I want to apply to either Upenn or Cornell ED this year, and I can’t decide which one. I want to do computer science in college, and I also would like to know what my chances are into getting into either of these schools. I go to a very small and poor school (it’s practically in the ghetto and everyone receives free lunch, title 1 I think it’s called). So
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2100 (I know it’s so bad, I was so unprepared)
ACT: I signed up to take it in sep…I’ll probably get a 33
SAT II: 750 Bio(m), 800 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2 / 278
AP (place score in parenthesis): Statistics (5), Micro (5), BC calc (5), and scores of 4 on human geography, macro, u.s. gov and politics, world history, u.s history.
IB (place score in parenthesis): 4 SL french (we’ve had 4 french teachers in 4 years…), 5 SL history
Senior Year Course Load: English HL, Physics SL, AP computer science, IB theory of knowledge, HL math, HL chemistry
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP scholar, placed 10 top Mu Alpha Theta national convention, Placed first in the state for TEAMS competition (stem thing), placed top 15 in Log1 for my region (national math competition), Distinguished coordinator award (I was a coordinator for this cultural event at my school), placed top 15 (Mu alpha Theta state convention a few times)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Marching band section leader of a national championship winning band, assorted musical activites (a lot of music haha), student council, peer tutor, music tutor, assorted volunteering and community service.
Science Olympiad president - 12th (largest academic club at school)
Biology Club president/founder - 11, 12th
Mu Alpha Theta-- Secretary (11th). VP (12) —I’m the top scorer for the division I was in last year, and for the past four years now I’ve helped run the competition we host (which has over 800 kids from across the state). It’s the largest STUDENT RUN math competition in the southeast U.S. We have raised over 7k a year to fund our math team, and this year we managed to create a second competition in south Florida to almost double the students attending. I’ve written tests for the competition and helped edited and etc. It’s probably taken 300 hours to get everything together (we start before school ends for the next year).
Cultural club -9-12th -----So I’ve organized and choreographed cultural dances (Bollywood) for years now and presented with at various events across the city.
NHS, Key club, debate team, and other random stuff like french club
Job/Work Experience:
I was accepted into this Research program for undergraduate students at this university, where I conducted research on Biological Computation. I’m in the process of getting a research paper done. The program was 2 months long during the summer, where I got to stay at the university and get paid (4.5k). This was a dual program where I interacted with professors at another university for my research (super legit)
Volunteer/Community service: Some, not a lot but some. I’ve volunteered a lot with the Indian Association (My dad is an officer lol). I’ve also given presentations of Indian history during a few events.
Summer Activities: I went to the Mu Alpha Theta national convention a year ago, and this year I did research. I also presented my project at the university.
Teacher Recommendation: I read the letter my math teacher wrote me and it was amazing 10/10. He sponsored the math team, and I’ve done so well (placed top 3 in every regional, and top 15 in the state). My science teacher likes me because I’ve created a study group for chemistry during lunch where I tutor kids that aren’t in IB chem. It’ll be a 7/10…
Counselor Rec: She loves me, so I couldn’t see how it could be bad.
Additional Rec:My PI’s letter of rec is really nice and he talked about how I pretty much lead the team and he highlighted my passion (he has a Ph.D if that means anything) (oh, and he’s a family friend haha). He wrote about the research paper that I’m doing with him (im Co-author).
Other : idk
Applied for Financial Aid?: uh i will…
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: small public (poor socioeconomic status)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): i wish
Comments: Okay so basically I’ve tailor my application to Biology and Math, which I’m the most interested in. (I was a point away from being a biology Olympiad semifinalist ugh). I’m very close to publishing a paper on the topic of biological computation with the research I have done at two universities and 5 months of time (it’s in the review stage). I’m applying to these schools instead of like Carnegie Mellon, because my parents won’t pay for an out of state school unless it’s an ivy league lol. Sorry for the grammatical/spelling mistakes —I typed this up on my phone on the bus. Thanks