<p>Okay my school's valedictorian is applying to Cornell also (and he's not me). Do I have any chance of getting in? He stood first and I stood eighth and his SAT score is 20 points greater than mine. I probably have better essays and extracurriculars though. The sad thing is I am the one with genuine interest in the school. He is applying to the college of Engineering and I'm applying to CALS. So how does Cornell compare applicants? I mean are CALS applicants and Engineering applicants judged separately or will the admission decision be based on selections from the entire applicant pool? Oh and did I mention we are both internationals seeking aid. Yeah, I'm screwed.</p>
<p>Lets break this down. SAT scorewise, you dont stand much to lose because 20 points is almost negligible. Second of all, he is applying to a different college, so you wont exactly be competing directly. Third, CALS has a higher acceptance rate than COE. Fourth, its good to have better essays/EC’s especially one which really shows your interest. You’re fine.</p>
<p>yeah, in my [public] school for the past 5 years we have had between 20-30 people apply to cornell and usually 30% of them were accepted, I’m sure you have absolutely no reason to stress over this</p>
<p>My vale applied to Cornell and got in. His SAT was 100 points better and unweighted gpa .62 higher. I was not in the top 10%. We applied to the same school. My other friend applied with 50 points higher and .4 gpa better and got denied.</p>
<p>^ it doesn’t always work that way</p>
<p>my class’ salutatorian applied to cornell and got waitlisted. meanwhile, 9 other kids from my class got in. so don’t worry.</p>
<p>of course it doesn’t always work that way! it works a lot of different ways. because you’re not even applying to the same colleges it makes no difference. CALS applicants are not evaluated against COE applicants. even if you were both applying to the same college at Cornell, admitting two people from one high school would not be outlandish. you already submitted all your stuff, so just stay calm and enjoy being a second-semester senior.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot you guys, you really helped me out.</p>
<p>That’s life, sometimes. </p>
<p>Haha kidding. In all seriousness, you really have nothing to worry about because:</p>
<p>1) You guys are applying to different schools.
2) Different interests. Given, of course, your grades are up-to-par, they will look beyond them and into your personality and interests.
3)You’re different people! There’s more to life than numbers and ranks; Yes, even in college admissions.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>the different colleges have completely different admissions departments so the people judging your app probably won’t know someone else from your school even applied. You have nothing to worry about in that aspect.</p>
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<p>Note the section under “What SAT Score Do I Need? GPA?”</p>
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<p>They’re judged separately and one college’s applicant pool doesn’t affect the others in the way you imagine. Congratulations.</p>