Important Question for Cornell Alumns/Students (pls help a poor asian boy =))

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Basically, I have two questions: </p>

<li><p>Based on the stats I have listed below, and 2 great teacher recommendations (1 of them checked the “best in my career” box for every single section), can I get into Cornell IRL REGULAR decision?</p></li>
<li><p>I know that Cornell’s undergrad business program is currently outranked by those of UT Austin, Notre Dame, Upenn, etc, etc…according to Businessweek, they ranked Cornell’s undergrad business program 14th in the nation. Now…please consider that UT Austin is ranked number 9. Why is that? Should I just take the ranks as a grain of salt and more on? Can you tell me anything about the Cornell business program that I would want to know? Are there grading curves (I HATE these)?</p></li>
<li><p>If I attended the Cornell undergrad business program, and assuming I made excellent grades, could I expect a fairly good job after graduation? Possibly even in Texas (thats where I want to live)?</p></li>
</ol>

<hr>

<p>"Me: Asian Male (South Korean) from a low-income family (less than $30,000), in a moderately competitive Texas Public High School.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.55
Weighted GPA: 4.289
Rank: 27/698 (roughly 3.5%)
IB Candidate (Also taking Many AP classes)</p>

<p>SAT I:
Composite - 2310
Critical Reading - 760
Math - 780
Writing 770 (12 Essay)</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math IIC - 750
US History - 760</p>

<p>AP Stuff:
Sophmore Year: Biology - 3, World History - 3
Junior Year: English Composition - 4, US History - 5, Calculus AB - 5;
Senior Year: Government, Economics, Statistics</p>

<p>IB Courses: (I haven’t tested for any of them except for Math yet)
Math Methods SL - 6
Spanish 4 SL
Physics 2 SL
History HL
English HL
Computer Science 3 HL</p>

<p>Course Load remarks: Yes, I understand that for my SAT scores, my rank and academic GPA is very low, but there is an explanation (though not a great one). Basically, freshman and sophmore year, I was horribly addicted to this game, and I never did homework. I made about half A’s, half B’s in 9th and 10th grade. Starting 11th grade, I started actually “trying.” My Junior year, I made Straight A’s, in ALL IB/AP classes; my lowest grade was a 91 in AP Calculus. I know that my rank isn’t anything impressive, but many of my peers already know that given my academic capacity, I have the ability to easily be in the top 5 at my school, had I actually tried in 9th and 10th grade…I dont know if that matters…but there IS an UPWARD Trend in my grades. So far 12th grade, my lowest grade (on the 6 weeks report card) was a 97 in AP government…</p>

<p>EC’s:</p>

<li>Varsity Student Congress (11, 12) - Legislative Captain (12), State EGP Proposal Finalist, 2-time district finalist, Varsity letter, nominated for “Distinguished Delegate” award at State, and EGP Team of the Year (2006-2007)</li>
<li>Mu Alpha Theta (11, 12) - Vice President (12)</li>
<li>National Honor Society (11, 12) - Vice President (12)</li>
<li>Class Council (11, 12) - Senior Class Treasurer (12)</li>
<li>JV Tennis (9, 10) - won 1st place in some district tournaments; consolation prizes</li>
</ol>

<p>Clarifications: Yes, I am aware that I only participated in events during my 11th and 12th grade years. Once again, I don’t really have any good excuses, other than I was a lazy kid…But I made up for it by using popularity to win major posts by Senior Year–i hope this counts for something.</p>

<p>Volunteering/Community Service:

  1. Teen Court - Served as a volunteer teen attorney for 9th, 11th, and 12th grades. I have 2 years experience as a Lead Prosecuting/Defense Attorney.
  2. Church - For all 4 years of HS, I served as the bass guitarist for the church worship band. In Addition, I have also volunteered for 3 summers for Vacation Bible School, I serve on the Youth Leadership Council, and I have served as a Sunday School Teacher and TA.</p>

