<p>I am going to apply early to Cornell next year and I am wondering what I can do to improve my chances because my gpa is somewhat low, but in a competitive school. My weighted GPA at the end of junior year will probably be 3.9ish. </p>
<p>SAT:
Verbal 700
Math 740
Writing 780</p>
<p>Math Level II 760
Chemistry 780
Will take American History in may</p>
<p>APs(AP exams in 2 weeks)
AP Calculus
AP Computer Science
AP American History
AP English
AP French Language</p>
<p>Clubs:
Math Club
Math Honor Society
National Honor Society(will be secretary next year)
French Honor Society</p>
<p>ECs:
No sports unfortuantely
150 volunteer hours at local hospital, library, and senior center.
Worked as computer hardware repairman at a local consulting company(part time in the summer)</p>
<p>Am I on the right track? Is there anything that I can do to improve my chances. I will be applying early and go to a highschool that does not rank(Princeton, NJ) because it is so competitive. I know I'm in the top 10-15% because that is the requirement for NHS in a class of 700. I will apply to the school of engineering. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance,
Ray.</p>
<p>Be sure to show an interest in math/science/engineering on your application. What are you planing on doing this summer? </p>
<p>Your 740 Math may be considered borderline for engineering, but ED you have a very good shot especially if you do well on your APs. The average Math and Verbal of the Engineering school is probably 1450 or so (780 Math, 670 Verbal). I don't think Cornell Engineering will pass up on a 1440 early decision candidate, but you never know.</p>
<p>well, I am going to be continuing working at the consulting agency and plan to study for SATs and give it another shot in October. I took it first in March. I really want to do Computer Science. I think I can get 4s and 5s on my APs. I think I can work to get a 5 on the calc and computer science. Thanks for your resopnse.</p>
<p>Does anyone know about Cornell's financial aid policies for early decision? Is there a difference between regular and ed? I really want to go to Cornell and the only drawback is that it is going to cost around 48k/year. Is there possibility of getting 25k/year aid? Income is around 90k and family has a 300k mortgage.</p>
<p>There is no difference in the aid given to ED and RD candidates. If you are accepted ED, you will have your FA award early on and (although it is discouraged) you can decline the admission offer if you can demonstrate the FA package will present hardship for your family.</p>
<p>With a family income of 90K I believe your need-based loans will maxed at $3,000 per year and everything else would be given in grants/work-study. However a $300,000 home is seen as a significant asset. That, along with any savings your parents might have, will be viewed as assets and this will bump up your EFC. Depending on your EFC, your parents may need to take out additional loans. </p>
<p>Although...I obviously don't know the formula Cornell uses to calculate EFC so I can't give you an estimate. Cornell EFC tends to be higher than the FAFSA calculate EFC.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies. </p>
<p>Would say that I would get into Cornell Engineering if I apply early? I plan to retake the SATs to impove my math score to 780-800...hopefully. Will they look down upon a 3.9? I am in all APs and honors execpt for health/gym. Given I do well on my APs, would good SAT and AP socres balance out a low gpa? Other than these things, is there anything that'll help my chances in ED?</p>
<p>If you apply early, I would give you a 75-80% or so chance of admission. </p>
<p>With 90k in income, a 300k mortgage, and no serious assets aside from retirement funds, I think your family would end up paying $20-25k out of pocket (including work study and summer savings).</p>
<p>Cornell</a> Chronicle: Sweeping new financial aid initiative</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>whats the 3.9 out of?</p>
<p>^^
It is weighted. It is on a 4.0 scale but Honors and AP are given more.</p>
<p>@cayuga,
what would you say Cornell looks for most in applicants? GPA, SAT/AP Scores, Ecs, interest in math/engineering? Do they look at AP science courses? the only AP Science that I will be doing is AP Chemistry(did Bio H, Phys H, Chem H).</p>
<p>In order:</p>
<p>High School Record
SAT Scores -- AP Scores
Essays</p>
<p>Cayuga,
Thanks for taking time to help me out. </p>
<p>Do you think I should do something else over the summer to improve my chances? For the highschool record, do you think my low gpa would be "excused" in context with my aps/honors classes? What would some safety engineering schools be?</p>
