<p>Junior:
AP Biology/Honors Physics: A/A (4)
Honors Spanish IV: A/A
AP European History: A/A (5)
Honors English III: A/A
Honors Algebra II: A/A</p>
<p>Senior:
AP Chemistry: A/A (4)
AP Spanish Language: A/A (5)
AP U.S Government: A/A (5)
AP English Literature and Composition: A/A (5)
AP Art History: A/A (5)
Honors Pre-Calculus: A/A
AP Calculus AB/BC: 5</p>
<p>ECs:
National Geographic Student Expeditions '12 (Creative writing and Photography; have strong recommendations)
Fingerstyle guitar (composer, professional level); Classical Piano
1st place in a few notable essay contests (National level)
Linguistics: Kalaallisut, French, Latin and currently learning Japanese.
Polar Research
Astronomy Club (President); Rocketry (taught myself)
Quill and Scroll (President) </p>
<p>ACT: 34
SATII: Literature 800, Spanish 760, US History 740</p>
<p>Ethnicity/Gender: White female
School: Private Catholic
Rank: School does not rank whatsoever
Final GPA: 3.82/4.2</p>
<p>Major: English Literature
STRONG essays</p>
<hr>
<p>I taught myself Calculus/Multivariable Calculus, and Rocket Science. I have a lot of ambition for mathematics. Unfortunately, I messed up prior to Junior year. I was immature, lazy, all that. I didn't take Algebra I in 8th grade when I could have. How stupid. I really made a rebound though and I have a fierce passion for learning. I'm not the same person as I was then. I've grown up.</p>
<p>PS: I'm taking a gap year in-case you're wondering. </p>
<p>Thanks! No one is applying to Cornell ED from my school. Will that help? </p>
<p>So since my freshman/sophomore grades didn’t really affect my GPA, they won’t really hurt me? My poor grades were mainly in math/science, which at the time, weren’t my strongest subjects. But I worked hard, and made them my strong subjects; (thus the 5’s on the AP Calc AB/BC exams.)
I mean I’ve seen people get in with 3.6’s…</p>
<p>Ideally, a lot of people from your school get into Ivies, but only you are applying this specific year (or at least are the only person applying ED). If Cornell has accepted people from your school in the past, that helps a lot.</p>
<p>Your freshman/sophomore grades DO hurt you. There are people applying who did well all 4 years. But you managed a great turn-around. I didn’t even pay attention to your AP scores, but those should help as well. I think AP score is better correlated to first year college performance than any other single statistic (at least from studies I’ve seen, and I’m guessing admissions knows this stuff). </p>
<p>And while you’ve seen many people get in with 3.6’s, keep in mind that’s not the norm. I’d bet many more are rejected with 3.6’s than are accepted. Also, admissions tends to have a good idea of the strength of schools and how hard it is to achieve a high GPA. So I’d venture to guess most people admitted with 3.6’s are coming from schools with particularly difficult curriculums. Class rank (or if you can at least estimate your percentile) gives you a better idea of your GPA in relation to admissions.</p>
<p>Hurt and destroy are very different. If they would destroy your chances, I’d have said you have a 5% chance of getting in. Instead, I said 60%. If your freshman/sophomore grades were as high as your junior/senior grades, I probably would have said 70%.</p>
<p>Cool, thanks. I had such poor grades in my freshman year primarily because I played the piano wayyy too much. I went home, and played the piano the entire night, and did my homework at like 1, if I felt like it. I really regret that.</p>
<p>Is this for ED next year? Just asking because I noticed you put senior grades on. </p>
<p>Anyway, you are going to be a very competitive applicant, about 51-60% chance for you getting in, in your favor. Personally, I think you will get in, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if you got rejected. Definitely a higher chance depending on how competitive and prestigious your “national essay contests” are, however that probably also means your application essays are going to be at least very good since you can write that well. I assume you’re applying to the College of Arts and Sciences?</p>
<p>Sorry but if you are not top 10% in your school, your chances can be hurt quite a lot, as ~90% of students in cornell enrolling are in top 10% of their school and the rest are generally URMs/ recruits. I’d say around 20-30%, as your new school also does not have a very good track record (It is not very “new”, because you moved in at your sophomore year. You are compared with their standards now). If they don’t rank and there is absolutely no way of finding out, then I’d put you at ~40-50%.</p>
<p>When you see people get in with 3.6s without hooks, it generally means they come from a reputed school - say for example, Thomas Jefferson where many kids can get into Cornell easily because they are a feeder school for great colleges.</p>
<p>There are very few people who apply who I’m surprised if they are rejected. Cornell is a very competitive school. When I predict your odds at 60%, I’m saying that if 10 people copy/paste your qualifications on these forums and apply, 6 out of 10 will be accepted, or 4 of 10 will be rejected. And for those 4 rejected, there will be no obvious meaningful distinction.</p>