<p>I'm currently a junior, and Cornell is my top choice, and I want to major in Japanese, and possibly minor in math. My stats are:</p>
<p>Lower class white male
1/~1000
4.0/4.76
720M
690V = 1410 (Just got my scores; I'm going to retake them before the new SAT)</p>
<p>Courses that count:
Spanish I, III (skipped Spanish II), Japanese I, II, Algebra I-Precalculus, AP Calculus A (one semester of distance learning)
Courses at UVA - Calculus I, II (I live in Charlottesville).
AP Euro - 4</p>
<p>I'm currently taking Japanese III, Spanish IV, US History at UVA and Multivariable Calculus at UVA, and will take another math course at UVA next semester.</p>
<p>EC's -
3 Years Ultimate Frisbee
5 years Tae Kwon Do (though I stopped a few years ago, so I guess this doesn't count)
Spanish National Honor Society (I've never been to a meeting yet, so I'm not sure how long I'll be in that)
Weightlifting
I plan to get a job as soon as I turn 16 (I skipped 8th grade)</p>
<p>I have an uncle who went to Cornell. I'll have great rec's, though I don't know if I got one from my uncle how much it would mean since I only see him once a year. As for my essay, I have overcome adversity, or at least that's what people are telling me to put in my essay (series of family tragedies/hardships in a short period of time), though I still don't think that would make a good essay topic.</p>
<p>If someone would kindly give me an estimation of my chances, I'd greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>You should emphasize your strong desire for Japanese major. That will separate you from general pool. Reasons for studying Japanese would be one good essay topic.</p>
<p>Your uncle's attendance/recommendation is not particularly relevant. Your class rank is obviously good. Total absence of meaningful ec's won't help. Work on raising your SAT's. There is no one who is drop dead certain at any top school, but you have a very good chance, esp. if test scores improve.</p>
<p>We-he-ell, I got my absolutely ungodly 440/8th percentile score back for the Japanese SATII. Man, oh man, I thought I did bad, but I didn't think I did that bad; I guess a lot of native speakers (and people with more studying than me) take it. I'm attending the Japanese Governor's school this summer, and I guess I'll take it again in November, but I really don't think I'll do a lot better. Will this absolutely kill my chances at Cornell, even if I have three great other SATII's?</p>