<p>I had applied early to Cornell's College of Engineering, and was rejected.</p>
<p>I have a 2320 (800M, 730CR, 790W) on the SAT I, 800 on Math II and 720 on Physics. I'm an international student.</p>
<p>Major Awards: I am a Google Science Fair finalist for Asia Pacific and will be representing my country next year at the Intel ISEF. Research is probably my strongest activity, but you can see the others in my previous threads.</p>
<p>A rejection from Cornell was very disheartening - I had my heart set on the college for quite some time, and everyone kept telling me that I had a great chance. Not only did I get rejected, two people from my school got accepted - one for CoE and the other for CAS. (With lower standardized test scores, non-existent 'demonstrated interest' but marginally better junior and senior year grades). Since I had spent almost three months on my essays, I doubt that they were the reason for the rejection. If grades were the reason for rejection, it is frustrating - 90 percent of the schools in my city inflate students' grades for the junior and senior years if they are applying abroad, while my school does not.</p>
<p>I wanted to know if I should continue applying to the colleges I was considering before - is there even a slight chance that HYPS or any of the other Ivies would admit me, considering that I've already been rejected from Cornell, which many consider to be the easiest Ivy to get into? I have heard of people being rejected from all other Ivies and being accepted at Cornell, but I have never heard of someone being rejected from Cornell and accepted at another Ivy/Stanford. While I do have safety schools on my list as well as a few match schools, I really am hoping to get into a top tier CS program with significant aid. </p>
<p>What's life like after a Cornell ED rejection? Should I still have hope for the other colleges?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Being international means it’s much harder to get in.</p></li>
<li><p>Your ECs are OVER-THE-TOP good.</p></li>
<li><p>I sincerely hope you will recover soon.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Now. Although this sounds harsh, please let this be a siren for your apparent lopsided life…I’m sure you would have easily got into Cambridge or Oxford…but in the U.S., honestly you cannot afford to be lopsided. I’m sure you do much more outside of computing, but you haven’t shown it to the colleges. This is extremely dangerous. Do not let this be your tripping stone.</p>
<p>Thanks for the inputs. I’ve heard quite often that colleges want a well rounded student body and not well rounded students, and that applicants with a definite interest/passion throughout their application stand a better chance than those who are average at several activities. </p>
<p>However, I do have some other activities which I have also mentioned in my application, which include interests and events in entrepreneurship, a lot of work experience and an online disaster tracking system that I worked on as part of an NGO. Do you still think I have a shot at other selective colleges?</p>
<p>If you are an international student who is also applying for financial aid, your chances of admissions are very, very low. You need to look for some colleges where they are willing to pay for you. Also if you are applying from a country with a lot of students coming to college in the US, your chances go down even more. Hopefully you have schools on your list that are not selective. As impressive as your stats are, and impressive they are, when it comes down to paying for them, schools that can get those stats without paying which is the case with selective ones, it’s not going to fly.</p>
<p>What I meant was that they don’t want students with only ONE passion. Since you mentioned that you have other ECs, I’m very relieved to hear that.</p>
<p>Now it is very very weird that you’re rejected by Cornell. Based on your stats I fully expected a deferral. When you’re looking for financial aid, it DOES NOT directly AFFECT your CHANCES. What it does though, is that it becomes a FACTOR in your admissions (not factor as in x0.8…). So if you’re a borderline accept, and you don’t require financial aid, you will get in. But if you’re borderline and require financial aid you will NOT get in. Thus financial aid only detrimentally affect SOME candidates.</p>
<p>I’M VERY NOT SURE WHAT IS WRONG! You seem like such a strong candidate! Here are some possible suggestions as to why you are rejected and not at least deferred…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A teacher sabotaged your recommendation? (Ticking “I have reservations” is a siren)</p></li>
<li><p>Your essay has gone horribly wrong? (you know, there are many intricate details that make or break your application…like “I grew up in a violent world, and I became like that, but now I changed”…)</p></li>
<li><p>GPA of 3.9 is not bad at all! Maybe your high school sent a wrong transcript?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Anyways I’m not sure why you’re rejected. I feel very confused. You’re almost like that MIT applicant who built a nuclear reactor but got rejected.</p>
<p>There’s is a possibility, though, that they suspect you of lying. Some universities check whether you lie. They may contact organizations and ask, and if the organization has a bad memory etc., usually the university will contact you and let you submit evidence. Perhaps you forgot to check your e-mail? Or maybe you forgot to submit something important? Or maybe you did not fulfill one of their requirements for admission?</p>