NOT YOUR TYPICAL APPLICANT - but thoughts on me applying to cornell?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>-hello all! i know that asking my "chances" is not an accurate representation of my likelihood for acceptance, at all whatsoever - but i figured i would ask all of you learned people on the internet, anyways! :)</p>

<p>-I go to a nationally-ranked,high school and it is ridiculously challenging, very harsh grading scale too, therefore it is quite difficult to receive exceptional not to mention average grades. 50% of my class has a GPA in the range of 2.8-3.2. My school does not give out class ranks.</p>

<p>-I would apply to the college of agriculture and life sciences and not sure if i would do ED or not....let me know if my chances are better this way? if the gpa boost from my first semester will have an effect on admission or no?</p>

<p>-im a female URM (hispanic) from the midwest</p>

<p>Academics:
*As a preface to this I feel I should inform any reader that I suffered from an extremely severe and damaging eating disorder and clinical depression my first year and a half of high school (Freshman-Second Semester Sophomore) and it definitely reflects in my grades. Through intense recovery over the course of months predominately December of my sophomore year, and additional support of my family and school community I was able to essentially regain my life and I began to really enjoy education and the art of learning.</p>

<p>Freshman year GPAs: 3.1, 3.2
Sophomore year GPAs: 3.4,3.8
Junior year GPAs: 4.1, 4.2
Cumulative GPA is around 3.633
im anticipating my 1st sem senior grades, with all the AP courses, to be around a 4.5</p>

<p>AP and Honors classes:
-AP Comparative Government and Politics
-Honors Latin 3
-Honors Greek 2
-Honors Anatomy and Physiology
-AP Statistics
-AP English Literature
-AP English Language (didnt take the course, but got a 5 on the test?)
-AP Latin 4 Vergil
-Honors Greek 3
my school is weird with APs bc you cant take any fresh/soph year and they limit how many you can take jun/sr year</p>

<p>SAT Score:
-Critical Reading: 740. Math: 640. Writing: 740
Composite: 2120
Taking it again, i've studied a lot, hoping for a 2200+ ?</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
(I am not in an exhausting number of clubs because I feel it is more important to dedicate myself fully to the ones that I am involved in, as opposed to merely being "in" an organization and not doing very much work or providing meaningful insight.)</p>

<p>-Lacrosse 4 years
-Competitive Cheerleading (only 2 years)
-Elected to Student Council as the Senator and Representative of my class
-Girl Scouts - member of the elected Board of Representatives
-Elected to be a mentor for the freshman class
-Volunteering and service is required at my school so I have many instances of such. Including coaching a basketball team for the disabled community, coaching a track team to the special olympics, and church volunteering as well
-AKC Dog-showing national title holder
-Choir at school and at my church</p>

<p>Awards:
-National Honor Society
-National Latin Honor Society (plus significant scores and awards on the National Latin Exams)
-Gold Award for Girl Scouts (The highest honor you can receive as a Girl Scout. Completely individual work and planning - I planned a job seminar/workshop for unemployed women in shelters in the Chicago and suburban community. This was able to provide jobs for hundreds of women in Chicago, who previously were either endangered in their home, lacked motivation and leadership skills, or went through a divorce and now were in need of a job.)
-In addition to this Gold Award Project I upkeep a website which raises awareness about the issue of unemployment in today's economy, how people can help, and a list of places looking for employees.
-medical club, executive board of diversity club, peer tutoring, mental health club president</p>

<p>also! i got a grant from the american cancer society to research chemotherapy treatment and effects, like peripheral neuropathy, the past summer and am working with the other researchers on publishing some findings!</p>

<p>*essays should be the strongest point of my app - all my teachers that have read my essays say they are unbelievable so thats a plus! :)
-recs should be lovely too - im a bit of a teacher's bet, not going to lie.</p>

<p>sorry if this is long! hopefully you enjoyed reading about a stranger's life/hopes/dreams though! if you even took the time to read this i appreciate you and if you have any thoughts you want to share about me applying to cornell - it would definitely help me!</p>

<p>i know im not the usual perfect score applicant, but i think i have a pretty unique story and transformation as a student and human being, and hey you never know if youre that one in a million, right?</p>

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<p>You’re in.</p>

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<p>I think you are a viable canidate for CALS. I would stay away from self-disclosing some of your earlier mental health challanges. What one person might view it as inspiring, another may view it a risk for reaccurance under the stress that Cornell can present.</p>

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<p>I think you’d add a lot to their campus :slight_smile: you have good chances especially with ED. Good luck!</p>

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<p>bilnythesciguy - wow thank you! im so surprised…so used to people doubting me at my school…thanks for brightening my day. although its still going to be a challenge to get in - anything in my app you would recommend improving?</p>

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<p>csdad- yes im in a very comprimised situation because of my mental health challenges earlier…are you saying that its better for me not to say anything…do you think that they’ll think i was just a lazy student though who decided to patch things up last minute because that is 100% not the case.
i agree about them being concerned of the risk of relapsing, even though there is no way i will relapse.</p>

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<p>yayitsme123 - thank you! im debating using my 1 ED either at cornell or brown - brown is my dream school but its just too big of a stretch and you only get one ED…! anything in my app you would recommend improving?</p>

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<p>One of the most important factors in admissions to CALS is your “fit” with the major that you intend to declare. What CALS major are you interested in?</p>

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<p>LCSMOM yes I agree I could tell from the supplement question that its v important - I have a few options im trying to single down -

  1. biological sciences
  2. biology and society</p>
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<p>@cjjw1995 I think your personality really comes through, even in this description, as someone schools would want on campus. Personally, I’d admit you because it’d be such a nice break from all the other typical applicants. Plus URM status helps. </p>

<p>If Brown is truly your dream school, and you would regret not applying, I would ED there. Though, it’s true that Brown is harder to get into, so it’s up to a matter of strategy which one to ED. I went through the same thing between Cornell ED and MIT EA, and wound up deciding to take the chance on MIT. </p>

<p>Basically you’re a cool person, smart, accomplished, and a URM to boot. I think you should go for your dream school ED.</p>

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<p>Go for it! You’re a fascinating person, even in your short description.:)</p>

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<p>yayitsme123 and pinchyboo67
thanks so much! wow that was a breath of fresh air! glad you think im a unique person thats probably the main thing im banking on, just being ME - because really who can identity one’s character by a score on test? not me! :)</p>

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<p>I would say you have a good shot!!!</p>

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<p>…perhaps you can mention something to the effect that you learned to overcome some personal challanges that account for your improved GPA, or attribute your improvement to a more focused career goal.</p>

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<p>thank you for that! thats actually really good concrete advice. i really like the idea of a more focused career goal since that will easily tie in with the writing supplement for cornell. ill give it a go!</p>

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<p>anyone else have thoughts? or places i need to improve in (that im able to control sorry gpa haha)</p>

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<p>bumping this because I got my act back and scored a 35…wondering how much this will help in the context of my situation in applying to CALS</p>