My chances of getting into Cornell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

I’m trying to assess my chances of getting into Cornell. Please let me know what you think. I’m an international student from India. My SAT score is 2130/2400(97th percentile). The break up is 780/800 in Math(99th percentile), 680/800 in Critical Reading(94th percentile) and 670/800 Writing(94rd percentile). My essay score was 8/12.

My SAT subject test scores were 800/800 in Math level 2(85th percentile). 780/800 in physics(84th percentile) and 750/800 in chemistry(73rd percentile).

My TOEFL iBT score is 116/120. The breakup is 30/30 reading, 30/30 speaking, 28/30 writing and 28/30 listening

My scores in my Secondary School Leaving examinations (Conducted by Indian government) were 97/100 in Math. 99/100 in English. 99/100 in Science. 96/100 in French. 90/100 in Social Studies.

My predicted scores for my Higher secondary leaving examinations are 197/200 in Math. 193/200 in Physics. 191/200 in chemistry. 189/200 in computer science. 191/200 in English and 191/200 in French.

A score above 65% in India is considered first class and according to www.foreignstudent.com a score above 65% in and Indian exam is equivalent to US grade A. So basically my GPA is approximately a 4.0 unweighted.

2

What college are you applying to at Cornell?Your EC’s?Have you written out your essays?Are they good?
Do you need aid?

3

College of engineering. Mechanical engineering major. The essays have come out pretty well.
I interned at Times of India(journalism company) last year. I’ve been writing articles for their newspaper ever since. I’m pretty confident that my recs will be really good. Students at my school are divided into 4 houses and I was captain of one of the houses. I’ve participated in and won theater competitions, debates, stand up comedy events and quizzes. Most of these were intra city events between students of many school

4

Cornell is need blind for all students so it doesn’t matter

5

^^ Cornell is need blind for international students but they have very limited funds for international students so they will not guarantee that they will meet demonstrated financial need if you are admitted. After they decide who they want to admit, they go back over their applications to decide how much financial aid they want to award. Please don’t assume you will receive significant financial aid if you need it and you are admitted.

6

Your stats are great but you’re from India, and I know they are many top applicants there. my advice would be to apply to more LACs(Grinnell,Williams,etc) as they receive less intl applicants but still offer great aid. Finally don’t believe everything you hear on CC, you’re more than just test scores.

But don’t get to obsessed with Ivies, plenty of other great schools like Duke, Rice, Emory, will be pleased to add you to their freshman class with FA.

Good luck!.

7

Thank for your advice and wishes. I haven’t across a single LAC that offers engineering

8

Swarthmore, Bucknell and Lafayette are LACs that offer engineering. There are others. Google it.

And almost all well regarded LACs offer the 3-2 programs where you spend 3 years at the LAC and then transfer to another school for 2 years of engineering. For example: https://www.grinnell.edu/academics/areas/physics-astronomy/3-2-engineering

9

Cornell is a very good school, so it is really hard to assess whether someone will get in or not. Your stats are very good and very competitive, but so are many other people’s stats. All I can say is that you have the possibility of getting in. You are competitive enough to be considered, and that is the best anyone can hope for when applying to a school of Cornell’s rigor!