@GMTplus7 Unfortunately, everything you’re saying makes perfect sense. I guess I should just get rid of my dream of wanting to ED Cornell. Oh well.
@wormholes Your Unweighted Gpa is a little low, but your ACT is excellent. Which school are you applying to? Some need SAT 2s as well. Fit, enthusiasm, good essays and letters of rec are also very important.
Have you visited? Do your homework and include specifics in yourcessays on what you could contribute to the campus.
There’s no exact formula and it’s hard to predict, so just do the best you can. Read college confidential official ED threads so you can see who got in and who didn’t.
Best of luck to you.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, as they say. Apply to several schools you would be happy to attend. It will all work out.
@Renomamma Yes, I hope to get it up to at least a 3.78-3.80 and my weighted to at least a 4.33-4.35 by the end of the year. Do you think that would improve my chances? I also took a very rigorous course load (Will have completed 11 AP’s and 4 honors by end of junior year.)
I plan to apply as a biology major, most likely to the college of arts and sciences, second choice CALS.
My SAT 2 scores are: Math II - 770 and Chemistry - 720. I hope to improve those a bit.
Also AP test scores of: World History (4), Chemistry (4), Psychology (5), and Calculus AB (5). I hope to do well on the 6 I take this year and get National AP Scholar. I am also hoping that I will be a NM Semifinalist (PSAT 224). Would these awards help at all?
Do you think, based on these stats, and hopefully good essays, supplement, and LoR, I would have a chance at Cornell (ED)?
I will definitely apply to other colleges as well. Thank you so much for your help.
Your SAT 2s are good, no need to retake. Spend your time doing something else instead.
Bringing up your gpa and continued challenging courses can help.
You should have a good chance, but there are never guarantees. I wish I could say more. You’re off to a good start.
@Renomamma I understand, thanks very much for the help. I often fear I’m not doing well so encouragement is always a plus.
bump
@wormholes did you say in an earlier post you haven’t visited Cornell? If that’s true, you should try. For one, I would never ever recommend applying ED to any school you haven’t visited. There are vibes about places you can’t get from pictures and descriptions. Also, if your parents aren’t willing or able to pay for a college visit, they may not be willing to pay for that college. You know when you apply ED, your parents have to sign an agreement form.
We took a trip to Boston and New York to visit several college with our D the summer before senior year. It was then that she fell in love with Cornell. …and was able to formulate better opinions on her other choices. College tours are important, imo.
I keep seeing people say you have “slightly higher” chances of getting in ED. It’s more like double the chances if you do the basic math.
I’m not saying OP should apply ED, especially since he/she has not visited and parents are not on board. But ED brings a considerable advantage to the table.
@Renomamma I have not visited Cornell yet. I hope to do that this summer (Similar to your D, it will be the summer before my senior year.) I agree that they’re important, and I hope that a visit will perhaps make my parents more open to Cornell.
ED definitely offers a great advantage; however it is a large commitment so I’ll definitely visit before ED’ing.
@Renomamma If I did somehow convince my parents that ED’ng Cornell was worth it, do you think I should give it a shot? I don’t want to waste $75 and hours upon hours on the app if my stats aren’t up to par and I don’t stand a chance.
It appears to double the chances, but you must consider on ED they take the athletes, legacies, AND the “gotta haves”, meaning anyone other ivy’s might poach if they are deferred to RD, especially high stat URMs.
So in the end, the chances for “not those people” are only slightly better.
@wormholes - what I see (your stats) looks good (although GPA could be a little higher). The rest - your essays, letters of rec, application, fit…those are up to you. Do you have anything that stands out that is unique? Colleges like to mix things up so everyone is not the same. My daughter had lots of ECs and submitted a music supplement, as well as getting some very good letters of rec (one from a college prof). In answer to your question, YES I think you have a shot. But I can’t see everything that would go into your application and I’m not in admissions.
If you decide to apply RD, make sure you do your homework on Cornell so your essay sounds like you have investigated their programs and how you could contribute to Cornell (some people make the mistake of writing how the college has much to offer them, but I was taught that it’s more important to write about what YOU can OFFER them in your essays.
@HRSMom - I see your point. Still, my D was none of those. Just a strong student (from a fairly underrepresented state).
@wormholes - also Cornell allows you to both ED AND EA (early action) and many don’t allow that. So, my D had several other acceptances in December as well…(of course you have to decline them and withdraw other applications) if you get accepted. But, nice to know.
@Renomamma Thank you! I hope to pull up my UW GPA to a 3.8 by the end of junior year, which will be a lot better. I have been singing vocal music for over 12 years - could that perhaps be something unique that I could use for my supplement?
I’ll definitely research a lot and make my essays very solid.
Also, when you say Cornell allows you to ED and EA you mean it allows you to EA to other schools, correct? Just confirming 
You can EA to other PUBLIC universities. No private universities and no SCEA or REA(Selective early action and restrictive early action)
^yes.
You can EA to other universities (no SCEA though). I never heard about private vs public. My D did both.
^actually i didn’t mean to exclude private my bad. some people did ED and EA to privates which I think is fine
@CCSenioritis @Renomamma Thanks for all the info! I’m so worried…I can’t sleep at night. I’m afraid no college I want to attend will want me :(( :((
Cornell hadn’t admitted any students from my D2’s international school for over 5 years because on one year when they admitted 5 students, no one matriculated. Even though D2 was a Sal at her school, which meant she had a good shot at many top Ivies (based on their school’s admission record), she had to apply ED to give her a better chance. She was the first one to be admitted from her school.
Cornell and Penn fill large percentage of their class through ED, and it is not just for legacies and athletes.
@Renomamma I suspect your D would have been accepted either RD or ED then:)
While generally the proportion of kids taken in ED is much higher than in RD (sometimes half the class), the competition is much more fierce in ED!
Congrats to your D!! That is fantastic!!