I only have one school that requires it: Cornell.
Did you apply to A&S or Engineering?
Yes, I applied to their Arts & Sciences program.
With all due respect to everyone here to say “you should have read the requirements, and it is your bad,” I don’t quite agree with that. There are many first generation families (parents) who do not understand the college process. I knew my kids had to have at minimum 2 SAT IIs for college application. They were advised by their GCs to take those subject tests as soon as they were done with relevant courses. My kids started taking subject tests since 9th grade - math 1, chemistry, but not biology because the school didn’t teach their biology to SAT Biology. If a student only to look at requirements late junior year or early senior year, it may be too late to take those subject tests. If OP’s family is not as informed about the college process and her GC is also not in the known then I think it is understandable that OP missed it. If I were an adcom I would take that into consideration. Again, I would write a well crafted email to Cornell. OP has 4s from her AP exams and is #1 in her class. She doesn’t have much to lose by writing Cornell an email.
Your point is well taken, @oldfort , that some first generation families, and even some who are NOT first generation, do not understand or explore the application process in its entirety. Then there are those who are TOLD what they need to do and still don’t do it! But unfortunately the sad reality is, in this increasingly competitive application environment, a “mea culpa” just isn’t going to cut it. There are plenty of very qualified applicants (domestic, international, first generation, etc) who DO read all the info on the websites and dot their i’s and cross their t’s. And most colleges these days have ways on their websites to check to see if their application is complete. It is the student’s responsibility to follow up on this and check to see that their application is complete.
In some cases a student’s SAT2’s might be excused if there is a financial hardship (that is mentioned on a blog, and we cant link those) though the student in that case might have gotten a fee waiver (Collegeboard offers some fee waivers to each student) https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/fees/fee-waivers.
So, in this case, the student’s Cornell application to A&S is incomplete. And further calling it to their attention with an “oops I didn’t know” email just doesn’t seem too prudent.
Again, OP has nothing to lose with Cornell at this point. My money is if the OP could write a well crated letter to adcom, she may get a good outcome. I have turned things around by reaching out. Sitting back doing nothing is an opportunity lost. If OP is my kid, that’s what I would tell her. Not everything is so black and white.
Well, I agree she has nothing to lose at this point. Maybe the letter should be accompanied by a very large check 