<p>@malan89: Have to disagree. GPA more than anything else. I had a 3.69. I had an absence record of more than 25% because of medical problems, but I guess that sort of thing doesn’t really matter. Still got rejected. Three years on my school newspaper, I’m VERY confident in my writing.</p>
<p>Decision: Defered - CALS</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>SAT: 2000<br>
SAT IIs: Math II (780) - Chemistry (760) Physics (730)
GPA: 3.87 UW
Rank: 30/800 </p>
<p>Essays: Decent.
Teacher Recs: Decent
Counselor Rec: Decent
Hook (if any): Canadian living in China…if counts as one…
Completed internship in a lab and a biotechnology company</p>
<p>State or Country: China/Canada
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male </p>
<p>Other Factors: None
General Comments: Dream half shattered.</p>
<p>ACCEPTED!
[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT: 740 CR, 680 M, 660 W
[ *] SAT IIs: 770 Lit, 690 Math Level I, 740 Bio
[ *] GPA: 98.66
[ *] Rank: no ranking in school
[ *] Other stats:
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: Pretty decent, mostly about my culture/heritage.
[ *] Teacher Recs: Excellent, one of them wrote my sister’s rec (she went to Cornell) and actually went to Cornell herself.
[ *] Counselor Rec: Good.
[ *] Hook (if any):2 sisters who have/will be graduating from CALS.
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: NY
[ *] School Type: public - very competitive
[ *] Ethnicity: white - middle eastern.
[ *] Gender: female.
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]
[ b]General Comments:[ /b]</p>
<p>Accepted to CAS!!! :)</p>
<p>I have agree with akmee.
My SATs weren’t low by any means, and my essays were looked over by two college admissions officers and were deemed “novel-worthy”. My UW GPA was a 3.7, which was pretty low, so I guess that’s what mattered most.</p>
<p>matt,</p>
<p>I applied ED and got referred. My SAT’s were low…but everything else, including work experience was perfect. No other hotel ed decisions on here so far. I have a feeling waaaay less people applied and therefore there were too little options to decide, so they move mostly everyone to RD for better comparisons.</p>
<p>I will write them a letter in late january stating that I still work in a hotel and that I am fully interested. Good luck though!</p>
<p>Yeah, 3.5 gpa here… essays were looked over by english teachers (including ones that i’ve never had as my teacher and have all gotten great reviews), so i’d say it’s the GPA also.</p>
<p>Well, stuy got shat upon this year in general. Even though apps for cornell were up, acceptances were around a third of last years.</p>
<p>it’s always essays that matter. you need really good stats to get in, but then your essays are what make or break you. you could have a 4.0 and a bad essay and get rejected. </p>
<p>sorry to everyone who didn’t get in… if you have questions about transferring in in the future, PM me. and congrats to everyone who did get in!</p>
<p>Congrats to all the new ILRies. You guys certainly have much better resumes than when I was applying.</p>
<p>RealMadrid1, do you mind saying your scores? I have a 1920 which i know is low, but I have a lot of restaurant experience and a passion for hospitality that i hope will make up for my mediocre scores.</p>
<p>I believe what really screwed me over was the quarter grades submission.
SATs were decent, and I’m fairly confident in my writing.</p>
<p>meh, I’m already over it since I’ve had two weeks to prepare for this event (since I got the email about the quarter grades). but congratulations to the acceptees!
i don’t know where i’m gonna end up applying to now. i sure as hell don’t wanna end up at state schools gah.</p>
<p>Cornell is weird. Don’t get me wrong, I am COMPLETELY ecstatic that I was accepted, and it’s my dream school, but their acceptances can appear spotty. Having had two sisters (very different both academically and in terms of ECs) I see how Cornell is unconventional in its acceptances.</p>
<p>My oldest sister had only 3 APs under her belt as she graduated early and spent her senior year traveling and doing community service in Australia and France. This made her a very unique student, and apparently Cornell liked this uniqueness. She applied RD.</p>
<p>My middle sister had decent grades, but was mostly very well rounded. School president, varsity captain, extremely involved in volunteer and school ECs. She applied ED.</p>
<p>Now that I see those who have been deferred/rejected, I feel a little undeserving. I am starting to wonder why I was accepted, because I have great grades (though they are not THAT great) and pretty decent EC’s yet they are nowhere near some that you all have posted. I’m starting to think it was mostly my GPA and my essays. I don’t realy have a legacy as I only have two siblings who have/are attending Cornell, but perhaps that is some sort of a hook?</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred - CALS (Nutritional Sciences) </p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>SAT: 1730
SAT IIs: n/a
GPA: 3.5 W
Rank: 10/100</p>
<p>Essays: Every Child Has a Dream, becoming a Cornellian is mine.
