<p>Hi all!</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at a highly competitive school in New Jersey. I took the SAT II Math IC and IIC in middle school, and got a 770 and an 800 on them, respectively. I also took the
SAT I test in the 8th grade an got a 2200. Freshman year, I had one of the heaviest course-loads in my grade, taking Honors Precalculus, Honors Biology, and Honors Chemistry, while taking Honors wherever I could. However, I ended freshman year miserably, with a 3.51 UW/ 4.11 W. Being a glutton for punishment, I skipped AP Calculus BC over the summer, taking Honors Multivariable Calculus sophomore year, as well as AP Biology, Honors Physics, and a bunch of other Honors classes. I am probably going to get a B in AP Biology, and I might also get one in Honors Physics.
I am a tournament-level chess player, with a USCF rating of about 1520. I have been playing chess all my life. I received a gold medal at the NJ Science Olympiad state tournament. I was also part of the team that placed 1st there. I am an avid participant in my science and math clubs, having done well in Mandelbrot, AMC and PUMAC (Princeton University Math Competition). Is there anything at all that can be done? I project my GPA will be at around a 3.7 by the start of junior year. My weighted GPA will be much higher, though not outstanding. Do I need a reality check?</p>
<p>Im pretty far from being an expert (Junior also Striving for Cornell) But your acedemics seem very impressive. Most of your classes aren’t even offered at my school, and i may just be living under a rock but i’ve never heard of a freshman taking pre-calc. What major are you interested in? I think you are on a great track with your math and science accomplishments if thats what you would like to pursue. I wouldn’t worry about the GPA much, mine is a pathetic 3.4 UW with a projected 3.6-3.68 by End of senior year. All i can recomend is try your best these next couple years, don’t slack off. Many people have told me i have little chances (Which statisically i respect). But i know for damn sure that im going to submit my application reguardless of the odds, because i’ve worked to hard and wanted it to bad not to. You sound like your right on track, and even if it ends up not being enough, it’s the best you could have done. Whatever happens you should just be able to look at the experience as nothingless then spetacular. I know i’ve been taking this post into more of a philosophical direction, but too many times on this post i see people who are blatently deny eachothers dreams. So keep up the work, the character you build because of it should be what you are really striving for. Cudos and your accomplishments and be relentless with your aspirations.</p>
<p>Sorry for the stupid typ-os by the way. I wrote it quick</p>
<p>Read the CC thread of students accepted for the Cornell class of 2015. That will give you an idea.</p>
<p>if you do Early Decision, you will almost definitely get in. Regular, no one can tell.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, guys! I was afraid my GPA would kill me. I don’t know…</p>
<p>Your extracurriculars sound great!</p>
<p>In terms of your GPA, not sure about how much Cornell will care in light of all your other accomplishments. If you’re worried about it though, I’d suggest having your guidance counselor talk about it in his/her recommendation for you. Have the counselor mention that you’ve taken the most rigorous courses available and continued to challenge yourself whenever possible. Our school has an unusually strong weight for AP courses so taking challenging courses never really hurts anyone, but I know that other schools do not weight as much and it kills GPAs so I’m sure they take that into account too.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Most schools say they are wary of a really bright kid with a GPA that doesn’t match their test scores and other EC evidence of their brilliance. It leads them to suspect that you may not be willing to put in the effort to do your classwork. I think it’s certainly a mitigating factor that you’re taking very advanced classes for your grade level, and your ECs do definitely make you stand out. </p>
<p>So… why is your GPA low relative to your apparent ability? Is it because, as the admissions reps may suspect, that you’re not putting your full effort into your classes? Do you have organizational issues leading to you losing points for not handing things in on time? You may need to get some help on organizational and/or study skills to live up to your potential. </p>
<p>If you want to go to a school like Cornell, I think you need to demonstrate that you’re willing to put in the effort to pull off the A’s you’re clearly intellectually capable of. I’m not saying one or two B’s will kill your chances, but I do think Cornell will want to see an upward trend in your grades, and recommendations from teachers that speak to the fact that you take your schoolwork seriously and give your best effort at all times, and not just slide by on your brilliance.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Are you going to be applying to engineering? If so, then your chances don’t look very good with that <em>very</em> low (in terms of Cornell Engineering’s accepted students) UW GPA. However, your courseload is nothing to take lightly. Honors Multivariable sophomore year is very impressive. Of course, I’m not sure it was the smartest choice on your part. Don’t skip classes just to take more advanced classes unless you know you can perform well in them (speaking from experience :/). You’re going to need 1 more SAT 2, but that shouldn’t be much of an issue for you, considering the classes you’ve taken. You’re SAT score should be okay (assuming it doesn’t go up, which I doubt). Also, your unweighted GPA is the important one- Cornell won’t look at your weighted. And, what’s your class rank? </p>
<p>As for the sutff you do outside of school, it looks pretty darn impressive. USCF rating 1520? That’s pretty good. I used to play tournament level chess for 5 years (from 1st through 6th grade), but then I stopped. I just play for fun now, but 1520 is pretty respectable. One of my friends is around 1900 now, and he says that apparently university Chess coaches ask him about playing for them (not Ivies, but some pretty good colleges around where I live). You should definitely keep playing Chess. And if you do end up getting in and coming here, we should play sometime. </p>
<p>Do you have any leadership roles? That might be one of the things you are lacking. Do you do any sports or volunteer anywhere? (these aren’t necessary but I’m just wondering). </p>
<p>If you can get that UW GPA up and kill your PSATs, then I’d recommend applying for RSI. You seem like a person who would fit in perfectly, and if you get into RSI, your chances of admission to Cornell and almost any other top college have shot up immensely. Also, how have you been doing on AMC? Since you will have taken Multivariable by next year, then I would imagine that you will be doing very well in math competitions. Normally, the classes you’ve taken wouldn’t really matter on how you perform in competitions, but Multivariable just teaches you so much that you can easily bash Geometry problems (which pretty much makes up a huge chunk of the AMC and AIME) with Green’s Theorem (once you use it to prove shoelace) and especially geometry in 3 space since you will have extensively worked with functions representing geometric figures. And you can’t forget about using Lagrange Multipliers to worry about all those questions asking to minimize and maximize functions with certain constraints (you could use AM-GM for these…but that would require you learn stuff on your own, which takes extra work). I could go on all day about using Multivar to bash these high school math competitions, but enough with that, and you should definitely pick up a copy of the AoPS books (if you haven’t already). </p>
<p>I’m sure if you continue to be ambitious, you will do quite well when it comes to college admissions- just focus on getting that UW GPA up, and I would say you will have a strong shot for engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks for the epically thorough answer! I do decently well in math competitions, having participated in PUMaC, AIME and AMC. I don’t have any leadership positions, though. :(<br>
What’s RSI? It sounds intriguing.</p>
<p>RSI= Research Science Institute. You should definitely try to get some leadership positions in some activities that you’re interested in. Also you should try to get involved in research over the summer. </p>
<p>Sent from my iPhone 4 using CC app</p>
<p>To answer your question–of course Cornell is feasible for you. As are most or all of the other top schools. Your credentials are very impressive. </p>
<p>If Cornell is really a school that you are seriously considering, your credentials aren’t a problem. Convincing Cornell that it is your or one of your top choice schools is what you need to do.</p>
<p>Cornell regularly rejects applicants with your and better credentials because, I think, they did not make a convincing case that they were seriously interested in attending Cornell. </p>
<p>Do not consider Cornell a safety.</p>