<p>So this friday got news that i was rejected from Penn (i was am a legacy and applied ED). What do you think my chances are for Cornell? </p>
<p>I would like to major in economics at the School of Arts and Sciences.</p>
<p>**Stats:
UW GPA- 91.6 (i think that this may hurt me)
W GPA- 97.2
Best M + CR = 1520
Phsics- 720
Math II- 770
AP Calculus AB- 5
AP US History- 2 (not sent)
Decile- Top 10% (my school does not go into more detail)
Class Size- ~500</p>
<p>**Rigor of Curriculum
All honor Courses where the option was available.
3 AP classes (only one was available sophomore year. due to scheduling concerns I could only take 2 AP junior year instead of the max of 3)
Currently taking 2 AP courses</p>
<p>**Extra Curriculars
Founded Non-Profit organization Gift of 5 (Home | Gift of 5), which aims to reduce the child deaths due to zinc deficiency this summer. Currently we only have 4 members. Currently working with 2 clubs to organize fundraisers in my school. very little success so far, however.
Guitar Ensemble, 10-12
Model UN, 10-12</p>
<p>**Volunteer Hours
Taught Vedic Math to 4th graders at Vedic Vidyalay School (30 Hours)
Assistant teacher at Aloha Mind Math (24 Hours)
Red Cross Blood Drive Volunteer (6 Hours)</p>
<p>**Honors & Awards
Semi Finalist in state level Hindi-USA Poem Recital Competition
2nd Place in Hershey Park Musical Competition
Best Delegation at RUMUN Conference
Honor Roll for grades 9-11. I expect it in 12th grade as well.</p>
<p>Your stats are very competitive, obviously. The rest of application will be what will break or make you. you have to write compelling essays that would touch the heart of admissions officers. remember, college admissions is subjective and people will admit applicants they want to admit, provided that the applicant has strong enough stats to begin with.</p>
<p>I was an econ major at Cornell CAS. it was a great learning experience, and i do wish you the best of luck. also, sorry to hear about Penn, but remember that there are lots of other great schools to check out.</p>
<p>some people have told me that i have a better chance at a land grant school like the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences… considering i want to major in econ should i consider it, possibly as a second choice in the common app?</p>
<p>BTW just incase you are interested, here is the link to my Child Mortality fundraiser website: [Home</a> | Gift of 5](<a href=“http://www.giftof5.org%5DHome”>http://www.giftof5.org)
its not working on the original post.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it would be easier to get in if you apply to CALS vs CAS, or vice versa. I would think that it shouldn’t make much of difference, but i could be wrong.</p>
<p>I would have hated CALS cuz they have all those science course requirements, etc. CAS is really flexible and offers such wide range of courses that you can explore, even outside your major. For example, I was econ major but most courses i took and most of my learning came from my electives and other required courses i had taken at CAS. I really liked the curriculum and if you like liberal arts-type of education, you should apply to CAS. If you like science or more specific program, CALS may be a better fit.</p>
<p>Btw, CALS has AEM major which is kind of combination of econ + ‘business’ major. It is the ‘business’ major at Cornell and it has good job placements. You might want to check it out.</p>
<p>Econ and AEM are two different programs. If you’re interested in a future career with a bank or finance firm, though, the major won’t really matter as much.</p>
<p>Without commenting generally on whether CALS is easier to get into than CAS – if you’re interested in economics there is the AES program. However, AES may be one of the more competitive programs at Cornell.</p>
<p>CALS is easier than CAS, but AEM is harder than CAS. If you are interested in Econ, it’s definitely a significantly different program than AEM. I would closely compare the major requirements for both and read some sample course description (this exercise should only take 10mins) to see which program truly suits you. I think coming out of high school, understanding the difference between Econ and Business isn’t as obvious.</p>
<p>It was my impression that the AEM kids I knew were more ‘hardcore’ and ‘serious’ about banking or consulting careers and they seemed to obsess over internships and getting those jobs. In all, they were later more prepared for IB or other finance jobs because they were interested in those fields and they built their resume and connections towards that goal.</p>
<p>Many liberal-arts kids I knew were many times clueless about what they wanted to do, and many opted to go to grad school after college. even if these kids, too, may have gotten into banking, im sure their lack of preparation and lack of interest in finance careers didn’t help them much when they were looking for jobs or recruiting with banks, etc</p>
<p>So, I think it is beneficial to go AEM if you want to go into finance, because you will be surrounded by other peers who are driven and interested in pursuing the career in finance, and it may have a positive influence on you. Also, if I was interested in a career in business, I would much rather take courses such as finance, marketing, or accounting (which are relevant to my career interests), over random courses such as Medieval European history or Japanese religions course. </p>
