How are my chances to Cornell CAS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Hi, I am your not so average high school senior. I am interested in becoming a financial engineer when I grow up. I am fully aware that not many schools offer financial engineering as an undergraduate major. Therefore, I would like to find schools which will prepare me best for this demanding field.</p>

<p>I am an immigrant from Ukraine who came to the US at age seven. I moved from Kiev to New York to Connecticut.</p>

<p>My essay based on my family's background of engineering and science. I talk about how I find math to be the unifying subject in the crossfire of engineering and physics in my home.</p>

<p>The Colleges I am applying to:</p>

<p>Cornell (already Applied ED), MIT (Already Applied EA), Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, NYU, WPI, RPI, UPenn, University of Chicago, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, UCONN Storrs.</p>

<p>My GPA: 3.45 unweighted, 4.4 weighted (add .07 for AP, .05 for honors classes)
SAT(S): 800 Math, 650 Reading, 630 Writing
SAT II (S): 740 Physics, 740 Math II, 740 Math I (My lucky number!)</p>

<p>EC(s): Chief Mentor for Elementary After-School Program : Look after Elementary kids find stuff for them to do, also am in charge of other high school kids that help me</p>

<p>Capitan of Varsity Tennis Team for 2 years</p>

<p>VP of Mayors Youth Leadership Council - We work with the local government to make people more aware of Teen Dating Violence so that they can prevent it. E.G. We put up dramatic (fake) pictures in our mall (under agreement).</p>

<p>Thank You for taking the time to chance me
Best Regards</p>

<p>Kryptos</p>

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<p>Oh yeah… I forgot to mention that I build and rebuild computers… I help with the IT dept. at my school and I also hold a referral business for building custom computers in my community. I mostly do it for friends’ families. So far I constructed 17 computers from parts</p>

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<p>…you want to become a financial engineer and applied to Cornell Arts & Sciences and not Cornell Engineering?</p>

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<p>Yes, that’s right. My uncle who is a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs suggested it would be better for me to build an analytical / CS background at arts and sciences rather go into OR (Operations Research) at Cornell Engineering. </p>

<p>Anyways if I don’t like the program at CAS, if it doesn’t suit me then I can always transfer</p>

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<h1>bump??</h1>

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<p>sorry but those stats are nothing special for most of those top schools… idk how much the whole Ukraine thing helps you either (but it cant hurt). i’d say</p>

<p>MIT: dream
Cornell, UPenn, Columbia :low match
CMU depends on the school…</p>

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<p>Being an immigrant from Ukraine helps my cause because coming to the US at 7 years old, not knowing a word in English puts me at a bigger disadvantage than most “minorities”.
My GPA might be low but I have plenty of things to make up for it.
I didnt mention a lot of my EC’s because I figured only the important ones are worth mentioning</p>

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<p>Also I am thinking about applying to the mellon school of science for CMU</p>

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<h1>bump??</h1>

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<p>I don’t think you have a great chance… but you do have A chance. </p>

<p>dannygirsh- Did you really call Penn, Cornell and Columbia low matches? I don’t think that these schools are low matches for even the most stellar applicants. At best, for amazing applicants, these schools are MAYBE low reaches… and that’s pushing it IMHO.</p>

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<p>So an 800 in Math is not stellar or amazing…? As I said my GPA might be low, but i think you are weighing that too much.</p>

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<p>No, an 800 in math is neither stellar nor amazing, especially for someone looking to major in a math intensive field.</p>

<p>It just demonstrates that you are qualified for a math intensive study.</p>

<p>And GPA is a very important factor, as well as class rank. It’s a composite of all of your years of study and your dedication. If you aren’t in the top 10% of your class, your chances are even lower at Cornell.</p>

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<p>GPA does count for a lot.
Also, the SAT Math is 7-8th grade Math. It’s more about reading carefully than actually knowing Math. An 800 on the Math iic says a lot more.</p>

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<p>I know that GPA counts for a lot my GPA might be low but my weighted is 4.4 and im ranked 20/400 in weighted and 50/400 in unweighted … which means a lot of students in my school take easy classes… so i might not be in top ten unweighted.</p>

<p>and @ chendrix if 800 in math isn’t stellar or amazing how come such a low percentage of people get it. Explain to me why is it the perfect score. Am I misunderstanding some enormous concept here? If you are arguing that 800 in math is not amazing and that GPA is so important. How come people who cheat and play teachers pet in high school are considered amazing. But when it comes to standardized testing they are not worth anything?</p>

<p>Sure GPA is important because it shows how you perform in school. But does it show the true value of an individual. I dont think so.</p>

<p>Of course you can say that neither does the SAT, but at least it is taken under special circumstances where people are measured on their skill and not book-smarts or brown-nosing.</p>

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<p>You seem to be under the delusion that an 800 on the Math portion on the SAT marks you as a genius in Mathematics. It does not.
Yes, few people percentage-wise get an 800 on the Math portion of the SAT, but how many of them are applying to math-related fields? If you look at Cornell’s (or any other school you listed there) stats for their engineering schools, I guarantee you that 20+% of people got an 800 on the Math portion of the SAT.</p>

<p>I stress again - it marks you as a candidate, yes. But it is not difficult math - hardly any of it is even high school level math, if you look at it. The Math Level IIc is a much better judge of mathematical skills. 10% of people who take the level iic test get an 800. Does that mark you down as a math failure? No, of course not. But it doesn’t mean that you’re a “stellar” applicant, either. A 740 is the 73rd percentile for Math IIc, not even close to “stellar”.</p>

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<p>I am certainty not under that delusion. And your numbers that 20+% get 800 on math SAT are a little bit off. In Greenwich, CT (yes where I live) only 10 people got 800 on their math sat. In that city there are 2 public high schools and a lot more private high schools. 10 kids out of ~~10,000 recive 800s on Math SAT. I know what you are saying I agree with that. But I still think that an 800 in Math SAT certainty helps my cause.</p>

<p>I forgot to mention my courses in senior year.</p>

<p>AP Calculus BC, Independent Study in Linear Algebra, AP English, AP Physics, Independent study in Combinatorics, AP Economics.</p>

<p>maybe that shows my interest in math a little bit more. Both my independent studies are held with a teacher who graduated from Columbia U with degree in applied mathematics.</p>

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<p>Physics B or C?</p>

<p>I doubt they are off by much, if at all. Quoting your hometown doesn’t do much.
10 kids out of 10 thousand?
In my high school, the average sat is above a 2100 and we have at least 100/800 students who got an 800 on their math sat.</p>

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<p>he said 20+% in cornell engineering</p>

<p>but you’re CAS so
<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000176.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000176.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
more than 25% get 770+ according to that link… so 20+% sounds like a perfectly reasonable estimate considering 770 means that you missed like one question.</p>

<p>so your score doesn’t set you apart at all from other candidates :x</p>

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<p>Physics C. I did misread the question then</p>

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<p>Kyptos, an 800 in Math, level 1 or 2, is not remotely amazing and does not negate four years worth of grades.</p>

<p>This, <a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/SAT-Subject-Test-Percentile-Ranks-2009.pdf[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board, shows that Math 2 is statistically the easiest test to get an 800 on of all the significant subject tests. More than 1 in 10 students receive an 800.</p>

<p>As for your chances, those will be determined come Dec. 10.</p>

<p>But, I’d say that your immigrant status is a definite hook considering the language barrier you had to overcome. </p>

<p>GPAs mean nothing on CC because every school calculates them differently, so take comments on yours with a grain of salt.</p>

<p>And I also think that COE would have been a better match than CAS if you want to major in Fin. Eng.</p>