<p>hi there.. my ID is not in favor of asking help from Cornell ppl?... but i am going to ED Cornell anyway.
intended major:ｃｉｖｉｌ ｅｎｇｉｎｅｅｒｉｎｇ</p>
<p>FROM China/Singapore (Asian gal)
No GPA/Ranking in my School
most vigorous workload
SAT1 MATH 800 CR 690 WR 720
SAT2 MATH2 800 PHY 800 CHEM 800
TOEFL 112 </p>
<p>EC:
Initiated Community project (tuition for less advantaged children), leader
Treasurer of a Club
Chairperson of my boarding school
regular volunteer at welfare organisations 100hr+
chinese orchestra- competition silver
school librarian</p>
<p>awards:
australian math 1st placing
australian math olympiad distinction
national awards in debate, speech, drama</p>
<p>Most of your testing results are certainly impressive; the lower CR and W marks can be explained by your lack of english exposure in a foreign country. But without a GPA and a class rank, it's difficult to tell.</p>
<p>I would strongly urge you not to do ED at Cornell.<br>
My older son got into Penn and Stanford engineering but chose Penn because of fit. and my younger son is presently at Cornell and flourishing, mainly due to the fit of Cornell environment to him. I agreed with both of their choices because they chose the schools that best fit them. So you see I have no bias against Cornell or towards Stanford.
If Stanford is your first choice, especially to the extent as your screen-name indicates, you must give it a try. The worst thing is to be "stuck" at your second choice school for four years constantly wondering "what if" and live everyday in regret. (We have seen so many of those examples on this CC board.)
In the land of college admissions, there is no rhyme and reason. As long as your stats satisfy the threshold, you have a chance if you can convince the admissions committee you are a good fit.
Besides, as someone coming from Asia, I think you have a better chance at Stanford because of its connections to the Asian business and academic communities and geographic proximity. I have seen more undergrad from Asia there than any Ivy's. Cornell, on the other hand, accepts a lot more Canadians than any of its peers, possibly for the same reasons.
Another factor you should consider is the current economic crisis. It has taken a lot of well qualified students out of the applicant pool due to their financial situations. Top colleges like Stanford and its peers might become easier to get in than you anticipate the next two years. Whereas, it might be the contrary for Cornell. The applicant pool might increase due to the land grant and make it the most affordable top tier school for NY residents. As a result I think the selectivity will actually get tougher. Although this might not affect the school of engineering since I don't think it is a land grant school.
Another advise I have for applying seniors is that do not ever apply to any school ED just because it makes it easier to get in. Through the years of observing both my sons and their peers, I have learned that the applicants mature and grow so much in self-knowledge during the senior year. As a result, their first choice school often change by the end of the year. Both of my sons decided against ED and turned out to be a great decision for them. Both of them had a change of heart.
Ultimately, I truly belief that one will get into the school that's meant for him/her.
May I remind all of the applicants that "rationalization" is the first sign of "intelligence". If one were to choose a school for its intellectual training, start to demonstrate your potential to make the best use of it by employing a rational approach to your application.</p>
<p>thanks all, and bioeng （for your long post!!)
really appreciate it. </p>
<p>I will not apply for any financial aid.</p>
<p>I really felt it is safer, so i applied cornell. anyway it is already a top school. come on, ivy league, what else can i ask for. . . maybe i still not do dream stanford hard enough and this is why i ED cornell? I really love the engineering programme here at cornell.
Well, frankly speaking, i dream stanford because it is ranked higher, more renowned in a way. rather shallow?...haha</p>
<p>the only negative thing for me is its supposingly high suicide rate. but i am sure i will not do so. i am positive:)</p>
<p>
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the only negative thing for me is its supposingly high suicide rate. but i am sure i will not do so.
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</p>
<p>Cornell's suicide rate is well below the national average. It's an unfounded myth. Cornell is widely acclaimed to have one of the best counseling services in the country. The only reason why Cornell is so noted for suicides is because there is a rather dramatic option available.</p>
<p>Stanford has more Asians because it's more well known in Asia and in the Asian-American community than most other elite universities, so more Asians apply, and then attend. Not because of any admissions advantage. Women do receive an admissions boost for Cornell Engineering though.</p>
<p>I too considered EDing to Cornell, but decided against it for most of the reasons in bioeng's post (which made me feel much better!). I totally understand the desire for security...ED Cornell actually still calls to me for the same reason you cite: is my desire for HYPSM fueled by perceived prestige?</p>
<p>bioeng: It's very interesting how yur sons chose (very slightly!) less prestigious programs over more famous ones - UPenn over Stanford and Cornell AEM over Wharton! I myself suspect Cornell Engineering is actually the best fit for me, but HYPSM all have some combination of more money, research, undergraduate attention, and prestige, so it's hard to see myself choosing Cornell over any of them if given the chance. I mean, liking a place better can't override smaller class sizes or whatever, right?</p>
<p>Sarahdolly, Stanford does have a better ranking on paper than Penn. But the ranking is greatly affected by the size of the school. Stanford has a much bigger school of engineering, so it has a larger faculty, more researches and published papers and grants, etc. But it does not necessarily equate to better education or teaching quality. As long as an engineering school is accredited by the ABET, it has met the required standard of undergraduate engineering education.
With that said, here are the reasons for my son to choose Penn:
1. We are from Stanford's backyard, he wants to experience a different culture, environment and attitude to life other than the laid back atmosphere in California and learn to be more independent. Essentially rounding out his experience and personal growth.
2. He is also interested in possibly having an engineering related business career. ( As you know, there is really a glass ceiling to a pure engineering career.)
3. He likes the smaller engineering classes at Penn.
4. With Penn, he can take classes at Wharton. As a matter of fact, it turned out Penn engineering school started a Minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship in co-op with Wharton for its engineering students while he was a sophomore. He ended up to be in the first class of that program and got to take all the upper division Wharton classes such as VC, Marketing and entrepreneurial management and product design and development from lab to market etc. type of very interesting classes without having to be encumbered with the boring lower business classes such as accounting, business stat. and such. Eventually he graduated (May, 2008)with a B.S.E. in Bioengineering, a second Major in Economics, B.A. from the College of Arts and Science and a minor in Engineering entrepreneurship. (All in four years). As a result, he is now working in an advisory firm specializing in emerging technologies, very happy. (Btw, he was the only undergrad. they hired, all others employees are either MBA's or PhD's., I think mainly due to the all-roundedness of his training. )
So I must say his instinct was right and everything worked out.</p>
<p>As for my younger son, He chose Cornell because he was tired of living under big brother's shadow all his life. He likes the strong biology emphasis in the AEM program and the students population and atmosphere. Ultimately he discovered the Science of Natural Environmental System major at Cornell and now he is double majoring in that and AEM. He hopes he can do something related to energy or environment related business in the future.</p>
<p>Again, both of their experiences demonstrated to me that if one truly listens to one's heart and not let all the meaningless noises such as rankings pollute your thinking. Right things will happen in your path.</p>