Physics Major chances and Cornell Questions

<p>Ok, so this is my one official, final, splendiforous chances post. I need some honest feedback</p>

<p>SAT 780M, 770V (1550) two sittings. will this hurt me?
SAT II (800 Physics) (800 MathIIC) (690 Writing) (oops!)
AP Physics B (5)</p>

<p>Straight A's but due to Phy ED rank = 6/160</p>

<p>Best in years rec from both physics and history teacher.</p>

<p>However, I come from a public school that has seen no apps to HYPSMC in the past many years, and the recs are very good, but don't include any comments on amazing research, cuz, well, I don't have any. I am teaching myself AP Physics C, and will also complete my own research project later this year. </p>

<p>Am taking 4 APs (english, chem, calc, and self-taught physics C), which is all my school has
3 years German (is it correct that as long as I have this on my transcript, then I don't have to bother with Foreign Language classes or tests at Cornell?)</p>

<p>EC's
Big into drummin' </p>

<p>Tenor Section Leader of top 3 drum line in 5 state region (40 hours a week)
lead jazz drummer for school 3 years
play jazz set, latin percussion, and vibes (somewhat)
3 Superior Solo Awards at State Competition for Marimba solos
Pep Band, Bi-weekly volunteer for church (drummin and started youth band)
NHS, lots of Frisbee playing, Moderated a debate for school board candidates, 2003 jazz camp, 2001-2004 church camp, 2004 Leadership Camp, Volunteer at school in music, </p>

<p>Big into job,
3+ years at grocery store, manual labor, earned way into Customer Service, help manage (somewhat) a dairy and video dept. 15+ hours a week. Top fundraiser in region for Diabetes through employer ($3000) </p>

<p>The bad stuff
White, parents well educated, not disadvataged</p>

<p>The good
rural town, not an intravert</p>

<p>I will be applying RD to CAS.</p>

<p>Thanx a bunch. I was really excited this morning when I got my SAT scores, but now I am not so sure. I know that Harvard and MIT consider best in each SAT sub-catergory. Does Cornell?</p>

<p>PS What is the quality of life at Cornell? Dorms, food, people, profs, fun, city, etc.</p>

<p>cornell takes best math and best verbal as well</p>

<p>I just submitted my Part 1. Any thoughts on my chances?</p>

<p>jerew, I think you have a great chance with your high score and ec's. I'm also big into drummin' so maybe I'll see you in the Cornell Big Red Drumline next year</p>

<p>Thanks! What are applying for?</p>

<p>I'm applying to the engineering school, undecided(within engineering)
What major did you apply for within CAS?</p>

<p>I want to apply for physics. If I want to try engineering physics, how easy is it to transfer to the Engineering School after a year, or a semester, or after admission. I won't know how much different the two majors are until I see the two programs myself. Anyone have any knowledge on that subject?</p>

<p>sorry for the stupid question jerew (what major..), your major was posted as the title of the thread. Anyway, I've heard that it's easy to switch schools when you are there More than 10% of Cornell students change each year. The only thing I'm not sure of is how and when you could do it.</p>

<p>Thanks. You know anything about life at Cornell? Is it a nice place to live, learn, have fun. What's the atmosphere?</p>

<p>As a current engineering student, my thoughts on Cornell is that it can and is a very stressful place a lot of the time because of the sheer amount of knowledge and work you are forced to learn with every class. However, it is also quite rewarding much of the time, and most of the students work together very cooperatively. The sense of community is very strong, so I'd definitely say it's a nice place to live and learn. The stress is just killer sometimes though, and especially if you take too many classes, you WILL pay for it.</p>

<p>As for the physics major question, it's much easier to start off in the college of engineering and then transfer to CAS, rather than the other way around, because most of engineering courses will transfer to CAS, but some may not transfer the other way around. Also, engineering is more structured. I would recommend applying to engineering physics in the college of engineering, and if you find it not suitable, switching to physics major in CAS will be a breeze still. (This is because engineering maths are accepted for CAS but not the other way around).</p>

<p>Do you think I could get into the engineering school?</p>

<p>So it is time to submit the application, and now that I look at it, the CAS and the Engineering physics are kinda of different. I guess I would like to apply to the Engineering Applie Physics, but I hear that it is very hard to get into. If I am on the fence, should I apply to the CAS? Can I switch after I get admitted? Can I get in to the Engineering School? Thanks a bunch!</p>

<p>I don't believe either school admits based on major, so it doesn't matter really. Engineering physics is arguably the hardest engineering discipline, however. I don't know if you can get in, since I'm just a student. And you can switch colleges after you get admitted, but you'd be fine if you were in engineering, because all your science and math would count for A&S credit.</p>

<p>Right, but I still need to apply to a college, and since the two majors I am contemplating are in two different colleges, it makes a very big difference.</p>

<p>The hardest? I heard Cornell Engineering is already the most stressful place on earth. I don't know if I could do that. I would love to get that degree, but I don't know if I want to eat, sleep, and drink physics just to pull off C's.
Wow, oh well. I emailed Cornell asking them for specific information about the two different majors and about how the transfering works. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (I actually didn't end up sending form 1 yet, contrary to my previous post! The two majors threw me off!)</p>

<p>I would say go A&S, but thats only b/c I don't want to compete against you for Engineering, however some good avice is what Neutral said. You are able to transfer credits from Engineering to Arts and Science very easily, but from Arts and Science to Engineering it is much harder to transfer them, so if you are really not sure, try Engineering, if you don't like it, you can switch easily to A&S, but if you try the other way, you could end up spending a lot of extra time trying to make up credits. Good luck with your decision.</p>

<p>Thanks, isn't it a lot harder to get into the engineering school? Just wondering. Yeah, so I guess since there is no interview, I don't need to submit form one right away. I can wait to make my decision.</p>

<p>engineering is a bit harder... unfortunately</p>

<p>isnt that what is great about engineering though, that it is hard, you could go to A&S and learn physics and math, or you could go to engineering and not only learn it, but apply it to almost everything in the world, i guess it is a personal preference though</p>

<p>I agree psquared. That's why I will probably apply to the engineering school. I was just wondering if I could make it in. Any help w/that?</p>

<p>Your ecs and test scores are good, you may have straight a's but it seems you didn't take as many ap courses as most students that are applying are, you also don't mention honors, so that might hurt you, unless you took the hardest your school offers, but it seems like you have a better shot than most to get in but with ivy league and other top schools you never know what they are looking for, but you definately have a good shot, so you should apply, if you were applying ED, i would say almost guaranteed, but for RD, probably an average chance to good chance, good luck</p>