-34 ACT
-My GPA is not out of 4, but converted I’d say it’s roughly unweighted 3.65 (this is coming from a very tough prep school, think A/E/D, etc.)
-One bad French term grade freshman year that my counselor will explain, but few B’s scattered throughout my transcript. Downward trend in junior year, though really high grades Senior Spring.
-800 Math 2 and 710 Chem (wish this was higher)
-Heavily involved in school (president of couple clubs, sport captain, etc.)
-International (Canadian)
-Asking for no financial aid
I feel my essays are above average, and hopefully my teacher recs are too, but does this look promising in any way, or should I just withdraw my ED app and apply ED1 to another school I have a better shot at (recruited athlete… I could apply ED2 but my chances may go down)?
Ask yourself what has changed between the time you applied ED to Cornell and now. I assume your “really high grades Senior spring” is a mistake since you must be a senior and it is still the fall. You meant really high senior fall grades? That is good. I have heard of a student that changed ED to RD at a lesser known school and successfully got admitted RD with good FA, but when that kid made the switch, the kid explained the motivation involved financial concerns only and did not change the kid’s preference for the school. If you are a recruited athlete at Cornell, why not ask the coach for a likely letter to set your mind at ease? I think if you change from ED to RD then I believe you will be substantially hurting your chances of admissions unless you have a believable explanation to give to admissions.
Of course if you love the other school more now, then that is a different matter.
@Sam-I-Am I’m currently taking a gap year, already graduated from high school. I would just withdraw my app, since I know I’ll likely be getting in ED1 to my other school. I can’t ask for a likely letter since I’m not a recruited athlete.
I say take your changes with ED Cornell. your stats are good, and you have a compelling story. If you don’t get in ED to Cornell, then apply ED2 to the school that is recruiting you.
OK, then it may come down to whether you want to play sports at this other school or whether you want to take a shot at Cornell where you won’t likely have the option to play varsity sports. Look at it that way. Now I assume your other school is international, since you should not have two ED I applications out. Or you are switching an RD application to ED I as you change out your Cornell application? You would pursue engineering at both? I would go with whatever school makes the most sense to you. It seems to me you currently have a chance at Cornell with your stats ED, but my guess is you are unlikely to get in RD, especially once you switch your application from ED. Good luck whatever you decide to do! Let us know how it turns out.
@gearmom I don’t want to say too much for confidentiality reasons, but I was the president of a major club at my school (Student Council / Debate / Paper)… in past years people with this position have gone to Ivies.
@gearmom He said that my chances at Cornell were okay, certainly better than somewhere like Columbia ED. He was mildly supportive, though he’s always been a fan of me going to a school that’s recruiting me.
I feel like I’m a borderline applicant, based on my grades mainly, and am hoping the ED can carry me through. Naive thinking?
@gearmom Well, Cornell has an Operations Research engineering major that’s really interesting to me-- seems like it can be used either in Finance or Tech, as I’m still undecided. Obviously the Ivy name and worldwide prestige in case I work in Canada is nice, too.
I think Cornell remains a 10% or less chance unless you have forgotten to mention major awards, volunteer hours, research which is expected at that level and could compensate for the grades. Mudd, I agree is about 75% for ED1 as a recruiter athlete.
@CCThunderfin Unless you have had an amazing gap year with meaningful engineering internships or research?/Engineering and CS are usually impacted majors.
@gearmom I didn’t, I just swam and got my first job, so some work experience. I’ve been trying to code on my own and have an internship set up for next spring, but nothing substantial so far.
@gearmom Yeah, I did. My senior grades (which weren’t shown last time) rebounded in the Spring Term, but otherwise nothing much apart from the work experience. I applied EA to Harvard last year and then RD to H/P/Y/Col/P, so I’m hoping ED Cornell may be better?
@gearmom I don’t know the exact GPA, but my Spring Term one consisted of mostly As & A-'s, something like 3.8-3.9, Yeah, I applied to a mix of engineering and regular CAS schools.
Your GPA doesn’t change dramatically in one semester after four years. These are lottery tickets. You keep taking chances in lottery schools and the question is so you buy one more ticket or put your child in a sure thing. I’m not sure you’ll get into HM without the coach. Would you be happy in Toronto? If yes, maybe a lottery ticket. If no,California. Any HR person with a brain in Canada knows Harvey Mudd and that it is an elite school. You won’t be applying to McDonald’s