My Chances for Cornell ED?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>EDIT: I meant Regular Decision (RD) in my title...</p>

<p>School:</p>

<p>College of Arts and Sciences </p>

<p>Background</p>

<p>Race: White
Gender: Male
Location: Eastern Rural Pennsylvania
Socioeconomic: Low-Middle Class
Parent's Status: Divorced
Hooks: None</p>

<p>-Unweighted GPA (4-point scale): 3.56</p>

<p>-Weighted GPA (5-point scale): 3.95</p>

<p># of AP/IB/honors courses:</p>

<p>8 AP classes</p>

<p>-Junior Year: US History (5), English Lang. & Comp. (5), Psychology (4)</p>

<p>-Senior Year: European History, Microeconomics, US Government, Literature, Statistics</p>

<p>My school only offers 14 APs and does not allow you to take them until Junior Year.</p>

<p>7 Honors classes</p>

<p>-Freshman Year: World Honors, Biology Honors</p>

<p>-Sophomore Year: English 10 Honors, American History 1 Honors, Chemistry Honors</p>

<p>-Junior Year: Pre-Calculus Honors, Physics Honors (AP wasn't offered at the time)</p>

<p>Class Rank/Size</p>

<p>-Rank: 33/424 (Top 8%)</p>

<p>SAT/ACT scores</p>

<p>-SAT I Superscore: CR - 690, M - 790, W - 740 (2220/2400, 1480/1600)</p>

<p>-Highest Single Score: CR - 690, M - 680, W - 740 (2110/2400, 1370/1600)</p>

<p>-SAT II scores: Literature - 660, Math II - 740, US History - 720</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>Marching Band: Lead Tenor (6 years)
-USSBA National Champions 2007, 2008, and 2010
-Highest score in USSBA history
-Many other notable awards</p>

<p>Percussion Ensemble: Member (5 years)
-Performed in the off-season of marching band</p>

<p>Wind Ensemble: Member (2 years)</p>

<p>Scholastic Scrimmage: Varsity Member (2 years)
-2nd place in our conference in 2010 and semi-finalists at IU tournament</p>

<p>ArtsQuest: Volunteer (1 year)
-One of the first volunteers after its completion in early 2011. I usher concerts and help out in other various ways
-100 hours</p>

<p>Interact Club: Vice President (2 years)
-Raised thousands of dollars for local charities through school events</p>

<p>Young Republicans: Founder/President (1 year)
-First subjective political organization in my school</p>

<p>Creative Writing Club: Officer (3 years)
-Creates an annual book composed of our members' works
-One of the founding members</p>

<p>PMEA District Band: Percussionist (1 year)
-4th best percussionist in the district my sophomore year</p>

<p>Fellowship of Christian Students: Member (3 years)
-One of the founding members</p>

<p>Blue Eagle Ambassadors: Member (1 year)
-Student Government</p>

<p>Principal Student Advisory Board: Member (1 year)
-Student Government</p>

<p>Philosophy Club: Vice President (1 year)</p>

<p>Other Random Volunteering:
-Church Volunteering
-Performed at Concert for Cancer to raise money for cancer treatment</p>

<p>Honors/Awards</p>

<p>-2007 USSBA Grand National Champions
-2008 USSBA Grand National Champions
-2010 USSBA Group IV National Champions
-AP Scholar
-National Honors Society
-High Honor Roll
-2nd place in Scholastic Scrimmage Conference
-Semi-Finalists at IU Tournament (Scholastic Scrimmage)</p>

<p>Recs/Essays</p>

<p>Recommendations: From the three best teachers I know (my three AP teachers junior year). Also, I'm expecting a good one from my counselor.</p>

<p>CommonApp Essay: About my marching band experiences and what I learned yada yada...</p>

<p>Cornell Supplement Essay: I haven't started it yet. This will be my biggest challenge...</p>