<p>Lastly, AEM is known to hand out A’s and high B’s like candies, and having a high GPA doesn’t hurt when getting top jobs.</p>
<p>As an econ major in CAS, I can also take the more practical business classes in AEM [e.g. accounting]. This is an advantage that Cornell has over many peer institutions, which don’t offer business classes. Btw, I don’t concur that it is harder to be admitted to AEM than CAS.</p>
<p>If you look at the admissions rates, AEM is harder than CAS. But AEM seems (no data on this) to attract more recruited athletes, which makes it harder for everyone else. I think AEM applications spiked when it was ranked #4 a couple years ago for undergraduate business programs. That said, it’s only a 5% difference is acceptance rate. It’s definitely the case that AEM is one of the easier majors at Cornell and certainly easier than Econ.</p>
<p>I would say that it’s probably true that AEM applicants have narrower interests, but that’s because AEM prepares you for a narrower selection of careers. If you’re an Econ major taking a few AEM courses and participating in finance-type extra-curriculars, you are no worse off than any AEM student. True, the high GPA in AEM is attractive to those firms. The AEM coursework teaches you more relevant skills as well, though IB firms usually emphasize obtaining the critical thinking skills Econ gives. Finance firms will make you go through their own technical training regardless of education. The Econ major only requires 8 classes, so if you are interested in finance, taking a few AEM courses isn’t going to be taxing at all.</p>
<p>I believe it’s a narrower difference in admit rates, which is attributable primarily to AEM’s small class size [104 enrolled in 2011]. CAS has a class of about 1,000 [for which it receives over 17,000 applications]. I suspect the grades, boards, etc. of CAS students are at least as high as AEM’s.</p>
<p>‘Economics’ major at Cornell CAS is kinda non-major, almost. You only need to take 8 courses in econ.</p>
<p>I would look at the overall curriculum of CAS to see if CAS is a good fit, not look at the econ major itself.</p>
<p>FWIW, most of my favorite courses and learning came from courses that I had taken outside of Econ at CAS, ironically. Weird, although I was an Econ major, I don’t know jack $hit about economy. Most upper level econ courses were very vague, theoretical, and abstract. Not the most practical set of courses. Finance or Accounting are way more practical and applicable to the real world and jobs.</p>
<p>AEM is slightly harder to get in from my impression, but way easier than econ once you get in. AEM is a great program and it prepares you well for finance/ accounting interviews. i thought some econ courses were tough conceptually. although it wasn’t much work at all in econ, problem sets and some exams were very abstract and theoretical. (which i didn’t really like)</p>
<p>In CAS, econ courses were my least favorite courses although i was econ major. most of other courses i had taken at CAS were amazing, with amazingly passionate and engaging professors and interactive/ stimulating classes. Weird, I thought many Econ professors, on the other hand, weren’t nearly as good as other professors from other areas of CAS.</p>
<p>where i agree with you is that u can take AEM courses as an Econ major. however, where i was getting at is that it is advantageous to take most of your classes that are filled with driven, career-minded individuals because you can benefit from them. never underestimate the impact that your surrounding peers may have on you.</p>
<p>And, AEM courses are easier and more practical, and some may find AEM curriculum more interesting to study than CAS curriculum. It really depends.</p>
<p>I pretty much agree with most of what LazyKid says. Econ professors can be hit or miss on how engaging they are. I liked most of them, but I definitely had my most amazing professors in other subjects. AEM teaches you how to do stuff, Econ teaches you how to think. I think most people in high school don’t see how different AEM/Econ are, so I definitely encourage you to compare course descriptions from both departments, and see what interests you more. It’s common for AEM majors to take Econ classes and Econ majors to take AEM classes, so it’s not like they are mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>Also, Econ is a 10-class major if you didn’t take AP Econ, since you do need intro, and that puts it on par with many other majors in CAS. I loved the CAS curriculum overall, but as LazyKid said, you really do have to want it. I’ve certainly known my fair share of CAS people who didn’t like having to take courses outside their major, even if you still have extraordinary flexibility within those requirements.</p>
<p>PAM is a good program as well. If your interests are finance/banking, AEM and Econ are superior, but it’s not like PAM puts you at a particular disadvantage. If it interests you more, you should do that and you can clearly make any related career happen.</p>