Should I apply to Engineering,CAS or CALS?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I've posted this info. before,but this is a different topic :P</p>

<p>I'm probably going to apply to Bio/Biochem or Bioengineering........(I wanna do genetic engineering)</p>

<p>Which one do I have a higher chance to get in???Which one do I suit the best???</p>

<p>Race:Chinese male
citizenship:have a citizenship of China,but only a permanent resident of the US.
background:came to the US when i was a freshman.</p>

<p>School type:Large public.
GPA:3.8 UW
Rank:top 10/15 %
courseload:easiest in freshman yr,then getting harder each yr.now I'm and was taking the hardest courseload in my senior year and junior yr.</p>

<p>Tests:
SAT:660 CR 800M 670W (I'm gonna retake it,CR will go up probably)
ACT:take it in september.~~should be~~~30+
SAT II: BIO/CHEM/MATH II:750+</p>

<p>REC:should be really positive and good.
Essay:I don't know yet.....</p>

<p>EC:
-I started playing piano and violin in elementary school.
-I'm in my school's orchestra.
-I took a piano examination that was held by the Associated Board of Royal school of Music.and I received a Merit on it.
-I also took a violin examination that was held by NYSSMA.and i received an excellent rating on it.
-I played at a recital that was held at Hunter College.and i received a Gold Prize.
-I also took a music theory examination that was held by the Associated Board of royal school of music.
-I participated in the chemistry olympiad.(i don't even know if it counts)</p>

<p>-I am a member of a city astronomy club.
-I'm also a school's newspaper writer who focus on writing articles about Astronomy.
-I might also found an astronomy club at my school in my senior year.</p>

<p>Community service:
-I volunteer at a kindergarten every summer.(except for my sophomore's summer)and i plan on writing about this on my essay to show my passion: i actually love doing this community service.
-I'm also a math tutor.</p>

<p>Job:I might be going to have a job in my senior year.(Tutor)</p>

<p>summer program: I took a summer program @ NYU.</p>

<p>PS:asian,first generation college student,low-income</p>

<p>father lives in other country.mother has to stay in other country usually for a few months a year.--->meaning that I and my siblings have to take care of ourselves.(a hard time which weakens my EC's quality)</p>

2

<p>Well if you want to do bio-engineering … I think you answered your own question.</p>

<p>Biochem at Cornell is within the Bio major, you can only do concentration in it.</p>

<p>That out of the way, you don’t have anything really to distinguish you. Scores aren’t too bad, just nothing really “special”. With that said, almost every school is going to be a reach. Even WITH something to distinguish you, top schools are reaches usually.</p>

<p>You’d probably want to apply engineering, in my opinion at least.</p>

3

<p>^how about if i do ED??? </p>

<p>btw,if it’s still a reach,what school is a match or low-reach for me??(i live in NY)</p>

4

<p>Well ED certainly won’t hurt you, but you should only really do it if you’re sure you want to go to Cornell.</p>

<p>Since realistically you can’t really do anything about your ECs now, just focus on getting your scores higher as that’s the only thing oyu can really do. And essays.</p>

5

<p>^in fact,im 98.7% sure that i want to go to cornell,so im defintiely going to apply for ED.</p>

<p>Lollerpants,do you go to cornell?if you do,can you post your stats so that i can keep it as a reference???</p>

6

<p>apply to some SUNY’s as safeties since you’re in NY</p>

7

<p>Since you are a NY resident, apply ED to CALS for Bioengineering.</p>

<p>I would be surprised if you didn’t get in.</p>

<p>CALS Bioengineering loves people from NY.</p>

8

<p>CALS is NY-endowed, so since you are a NY resident, you stand a better chance. As always, EDers to Cornell also stand a better chance. I agree with previous posts that you should try to get your scores higher.
One question though. Why take the ACT, which you can only guarantee to be 30+, when you can simply work to get your SAT score higher? Your SAT IIs look good enough as they are right now.
So I would say CALS is a good match for ED. Just strive to get some good rec letters and a well-written essay.</p>

9

<p>^one thing that I’m a little worried is that i heard that CALS really cares about the whether if your EC’s are related to your major.</p>

<p>my EC’s are mostly about music,which has nothing about Bio.</p>

10

<p>I applied to CoE with mostly music ECs as well, and it was fine. I just made sure to express my love of engineering in the essay.</p>

11

<p>I got in AEM in CALS with not much EC’s related to business. Yea I just paid attention to say why I applied to this major in my essay.</p>

12

<p>Go for CALS.</p>