<p>Total Community Service Hours: More than 350.</p>

<p>Work Experience: 3 months, during the summer at a local Old Navy; I worked as a sales associate."</p>

<hr>

<p>The other colleges I am applying/have applied to: Yale, Stanford, UPenn, University of Virginia, Georgetown, University of Texas At Austin, Southern Methodist University and MAYBE Emory (I haven’t decided yet).</p>

2

<p>ILR isnt a business program. AEM is the closest to a business prog there is. </p>

<p>Maybe your talking about the johnson school?</p>

3

<p>Is this another case of azn warcraft/diablo addiction? lol</p>

4

<p>well, on the business week website, it says taht cornell does have a business program…</p>

<p>nonetheless, how difficult would it be for me to get into Cornell IRL?</p>

5

<p>AEM is the undergrad business program, not ILR. It is a very new program (only a few years old) so it’s not going to be ranked in the top 5 immediately (although I believe AEM is up to #10 in the new Business Week rankings) but perhaps sometime in the future.</p>

6

<p>ooo i see…well, is how competitive is it to get into there? and YES that is where i would like you apply…could u possibly chance me pls?</p>

7

<p>its #10 now and will be top 5 extremely soon. seeing as though its the only other undergraduate business program in the ivy league besides Wharton, i’d say its quite difficult to get in.</p>

8

<p>i’m taking a wild guess…was the game Socom 2?</p>

9

<p>AEM is notoriously difficult to get into, but if you’re applying early to ILR, the admit rates are the same for early decision and regular decision. Take that with a grain of salt, I don’t know how competitive each pool is.</p>

10

<p>your chances are about 21.3% - good luck!</p>

11

<p>even though my SAT I score is about 150 above the Cornell average, I still only have a 1/5 chance of getting in? </p>

<p>darn that sucks =)</p>

12

<p>Let me guess the games. It has to be one of these
Starcraft
Diablo II
Warcraft III
World of Warcraft
Guild Wars
Maplestory
Counter Strike (or any variant of)</p>

13

<p>freshman/sophomore year - world of warcraft got me. luckily, i had the typical asian parents who monitored the number of hours i was on the computer. so, i worked harder in school to improve my grades to show my parents that the game wasn’t affecting me at all =P</p>

14

<p>you need to do your research. ILR is not the official business major. AEM is the accredited business program at Cornell!
while your scores are high enough, AEM takes experience into consideration a lot. many kids here have interned at banks, own their own business etc. your GPA is low but upward trend is good. AEM takes about 15% a year. sooo good luck.
also we have good ibank recruiting. u wont find that at UT or notre dame.</p>

15

<p>Should I take bio for CALS? Cuz I mean AEM isn’t really ‘science science’.. Meh too late now haha, just say “no” so I feel better.</p>

16

<p>what?! i need to get an internship? but dude im only in hs…and im from a poor asian family..i simply didn’t have those kinds of opportunities..does that mean that i can’t get into the AEM major?</p>

17

<p>No you don’t. There’s no special requirements to get in, but your EC’s should focus on what you plan on majoring in. In your case, all your EC’s are just “typical” ones, such as NHS, and Service organizations. Serving as a sales associate is better than nothing though. ALso, your essays can help you explain your situation, and colleges will listen and understand. </p>

<p>However, the fact you were addicted to a game will not be a good excuse, for the GPA and the weak EC’s. That really shows irresponsibility to the admissions officers. But you definately have a good chance and it is possible you can get in.</p>

18

<p>what would constitute strong ecs?</p>

<p>i mean in my first year in debate at my school, i competed on the district and state levels, and got into the final round of competition at the YMCA Youth and Government State Conference in Austin (there were 3 rounds in total)…that has to count for something?</p>

<p>ehh idk…at this momment in time, i am just ridiculously tired.</p>

19

<p>tun u forgot the game DOTA</p>

20

<p>I don’t know about AEM, but for ILR I think the essays are the most important. My EC’s really weren’t that spectacular, nor were they ILR or business related at all.</p>