Teacher Recs: one excellent, one was a piece of poop. also had a letter from the school principal which was amazing
Counselor Rec: never read, but she wrote how I wanted this since I was 9y/o, etc etc and she loves me (not a joke here) so I assume it was good:)
Hook (if any): great-grandfather, one of the youngest graduates ever (started freshman year at 15) and summer college session 3.7 GPA, 3 Cornell credits</p>
<p>State or Country: USA, MA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female</p>
<p>Other Factors: My grades and SATs suck, but I wrote about that in my essays. I’m not naturally bright, I just work my TUSHY off!!! Editor of yearbook, VP of Tri-M Music honors society, Best Actress 2009, Academic Excellence in Latin, NHS, lead in musical, select choir, first degree black belt in karate, work 20 hours a week at my job, key club, volunteer at my local cat shelter 5+ years, dance captain of musicals… I think there is more, but idk right now.
General Comments: Completely devastated. I’ve wanted this since I was 9 years old, and while I never said I deserved or expected acceptance… I’m just crushed.</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone who got accepted, enjoy it!:)</p>
<p>Dear bear attack
I most certainly didn’t project a superior image
my essays were about 1)my friend dying of leukemia and how that has influenced me
2) my common app essay was how the book the elegance of symmetry influenced me
I did everything in my
power for an acceptance the only bad thing only application was my sat II scores but from lookig at the acceptance stats mine weren’t off
unless Cornell views being a pageant queen a negative thing there is nothin that should have been a hindrance in my application
and pageants should be seen as diverse
I manage my time and social events I get good grades and I am a black belt I Tae Kwon do
I honestly don’t know what I could have done differently</p>
<p>I haven’t posted on here since I was applying to TASP. Congrats everyone who made it, and I’m sorry to those who got rejected, and good luck to those deferred! I got my decision, and I felt like I had to do something, so here I am!</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted to CALS!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2210
[</em>] SAT IIs: None. Luckily they were just “strongly recommended”
[<em>] GPA: 4.something (no unweighted) or 97.something%
[</em>] Rank: Not ranked
[<em>] Other stats: None
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Eh. They were only read by me, so I don’t know.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: One teacher actually wrote me a rec without asking, another I asked and was afraid it wasn’t going to happen. But it did, so I suppose it was good.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I have the best college counselor in the world, and I’m sure she wrote a wonderful rec.
[<em>] Hook (if any): I’m sure no one from this area has applied to Cornell in a long time. Also, I’m from an art school applying to an Ag major.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Virginia
[<em>] School Type: Public “Governor’s” School
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[li] Gender: Female[/li][/ul]Other Factors: For my area, I have stellar stats and grades. I volunteered about 200 hours at the library and social services. I’ve won several school awards for writings and language proficiency. National Merit Scholarship Commended. Orchestra member (which takes up tons of time and commitment), and member of various clubs including the community service club and yoga group.
General Comments: Accepted for International Agriculture and Rural Development major. My essay expressed this very clearly, and I showed my desire to pursue this field as a career explicitly, especially since I do go to a high school for music. I highlighted the fact that I live on a working farm. Oh, and my other Common App essay was about how a hard working happy passionate creative person raised me. I actually think that helped a lot. I think I showed my passion for helping people succeed with both of those essays, and my concern for the world outside of myself.</p>
<p>ACCEPTED CALS - BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: verbal 730 math 710 writing 770
SAT IIs: didnt take them
GPA: 99.73
Rank:2/126
Other stats: ap chem score: 5 (only ap offered)
Subjective:
Essays: I wrote my common app in a nine hour time span ( it was due for english class as a compostion paper the next morning) my bro edited it real quick.It was about my freshman cross country season. i think its what got me in. My interest essay was a generic snooze.
Teacher Recs: solid. didnt read them, but i love the teachers that wrote them
Counselor Rec: excellant. he said i was the hardest working student in the class.
Hook (if any): no
Location/Person:
State or Country: NY
School Type: small public ( rarely sends ivies)
Ethnicity:white
Gender:male
Other Factors: As far as fit goes… i had close to none. didnt feel like making up some bio club. my school didnt have ap bio either. so that was my biggest weak spot. But my stats were solid.
General Comments: I am elated. feels great to finally get rewarded for the past four years. Ive lived an hour from ithaca and cornell all my life. its such a cool town with so many different people. See you guys on the slope :)</p>
<p>Okay, you know what? We’re all stupid. All us rejects anyway. There isn’t ONE THING that makes or breaks your acceptance. EVERYTHING MATTERS. Cornell is a top-notch school, so they have the privilege to be that selective. They’re not gonna take an applicant weak in one department and strong in the others when there’s a whole school’s worth of applicants who are strong in all departments.</p>
<p>wait. I just realized the faultiness in my own logic. There are plenty of students being accepted with weaknesses in all sorts of departments. This confounds me. Maybe they really do just pick names out of hats like all the rumors say they do…</p>
<p>Anyway, Congratulations to all the acceptances!</p>
<p>it’s the essays, i promise. try transferring in 
you all deserve to be there, so just come later :)</p>
<p>Your artwork is beautiful, akmeecheen, and your stats are great. I’m a bit amazed AAP turned you down, but you have to remember that AAP turns down 85% of their applicants.</p>
<p>EDIT: Same goes for you, Bio. You seemed really passionate about Cornell and your stats were also amazing, but you applied to ENG, which seems to be all around ridonkulous.</p>