<p>Over the summer I would recommend you pursue your own little type of engineering project. Cornell likes people who can build stuff -- Cornell students build satellites, cars, solar houses, video games, robots that play soccer, etc. It doesn't have to be all that impressive, just something to write about as an addition to your application -- if you are interested in civil engineering, build a pedestrian bridge in a local park, much like an Eagle Scout project. If you are interested in biological engineering or something like that, see if you can't grow your own yeast and bake bread from scratch. Small things like that.</p>
<p>I'll add that if you don't have the self-motivation to do a little project like this over the summer, Cornell might not be the best place for you.</p>
<p>On the private side, RPI, University of Rochester, and Lehigh are fantastic engineering safeties. Bucknell is too if you are looking for more of a liberal artsy experience. I'm a big fan of Rochester. Not a big fan of RIT.</p>
<p>And then there are all of the big state schools -- Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Illinois, etc. Even Rutgers is decent. These schools offer a lot of research possibilities, much like Cornell, but resources per student will be lower and it will be a lot easier to get lost in the crowd.</p>
<p>^My friend did build an pedestrian bridge in a local park for his eagle scout project. Although he wants to be a vet not an engineer so it had nothing to do with his career choice.</p>
<p>But yeah I second doing something engineering oriented over the summer and write about in an essay. Although don't just do it to help get into Cornell, do it due to your interest in engineering.</p>
<p>My gpa was on the lower side (for Cornell, not in general) in my supplement essay I wrote about an autonomous robot I built at brown over the summer during a summer program. It was probably a good hook and it made for a good essay. Wasn't even going to write about it, but my initial essay attempts for their prompt were awful and unfocused so I decided I needed to write about something specific even though the prompt was more general, so i picked my summer experience and the essay turned out really well. The robot was awesome btw, shame it would have cost a grand or two to keep it :(</p>
<p>Also definitely apply early decision if Cornell is your #1 choice. (I got deferred then accepted during the regular round for reference)</p>
<p>Also as for other schools to apply to I would definitely suggest looking into Georgia Tech. Not many people from up north apply there, but for engineering it is top notch, ranked just as highly as Cornell. Of course in anything non engineering related Cornell by far outclasses it. But yeah its much easier to get into than Cornell and with your stats it would probably be a safety. After Cornell it was my second choice. Also look into University of Illinois. I don't know much about it besides that they have a great engineering program though as I didn't look at it for some reason.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply Prism. </p>
<p>What are your stats btw? Sorry if I'm being "rude".</p>
<p>sats 1480/2170 780 math, 700 cr 690 writing (Cornell doesn't look at writing, which was my weakest anyway so this was good)
gpa 4.42/5, upward trend got a 4.6 or so junior year, (a 5 is possible at my school if you take all top level, I took 3 years of English and 2 years of Spanish mid level though, I had roughly a B+ average, was just in top 20% in very competitive high school class of 400 so you're gpa is higher than mine relatively speaking)</p>
<p>ecs
4 years marching band
4 years swim team
3 years speech and debate</p>
<p>APs (all taken senior year, 80% of my schools APs are for seniors only unless you skip a year in something though)</p>
<p>AP Physics C
AP Comp Sci AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemisty</p>
<p>(looks strikingly similar to a freshmen engineering schedule :))
and had a strong first two terms(above my cumulative gpa, which senior year grades aren't factored into as my school just doesn't for some reason)</p>
<p>other stuff</p>
<p>120 hours community service
some work experience, including being a lab aid in my schools science department (basically I clean glassware and stock stuff)
built robot at brown
legacy
some other random stuff I'm forgetting
good essays and recs</p>
<p>Building stuff is great advice :). I got into Cornell and one of my building experiences includes a Science Fair Project I got 2nd In the state of Florida for Computer Science in.</p>
<p>Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms in Real Time Game Agents.</p>
<p>It was a new and innovating type of Artificial Intelligence put into a Space Invaders game. It has been done before... but my implementation was a bit difference. Anyways... it started out as a fun computer science project... and it ended up pretty big I think. I even made like 500 bucks off it from the Navy, Intel... etc. Intel Science and Engineering fair is always a good way to go :)</p>