in because he demonstrated a lot of interest in his particular major before. (took many courses at local CC regarding that interest, etc)</p>
<p>^^ The OP should keep in mind, though, that AEM is more selective than CALS in general and that getting in with a 1600/2400 is very rare, since Cornell still cares about its rankings and will not accept more than a handful of such students. In short, GPA and SAT do matter, but it looks like it’s possible for you to get in, so why not try?</p>
<p>^ true. In fact, I would say with demonstrated fit, there is no doubt that you WILL get in since that most people have reasonable stats. (and however inchoate this is, it is true for the majority of the people)</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, GPA is far more important than test scores for cornell. What I’m afraid is that I’ll get rejected outright because of my 3.4. Has anyone ever heard of cases where someone (unhooked) got in with <3.5?</p>
<p>Also, do you think it’s a good idea to just apply to CALS and transfer into AEM?</p>
<p>Your best hope is that the competetiveness of your high school will outweigh your comparitively low GPA. I don’t know if applying to CALS is any advantage for an out-of-state applicant. CALS seems to reserve many spots of lower than average stat-wise applicants for children of farmers who work closely with Cornell Cooperative Extention throughout NY state.</p>
<p>^yeah my school is very competitive and has grade deflation. However, I honestly don’t know if that’s really enough to offset my GPA which is far below cornell’s average.</p>
<p>Your GPA is low, and in my experience, GPA matters more than SAT scores. That said, especially since Cornell is likely familiar with your high school given how many students it sends to Ivies each year, it will know exactly what your GPA means and whether or not yours is too low. Your EC’s are incredible so that’s definitely a good boost as well. It can also matter whether or not your AP scores were 5’s and 4’s (esp. 5’s to compensate for GPA). While APs technically don’t count, I’m sure Cornell is aware of the research that show AP scores have a pretty significant correlation with college performance. </p>
<p>Bottom line, apply. Don’t get your hopes up, but your chances aren’t horrible.</p>
<p>Plz apply, but dont get discouraged if you dont get it. You can always transfer if Cornell is the school you know you want to attend. Let me tell you, you will not regret attending Cornell, and the AEM program is awesome. One of the best. So think about it, apply, and work hard and fight for whats best for you!</p>