Should I ED at Columbia or Cornell

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Do you think I'll be better off using an ED at Columbia or Cornell (as in it will fit my plan and somewhat undecidedness and i will have a better chance of getting into). I already know that Columbia is smaller and more urban than Cornell but I'm fine with both of the campuses.</p>

<p>My plan is to major in mechancial engineering but also take pre-med classes in case I decide to be a doctor later. So here are my stats. BTW, I live in Maryland, I am an over-represented minority, Male, not poor or rich and am a rising senior at a competitive public school.</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (760M, 740V, 800W(10E))
SAT II:
Chemistry: 800
Math 2c: 790
World History: 680
GPA: Unweighted 3.95/4.00 (Got a B in english this year)
Weighted: idk, more than unweighted...i took mostly G/T and AP classes.
Rank: top 10ish/435
AP: (10th grade) US gov and pol (5)
(11th grade) chem (5), calc ab (5), world history (4), and english language (4)
(12th grade) physics (both of the C ones), english literature, and calc bc
EC's: (Not great)
-National Honor Society (did my community service requirements for this)
-Maryland Technology Honor Society (didn't do much)
-Future Business Leaders of America (didn't do much)
-Piano (umm...yea)
-Tae kwon do (black belt, demo team)
-An internship at NASA last summer
-Volunteer a ton at a hospital this summer (like 132 hours)
-Enrolled in a tech-magnet program at my school where i go to an applications and research laboratory and have a 2-period class there (we built an electrathon vehicle, its like a battery-powered racer that we can drive around in); will do a different project next year, maybe a robot
Teacher Recs: Pretty average (i dont do anything class) not bad, but average
Essay: Will be okay, im not really great at writting, i only got an 800 on the SAT cuz i aced the MC, but i'll work hard on it (I'll probably talk about my experience building an electrathon car with my class)
Other: Perfect attendence throughout high school, (that's all i can think of now)</p>

2

<p>You interned at NASA? Write your essay on that, man!</p>

3

<p>Idk, I thought building a car was a lot cooler than sleeping at a computer for three weeks.</p>

4

<p>I've heard some people complain that Columbia's engineering school didn't feel like part of Columbia, the way they might have wanted it (though, I suppose that's to be expected, considering Fu IS separate . . . ) What's Columbia's ED acceptance rate?</p>

5

<p>Hmm....that kind of sucks...can anyone else confirm that. Is it like separate housing or classes or something</p>

6

<p>Fu is separate from Columbia College, but housing is the same.</p>

<p>Columbia engineers have a certain set of classes to take along with a modified version of the core. Engineering courses will obviously be separate from CC courses.</p>

<p>To the OP: You need to really figure out where you want to go and not just choose because of a higher acceptance rate. I go to Columbia and hated Cornell. Wouldn't have ever thought to apply there. They are two extremely different universities, so your best bet would be to learn more about them and then choose.</p>

7

<p>That's what I'm here for, go ahead and learn me. I like both of the schools from what "research" I've done so far... What did you hate about Cornell?</p>

8

<p>If you like both Columbia and Cornell equally, don't do ED. Hell, you should only do ED if you like one way more than the other.</p>

9

<p>Someone should verify, but the early acceptance rate to FU is one out of three (really really good), or so I've heard.</p>

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<p>To waffle: if i don't ed to either place then there's a better chance that i will be rejected from both, which would suck more than be obligated to go to one over another.</p>

<p>To gj12789: yea, that's about right.</p>

11

<p>unless you absolutely love your college, don't apply ED. My friend got into both schools RD with similar stats.</p>

12

<p>Well, how would it be easier to decide after admissions (assuming you get both) then before...i might as well explore the colleges now...right?</p>

13

<p>Bump...or should i move this to another forum...</p>

14

<p>You have pretty good chances at both schools. I would apply Cornell College of Engineering, but only because I have some innate dislike of the Fu Foundation. You can search around College Confidential for relevant threads, like this one talking about Columbia Engineering (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=205271)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=205271)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

15

<p>Why don't you like Fu? But, that link you gave talked a lot about how columbia seas is good for people who are not sure they want to be engineers, so that should be good for me right?</p>

16

<p>Have you visited either schools?</p>

<p>You should do that before applying ED anywhere. You may find out you hate one school after you go see it...</p>

17

<p>......both</p>