<p>Additional Information</p>

<p>I have an extreme upward trend from a 3.3 GPA my freshman/sophomore to a 4.0 GPA my junior year. I'm anticipating a 4.0 senior year. I had issues my first two years that I think my guidance counselor will be discussing in her letter.</p>

<p>Also, I'm sending in an Arts Supplement to show my percussion and composition skills.</p>

<p>I got rejected from Penn ED, so I'm assuming my chances are dim. However, I always I like to get opinions from people who probably know more about the school's admissions than I do...</p>

2

<p>I meant Regular Decision, not ED!</p>

3

<p>Bump please?</p>

4

<p>hey, sorry but I think all schools in Cornell will be a high reach for you. Even in the early decision round, all my friends who had way higher GPA, SAT, EC with good rec and all got rejected, and I was the only one (and oddly) who got deferred. Not saying that your stats are bad, you will probably go into some other good college, but Cornell might be a high reach for you.</p>

5

<p>All ivies are reaches for anyone. Dont listen to the above poster.
The upward trend is very attractive for ivies. You seem to be a very active person in your school. I think you have a chance Just make sure those essays are stellar, and you may get in.
Also, focus on one EC when you write about it.</p>

6

<p>Yea, I’m going to have to do some research on Cornell this week for my essays. It’s been so long since my visit, that I’ve forgotten what makes it different and appealing…</p>

<p>Also, does Cornell take the 500 word limit very seriously? My CommonApp essay as of now is 676 words. Should I go back and shorten it?</p>

7

<p>I am not entirely sure. 676 seems a bit much though. Id say they would be fine till 550ish, you might wanna make it more concise.</p>

8

<p>Well, I think it’s too late to change it since I’ve submitted my CommonApp to a school already. However, whenever I got people to proof-read it, they never complained about the length, so I guess my essay is well-written enough that the length doesn’t detract from the overall effect. I will make sure my Supplemental essay is within the limits though…</p>

9

<p>Final bump for justice</p>

10

<p>Your test scores are very good, but not outstanding. To me your GPA looks very weak (3.56/4 and 3.95/5) but your class rank is very high, so i’m assuming your school has very stringent grading policies. I think you have a decent chance. Definitely higher if cornell really likes your band awards. Good luck! hope to see you there next fall!</p>

11

<p>Thanks.! :slight_smile: I have one last question. I know Cornell only uses CR + M, but do they superscore that? It won’t make that much of a difference for me, since my highest single CR+M is 1450 but superscored it is 1480. Still, I’d like to know.</p>

12

<p>I’m pretty sure they super score SAT scores. cornell doesn’t look at SAT I writing much at all.</p>

<p>I’d say you have a decent chance, not a ‘great’ chance. however, given the random and unpredictable nature of college admissions, it is really hard to say for sure. One concern is your gpa and it looks like it is low for Cornell standards, but your class rank is good for sure. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>don’t let this discourage you. I got rejected from USC, NYU Stern, and UCLA (I was like what the hell?), but I got into Cornell, Duke, Northwestern, and U Chicago. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>It sounds like either your friends didn’t write good application essays, or Cornell got much harder to get into from when I applied… but yeah, that really sucks for your friends.</p>

13

<p>If I were to guess, I’d say reach, but not impossible.</p>

<p>The UW GPA looks a little lower than average, but everything else is int he range.The Math SAT is great, obviously. As another poster mentioned, your class rank looks higher than one often sees with your GPA, so it’s possible that your grades are just the result of the HS grading system.</p>

<p>In any event, it’s worth an application, I think.</p>

14

<p>dude I got in with a 1350 sat (730 W:( ) and a 3.5 UW GPA. Though I had a pretty rigorous courseload (9 APs) and got mainly A’s in them and 5’s on the tests, my objective stats lead me to believe that my essays got me admitted. For your supplemental essay, show genuine interest in attending cornell and explain how you will use its programs to pursue your interests (be very specific). I think if they see some enthusiasm they will admit you.</p>