<p>Hey guys,
I wanted to know what my chances are for Cornell. Feel free to post any advice and stuff like that, I could really use the help. Thanks, and Please <strong>be as honest as you can!</strong></p>
<p>I will most likely apply early decision, apply for aid, and Im interested in Business.</p>
<p>Stats/Info
Junior, African American Male
GPA: 3.85 UW (no weighted at my school)
PSAT:191
SAT: (Ive only taken the practice so far) but 1850 ___ 640 CR, 620 W, 580 M yikes...</p>
<p>-Honors Geometry, Honors English 9, Honors Global History, Honors Biology</p>
<p>EC's:
-Chess Club
-Varsity Soccer (3 years, Captain) and also on a Nationally ranked and globally recognized soccer team
-Future Business Leaders (2 years, Treasurer)
-Model UN
-National Junior Honor Society (does this count?)
-Volunteered at an African village of Azope in Ivory Coast to help reconstruct homes (around 30-50 volunteer hours)
-Made a Tutoring business and made an organization out of it
-Honor Roll for all years
-Emory University precollege program
-I work on my father's rubber tree plantation and will soon take complete ownership of it
-Won First Place award and a second place award in the schoolwide science fairs
-I taught myself to speak fluent French in about a year
-Taught myself to play cello, clarinet, xylophone and african djembe, member of the Orchestra</p>
<p>Background: Well I'm a US citizen with NY state residency (would that help or go against me?) and lived there until 15, but we moved to the Ivory Coast in West Africa and that's where I live now until graduation; it's a rather poor and underdeveloped country, but it's our families home. (I'm planning on writing my essay on this experience.) At my old school I did honors classes and stuff but here at my new school they don't offer such courses. There's also a lack of clubs and activities here. Im also coaching myself to take the AP Physics and English exams, since there are no AP classes here. Umm...also just an added note I'm one of the only students from my school planning to apply to an Ivy.
Thanks for reading this, and any of your messages will be appreciated!</p>
<p>Due to your very weak statistics except your GPA and your extracurricular activities, I think you should reasonably expect rejection from Cornell. </p>
<p>he has a shot considering he is a URM</p>
<p>His URM status will not cover his very low SAT scores. </p>
<p>Thanks guys, yea it’s what I expected. Anyone else??? </p>
<p>@wannabefeynman No need to be an ■■■■■■■, he has a great shot if he brings up his SAT score, and you should have read that it was simply a practice test he took. </p>
<p>Agreeing with @HumrajSingh there’s no need to be nasty. If OP brings his SAT up above 2000, preferably 2100+, he does have a shot at a lot of top schools, including Cornell. </p>
<p>@IVCUSA11 What is your intended major? What other schools are you applying to? One thing I’d advise is -apart from working on that SAT- to start writing your essays now. A really good essay could make or break your app when it comes to competitive schools like Cornell. </p>
<p>Thanks @saif235 , I was planning to do something business related. I’m also applying to penn state, maryland college park, uconn, notre dame, texas-austin, emory, u miami, u southern california, and georgetown. Cornell is like my super super reach school, I don’t realistically expect to get in or anything, I just like the fit of the school. My top choice is either U So Cal or Emory actually.</p>
<p>Also, do you guys think it’s a good or helpful idea to apply Early Decision as well?</p>
<p>If he has done practice problems from the official collegeboard website, his results should be a reasonable projection of his result on the actual SAT. </p>
<p>ya know, it is very very cold at Cornell. Just wanted to put some perspective on this in case you don’t get in 
</p>
<p>To me, you’re an intriguing and vibrant candidate…self-teaching yourself multiple instruments…and languages…throw in the rubber plantation…if I were an admissions counselor, I’d take note.
idea on the standardized testing…my kid (junior) got a 191 on her PSAT and a 1980 on her first real SAT. We turned to the ACT…where she received a 32 on the first try out (about a 2130 SAT)…and she took for 2nd time yesterday and came out beaming with confidence…so you might be an ACT kind of kid. </p>
<p>Haha ok thanks @SouthernHope ! (I’m aware that it gets cold there lol) And I’ll see what I can do about the ACT</p>
<p>@wannabefeynman - Like others have said, there’s no need to be a jerk. Are you projecting? OP can always bring up his SAT scores, but at this point your average-at-best EC’s are pretty much set in stone. But I digress. </p>
<p>Personally, @IVCUSA11, I think you have a good shot. It’s true that you should work on improving your scores before applying, but if you practice over the summer I don’t think it should be a problem. If possible, try to get around 700 per section (2100 composite). Your UW GPA is fine, and you have pretty good extracurriculars and leadership positions. Being a NYS resident will help and so will being a URM. If it’s financially feasible, I think that applying early would be a good idea. As long as you have good essays and recommendations to match what you already have, I think you should be fine. </p>
<p>Best of luck! Maybe I’ll see you in Ithaca next fall. </p>
<p>@Coriander23
I always express my opinion on what I know and think. When you apply to schools with an acceptance rate < 20%, you have to be realistic about your chances. If expressing my opinion on a forum who’s only purpose is to express one’s opinion on topics makes me seem like a “jerk,” so be it. </p>
<p>His/her SAT is significantly low. He/she asked to be “chanced” on his current statistics - not after he improves by over 200 points. Also, majority of the applicants to schools such as Cornell have as good or better statistics than @IVCUSA11. They use extracurricular activities to distinguish the applicants - IVCUSA11’s ECs are good, but not stellar. </p>
<p>Thanks @Coriander23 ! Ugh the SAT’s are killing me tho, but I’ve at least been studying actively with Barrons/PR and the like. Will you by any chance be attending Cornell? And if so, can you post your stats for a good reference point to look at? Thanks again :)</p>
<p>Ok if you’re a junior right now and you got a 191 on the PSAT well lul cool because so did I. But that being said, and I don’t want to sound racist in anyway, just being realistic, because you are black (yea I said it), you actually do have a much better chance. Even if you weren’t a URM, you’d still have a relatively ok chance of getting in save your SATs. You should focus on taking AP classes more, and raising that SAT. If you do both those things (SAT to about a 2050) you should have a very good chance. Very good.</p>
<p>hahaha thanks @cbondz69 </p>