I know this is a reach but what do you think my odds are?
I want to study mechanical engineering
I come from a Upstate NY prep school with decent track record in the past with Cornell ~%20+ admit rate.
I have a 4.15 weighted GPA 3.6 unweighted.
3 APs (Calc AB, Psych, Macro)
Mostly honors classes.
In the top %15 percent of my class (in a very competitive class pool).
Expecting a ~1380 on the SAT (could not submit it if less).
On Deans’ list all 4 years
Independent study senior year, Java Programming, then Arduino based actively stabilized 4ft rocket with self designed servo gimble and programming.
Alpine ski racer competing on a national circuit (would go D2/3 if Cornell had a team but just club)
Team captain/driver of schools’ FIRST robotics team (member for 3 years)
no internships available in rural upstate NY (besides serving at a restaurant)
essay is tight (about FIRST experience)
very good rec from robotics
I know this is a reach for me but thanks for your opinion!
If your school has a history of sending students to Cornell, then I highly, highly recommend speaking to the college counselor (or guidance counselor or whoever in-charge of college counselling at your school,) as they’re the best person to assess your application in-relation to previous applicants: no one on CC knows the difficulty of your school better than your counselor.
A 1380, even assuming you received a 680 on english and a 700 in math, wouldn’t put you above the 25th percentile for math, which is likely more important to Admissions as a prospective engineering major. I wouldn’t submit the score unless it’s within the 25th-75th percentile ranges posted on the Cornell Admissions page, and preferably on the higher-end, as Engineering students tend to have higher test scores than the general student body at most schools.
Cornell Class Profile: https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/admissions.cornell.edu/files/ClassProfile%202023b.pdf
Keep in mind that Cornell Engineering is NOT funded by the state of New York, so there’s no benefit to being in-state: you’ll be competing for the same number of spots as everyone else in the world. Your UW GPA would likely be on the lower-end: you’ll be competing against other applicants with stronger GPAs and more AP classes. Same for class-rank, of the students submitting it, more than 80% were ranked in the top 10% of their class (and the rest likely had hooks or came from extremely competitive schools.)
However, if Cornell’s your top choice (you would 110% attend) and you can afford the school if admitted (run the financial aid calculators if applicable,) then apply, but apply WIDELY (to safeties, matches, and reaches) and hope for the best.
Hope that helps! Good luck with admissions!
Thank you this is some very helpful info!
I’m at a cross roads between reaching for Cornell and paying the steep tuition (likely some debt), powering through tough classes and in reality giving up ski racing, or going to Clarkson University, which guaranteed 15k+ Merit scholarship plus heavier financial aid ending up ~25k cheaper per year and would also be able to ski D3 as well. (Even though Clarkson is an admissions safety for me)
@Skier21 There is a limit of ~5-7K/year (for dependent students with parents who are eligible for federal loans) that students can take from the federal government. If you do not qualify for financial aid, I highly recommend that you talk to your parents regarding how much they are willing to pay for your college before applying ED, which is a binding decision. Even if you do qualify for financial aid, keep in mind that the calculator is an ESTIMATE, not a guarantee of aid.
If Clarkson is a much better school financially, I would recommend that you apply RD and decide then, with your parent’s approval (as they’ll likely be paying a good portion of your college costs in-order to attend Cornell; most loans (IIRC federal loans don’t, but there is that limit you yourself can take) require parents to co-sign, which basically means they’ll have to pay off the loan if you don’t.)
Hope that helps!
UPDATE
I have now failed two AP AB Calc tests (first tests failed since freshman year). Even if I manage to turn my grades around and get a B on my application for first trimester I’m assuming this is the nail in coffin in my already far reach application to a school with a less than 6% admit rate for engineering males
Now that you mention the 3.6, that the only stem AP is calc (the other two are not cores, not like English, history, etc,) and 1380, I do think you need to ensure you have the right back-up targets. If you’re being recruited to Clarkson, fine, maybe go for the bird in hand.
Everyone focuses on stats, but it takes more. One thing kids miss is that this level of adcom will be looking at the transcript for course choices (what they show of your thinking and the sorts of challenges you take on.) And those actual letter grades. We’d need to know which courses got less than an A. If it’s other math/science, oops. If it’s foreign lang or some misc course mandated by your hs, not so ooops.
As for the calc tests, how you rebound is critical. A great LoR combined with improvements can certainly help.
But see how this parallels your other thread(s) about fit? You’re hitting a wall, how does it feel? Does it make you want to strive, get support? As a college kid would you go for academic support or office hours, study groups, etc? Or ? In ways, this is a chance to re-examine how you do operate.