<p>Hey Guys, </p>
<p>Its kk23, I have been a long time poster here on CC ever since my junior year of hs. I really wanted to take the time to thank CC for helping me and giving me a lot of help and advice with my essays and crafting a strong application. Its been a long and bumpy ride along the way full of a lot of rejections and heart break throughout the process and life in general. </p>
<p>I wanted to give back to the community a little bit. And tell you guys a little bit about myself and my story...</p>
<p>I was recently accepted as a Spring transfer to Cornell and am super excited to be going there.</p>
<p>When I applied out of HS, I applied to a bunch of schools. Ivy's, SUNYs, CUNYs, etc. and had absolutely no idea what I was doing during the process. My grades weren't too hot nor were my SATs and I had average essays, but good ECs and recommendations. </p>
<p>I ended up getting into BU, SUNY Stony Brook and CUNY Baruch after getting rejected by a bunch of top schools and went with Stony Brook mainly cause it seemed like the best deal out of the group. </p>
<p>Boy, was I wrong. I really changed during my time at Stony Brook. Without going into much details, I went through a living hell and suffered in unimaginable ways. I cried myself to sleep multiple times and use to think/tell myself what the hell was i doing in this place. But I also matured significantly during my time there and became a completly different person from the guy I was in HS. I really pushed myself to become a better student and more focused and I also just changed so much as a person and in my thinking. </p>
<p>By the time I finished my first semester at SB, I knew I wanted to transfer and I really made myself think what DO I WANT IN A SCHOOL. I did extensive research on colleges and the transfer process and worked my butt of trying find schools that had what I was looking for (a good econ/business programs and a nice campus life) and choose schools that fit my criteria as well as pushing myself to become a stronger applicant. I did well in my classes and obtained strong internships at major financial corporations. </p>
<p>I ended up applying to a bunch of top schools (Duke, Dartmouth, Columbia, etc.) and in the end I got waitlisted by Northwestern & UVA, the latter of which was my top choice by the end of the process. </p>
<p>I tried so hard to get of the waitlist of both schools and really pushed myself to succeed in getting of the waitlist by doing well my second semester and submiting additional letters of recommendation, but in the end I was rejected from both schools as well as 5 other schools, so 7 total.</p>
<p>I was super crushed and along with bad time at SB, I was unbelievably sad and depressed. </p>
<p>Then, through the encouragement of an admission counselor whom I met and spoke with. I decided to apply to Cornell. I never thought I had a shot of getting in, but I said to myself why not I've got no where to go and put my heart and soul into my application. I spent the whole summer writing my essays and making them perfect so that they could make my application strong and did my best to convey my experience in business to the admission committee. </p>
<p>In the end, I was accepted to Cornell. </p>
<p>Overall Advice:</p>
<p>-RESEARCH IS KEY. You really need to put the time and effort into knowing what you want in a school and what programs and activities you feel best match you as a person and will help you in your college experience. You shouldn't just apply to Harvard cus its Harvard, admission officers are key at reading this and just applying to a school for the sake of its name will get you rejected. </p>
<p>-TRANSFERRING IS A PAIN. Its a whole repeat of the HS admissions process. You have to write essays, get good grades, get good recs, etc. I, myself, had to retake my SAT again because my scores weren't competitive for the schools I was applying to and in the end they did not matter cause Cornell doesn't care about your SAT scores. </p>
<p>-WRITE GOOD ESSAYS. I never had the most baller stats, but my essays were genuine and I showed my maturity through my essays. I acknowledged the fact that I was immature as a HS student, but my time in college made me mature as a person and made me grow a lot as well. I told the admission committee that I wanted these factors in a school and I believed that school X offered these factors. </p>
<p>-GIVE YOUR SCHOOL A CHANCE. This is something that I wish I knew about before I entered college. As bad as my time has been at SB, I do wish in hindsight that I would have given it more of a chance. I know that it is really hard to have such a miserable time in experience that is supposed to be the best time of your life and it is really painful and saddening, but I think unless you cannot find yourself happy at all there and are so miserable and depressed, then transfering is worth it, but again that choice is up to you decide. </p>
<p>Thank you again CC, I hope you guys get what you're looking for and achieve your dreams. </p>
<p>-kk23</p>