NEW SCORES! chance me please?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Obviously, my first choice is Cornell, which is a very high reach, but if you have valuable information to offer rather than just shooting me down, it would be appreciated. My other main choices are Villanova, the University of Richmond, and George Mason University. Also, I guess I should have prefaced this by saying that I am a white male at a moderately competitive public school in PA. Also, I plan to major in something along the lines of Business/Business Management, Law or Politics. So, without further ado, here is the spiel:</p>

<p>GPA: UW-3.98 W-4.3
Class Rank: 1/279 (valedictorian from the class of 2010 is headed to Cornell)</p>

<p>SATs:I just took the June SAT and have my predicted scores next to my current ones
CR:730
M:740
W:670</p>

<p>1470/2140 </p>

<p>Also, Keep in mind that Cornell does not look at writing.</p>

<p>Math Level I: 710</p>

<p>Since the start of high school, I have taken the absolute hardest possible course load that my school offers(AP is not offered to Freshman and Sophomores).</p>

<p>Freshman:
Honors English 9
Honors Geometry
Honors U.S. History I
Agricultural Science 9 (considered the hardest freshman course considering our ag program(FFA) is perennially in the top ten food science teams in the nation and wins state titles also).
General Business
Gym/Health(required)
Latin I and II</p>

<p>Sophomore:
Honors English 10
Honors Algebra II
Honors U.S. History II
Agricultural Science 10
Accounting I
Latin III
Gym/Drivers Ed(required)
Biology(required, no honors or AP offered)</p>

<p>Junior:
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors English 11
AP World History (Predicted Score~4)
AP Environmental Science (Predicted Score~5)
Accounting II (weighted course)
Latin IV
Chemistry(required, no honors or AP offered)
Gym/Health(required)</p>

<p>Senior year schedule:
AP English 12
AP Government and Politics
AP Calculus AB
AP Latin V vergil
AP Biology
Biotechnology (weighted course)
Health/Service Learning(required, volunteering at local corporation that works with children and adults with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome.)
Business Law</p>

<p>EC's:
-Secretary of JCL for two years(Junior Classical League or Latin Club)
-President of National Honors Society
-FFA (involved, 4th place finish at dairy foods competition at FFA States)
-FBLA: (Possibly applying for National Business Honors Society next year)
-PAML (Pennsylvania Math League)
-100+ hours of community service including a mission trip to Peru. I collected money,crayons and pillowcases for a project known as "Pillowcase Magic" that my grandmother and I started in order to provide clothing made from pillowcases for less fortunate children in Peru. We went to hospitals in Iquitos, Peru and delivered pillowcases and crayons to ill children(possible app. essay?). Also, I earned community service hours as a wrestling referee, a camp counselor and a supervisor for children and adults with developmental disorders.
-N.E.E.D (National Environmental Education Development) Camp Counselor
-co-captain of my varsity cross-country team (3x county champs, 2x district champs), 4 years
-Varsity spring track and field-3 years
-Varsity winter track and field-2 years
-Varsity wrestling- 2 years (named all-division in 10th grade, but gave it up to pursue running)
-JV baseball-1 year
-Junior Legion baseball-1 year (Also gave baseball up to pursue running)</p>

<p>Possible Hooks: Legacy(my uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather all went to Cornell), maybe running for Cornell or UofR, but not for Villanova.</p>

<p>Family Income: 45,000-50,000. My mother was a RN(registered Nurse) but was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis nearly ten years ago and has been on disability for about 9 of those years(possible app. essay?).</p>

<p>Lastly, I plan to apply ED to Cornell and have already visited the campus and met with the head admissions officer of Cornell's school of ILR. If you could assess my chances for the aforementioned schools and offer some other possible schools that might fit me well it would be greatly appreciated!!! I will Chance back!</p>

2

<p>I think your stats look fine, and your SATs are pretty good. In addition you have really nice ecs. I also go to a competitive public high school, and several of our top students with great grades got rejected, probably because they didn’t show how they were a good fit for the particular college in cornell. I think your strength as an applicant comes from the fact that you show good leadership and ecs that relate to business. I think you have a good shot of getting in! Another reach school you might want to look at is Wash U (Olin Undergrad Business School). I definitely think you can get into Villanova,Richmond and George Mason.</p>

<p>-Quick question: Is it really true that Cornell doesn’t look at writing at all?</p>

3

<p>Holy Cross-near Boston is a very good school.</p>

4

<p>@800008 Woah…im going to disregard the swearing. Despite the swearing there is some veracity to your statement, I guess. I took Math I because I lacked any information on the Subject Tests and only noticed that Cornell required a Math SAT II at any level. Also, I played is safe because by Precalculus class was in the fall semester. Sadly, I only came to the realization weeks afterwards that Math I was looked down upon by selective colleges. I have read that it is possible to take SAT II’s in October and still apply early decision to Cornell and other schools. If this is the case, I certainly plan to take Math II and Biology in the fall. Can anyone verify that I can take the SAT IIs in October and still apply ED to Cornell? </p>

