HI guys, am a senior in New Zealand and wondering where I should apply for early decision as well as my chances in general at these places.
Stats:
ACT: 35
SAT IIs: maths2 800, physics 800, chem 780
Rank:~5-8%
Courses: Currently doing CIE A Levels~ Chem, Bio, Physics, Mathematics, Accounting
EC:
Maori Mission Tutoring
World Vision
Habitat for Humanity
Scholar’s Group
Duke of Edinburg - Bronze Award
Badminton B grade ( team captain)
Table Tennis B grade
Techtorium Intro to computer engineering holiday course
Retirement village helper
Headmaster’s Welfare Committee
Awards:
NZIBO selection Bronze award
School accounting award
Some other national mathematics awards top 100 sorta things
Intended Major: Finance/Computer science (maybe some CAS degree at Penn)
PS:What would be some good colleges to apply to given my intended major and my stats?
Thanks for any feedback
ED at Cornell is your best bet in my opinion. SCEA at Princeton won’t help much, and UPenn ED would help but it seems like you couldn’t do Wharton, so Cornell would give you the most practical benefit. Also the easiest of the three with ED. Add some safeties to your list though.
Engineering is really hard to get into at Penn, and you really don’t demonstrate much of an engineering background beyond sat 2 tests. CAS is more likely, but I still think Cornell ED would be easier.
I see, when you say Cornell ED though, do you mean through CAS or engineering school? Also, how much easier is it to get into Cornell than CAS at Penn as the reason I’m interested in Penn is its strong financial aspect with the possibility of maybe a dual degree after I get in.
Cornell’s pathway seems more locked in terms of access to the different schools in it although correct me if I’m wrong as I don’t know much about Cornell relatively. Would I be able to pursue a bit of finance/bussiness courses on the side?
You might be right about it being more locked, but Cornell CAS ED would be easier than Penn CAS ED, especially if CAS was what you wanted, and both have excellent CAS. Engineering is also solid at both schools (with perhaps the edge given to Penn), but I don’t think you could get into engineering school because of your background being non-engineering related. You likely would be able to pursue business courses on the side at either of them. It’s really up to you in the end. Perhaps Penn offers a little more opportunity, but are you willing to risk it? Also, the environments are each extremely different. Do you prefer more rural and tight-knit (Cornell) or urban and interdisciplinary (Penn)?
Cornell has a great engineering program. EDing to Cornell CAS is your best bet. Don’t worry about you non-engineering background because your SAT 2 scores clearly show you are capable.
(Assuming you are EDing to these schools)
Princeton: High Reach
UPenn: Reach
Cornell: Low Reach
In terms of safety and risk, if I got rejected from Penn ED, would it be likely that I would get rejected from Cornell RD as well? I guess what I’m saying is, do I only have a decent/good chance at Cornell if I apply early and if I applied RD, it would be just as hard as Penn ED
@jarrett211 I definitely prefer interdisciplinary and urban is what I am used to. If Penn is a far reach university, what do you think would be more reasonable with this in mind?
Also, when you apply to Cornell are you allowed to chance majors after you get in? I am thinking of selecting Undecided - Natural Science major if I apply for Penn to give focus to my current high school academia since you can change majors later.
There is no safety net with either situation. Your best chance of getting in to a university would be Cornell ED for sure. The best safety net would be apply to Cornell ED.