Please Determine Chances!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me determine my chances at getting accepted to Cornell. I am currently a white male junior in public school on Long Island graduating in 2013. My school is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school and I will graduate with a full IB Diploma. For those who do not know what IB is, it is an international advanced academics program comparable to AP. Freshman and sophomore IB classes are weighted by 0.6 and in junior year, by .1.
I am undecided on what major I will chose but I am thinking of doing something along the lines of business (entrepreneurship) and technology (computer electronics, etc.) English and business are my strong suits thanks to my creative efforts and mindset while my math is relatively weak in comparison to peers in the same class standing because I am severely bored by math. I could pull my weight if I applied myself more and am planning on taking IB Physics next year (I took IB Biology this year.) </p>

<p>Grades:</p>

<p>Overall GPA in three years (unweighted): probably mid 90’s
Overall GPA in three years (weighted): probably around 101, give or take 2%
Class Standing: top 10% in highly competitive school
SAT: took once, scored 2000 (CR:690, M:620, W:690). I plan on taking this at least one more time so that I can super-score over 2100, hopefully.
SAT II: I am planning on taking Biology, Math I, and possibly English.
ACT: Plan on taking this June. I will probably score better on this than the SAT, relatively speaking.</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:</p>

<p>National Honor Society, Grade 11
Business and Management Honor Society (2nd Vice Pres.), Grade 11
English Honor Society, Grade 11
History Honor Society, Grade 11
Boys’ Leaders Corps, Grades 10-11
Future Business Leaders of America, Grade 11
High School Executive Board (non-officer), Grades 10-11
Model U.N., Grade 10 (quit, might leave off application)</p>

<p>Athletics:</p>

<p>Junior Varsity Track, Grades 9-10
Junior Varsity Football, Grade 9
Local church sponsored basketball league, Grade 9</p>

<p>*I have spinal issues acquired while wrestling in middle school and unfortunately it has now worsened to the point that I had to drop sports this year. If not for my injuries, I would probably still be playing football, wrestling, and track.</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:</p>

<p>Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce Business Leadership Competition, 2nd place in Entrepreneurship. (Long Island competition)
President’s Award for Educational Excellence (does anyone know what this is? I know I have received it but I cannot find any paperwork or anything about it or even what year I received it)</p>

<p>Volunteer Service:</p>

<p>Volunteer at local youth center, 2009-present
I also do service through IB’s required Community Action Service (CAS). Honestly, I do not have much time to perform much community service, given that I usually finish my homework around 10 pm as it is!</p>

<p>References:</p>

<p>Will be from core teachers and (I assume) will be very positive. I have no dean’s record and am a “model student” and actively participate in class.</p>

<p>Please tell me honestly what you think of my chances at getting into Cornell. Would you recommend the more competitive state college (I live in NY) or the less competitive private college? (I cannot afford private tuition; I would need a lot of help.) I am in the process of applying for scholarships. There is no telling how much I can get from them. Also, my essay will probably be exceptional as it works right into my skillset.</p>

<p>If you don’t think I can get accepted in the present state, what do you think I can do to improve my chances? And what are some other schools I should be looking at?</p>

<p>Please give me your feedback; it means a lot! </p>

<p>Thank you,
Live Long and Prosper</p>

2

<p>You might want to consider retaking the SAT to get your individual scores to 700+, especially on the side you’re majoring in (CR for liberal arts, M for engineering). It’s hard to tell since Cornell is so selective, but you have do a good chance. I’m not sure about the business side, but if you’re also interested in tech, Rensselaer and RIT I think are both in NY, Rensselaer being more of a match and RIT more of a safety. As for state vs. private, I think you should consider what environment you prefer. State schools usually have more people, so if you want a more personal/community feel, I’d go with private. Finding a passion and pursuing it, I think, may be attractive to selective schools like Cornell. You can always turn your condition into an obstacle to overcome, for an interesting essay, which will help.</p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1317388-chance-junior-will-chance-back-if-you-ask.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1317388-chance-junior-will-chance-back-if-you-ask.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Apply early decision. Very good chances if you do that!</p>

4

<p>What do you mean by more competitive public? The college of arts and sciences which is not land grant is the hardest part of Cornell to get into with average SATs of about 2200. ILR would be much easier.</p>