<p>@runi27-I’m 99% sure that they dont look at writing at all. I attended an information session and they said this and CB does not have writing scores reported at all.</p>

5

<p>@800008 Math I has the harshest curve of all SAT 2 subjects. Whereas you could get ~3 wrong in Math II and get an 800, the same number of errors in Math I would probably result in around what OP received.</p>

<p>Try to get SAT score up to around 2200+ and focus on getting all sections above 700. Until then, Cornell is looking like a mid-high reach. And also I’m not sure that schools count uncles and other extended relatives as legacy; I would phrase it on the app/in interviews as “three generations” in your family attended Cornell.</p>

6

<p>Bernard, I somewhat disagree with your comments. Cornell does not look at the writing section thus all the sections that are considered are above 700. Furthermore, his CR puts him in the 75th percentile of accepted Cornell students, while his Math score is a notch above average. His 1470 puts him near 75th percentile, thus really he shouldn’t worry about SATs. </p>

<p>SAT IIs are what he should be focusing on - getting as close to 800s as possible.</p>

<p>I would say, you should integrate the fact that you have three generations of Cornell graduates in your family, but do not make it very explicit as it would seem massively out of context. Perhaps, say something about your mother wanting you to attend another college while your grandfather wanting you to attend Cornell because of the three generations… the conflict of ideas between your sick mother (this is where you describe her sickness) and your tradition/legacy… just an idea.</p>

<p>At this point in time I would say Cornell is definitely a low reach. You may want to get more academic ECs though, and you may also not want to put that community service because 100 hours is not very much compared to most other applicants.</p>

7

<p>Thanks Jebar and Bernard! I never wanted to do more than slightly mention my relatives that have attended Cornell. Before finding this site, the thought of even mentioning it never entered my mind. Also, I made this chance thread months ago and altered it with additional info and new SAT scores. Before I became an avid member of this site, I had noone to compare with considering my ECs, SATs, GPA and whatever else you can think of are considered elite at my school. Actually, I lied. I was able to compare myself with the valedictorian of the class of 2010 which got accepted to Cornell with very similar stats (both objective and subjective) to my own. So, based on your post, I assume that I can still take the SAT IIs in october and apply ED to Cornell? As of now, I’m either applying to CAS for economics or AEM at CALS (I know, makes my chances even slimmer). Does the AEM progran have the same requirements as the CALS as a whole in terms of SAT IIs?(what I mean is, would I HAVE to send in SAT II scores for AEM even though CALS does not require SAT II scores) thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>I forgot to mention that I also might apply to ILR. I realize that SAT II scores are mandatory for ILR.</p>

9

<p>It would be advisable. If you get 800 in Math II, then it negates your 740 in SAT I math, and they would understand that everyone makes 1-2 mistakes and you have the potential for a 800.</p>

10

<p>SAT II scores can always help. If you do well then hooray, if not then apply to AEM without them and retake them in November/December for your regular decision colleges.</p>

11

<p>I dont know a lot about Ivy’s, but someone at my school got into Cornell with a 3.9 UW and 2280.</p>

12

<p>I actually think it’s a match, just write a stellar essay showing why you belong at cornell, and you should be in. And take 3 subjects and score at least 700+. Then you’re good. But like previous posters said, maybe try to increase the depth of your ec’s. And also, i’m not too sure about you using your mom’s multiple sclerosis as an essay. However, if you have any hardships, then you should definitely write about those and how you overcame them.
good luck :)</p>

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<p>I would bet that every college now looks at writing. The world is different now, versus 2007 or 2008.</p>

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<p>

No, some dont. I guess the world hasnt changed at all</p>

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<p>^lol. Well even if Cornell happenes to “look” at it, I think that they will apply more weight to the CR and M than the W, even if they do it unintentionally. Regardless, Im happy with the score I have, coming from a 1230/1890------>1470/2140, even if the writing happens to be considered. So, depth in my ECs, good SAT II scores and a killer essay. I will be sure to work on that list; hopefully I have given myself a reasonable shot! thanks again and any further advice/opinions would be appreciated!</p>

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<p>You have legacy status, you’re a valedictorian, and you have EC’s that are bordering spreading yourself out too thin. I think you’re more qualified than most Cornell applicants, especially with your mission trip.
Good luck!</p>

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<p>@Deziky- Thank you, too bad i could be better than 20,000+ applicants and not get in…</p>

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<p>@OP, check with Cornell but you might not be considered as legacy as I know some ivies only consider legacy as someone who’s parents went to the school. I’m not sure about cornell’s legacy policy tho.</p>

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<p>Yea, I just thought I would include it as a “possible” hook because I was unsure. Cornell doesn’t apply to much weight to legacies anyways, stating only that it can be considering a tipping factor that gets on applicant chose over another, very similar applicant. I may not even mention it in an essay. Honestly, I would hate thinking that the reason I was attending a school was essentially because of the work someone before me completed. Anyways, thanks. Anyone else??</p>