<p>I got waitlisted at Cornell and I want to appeal this, and get into the accepted pool. I'm very passionate about Cornell (since I was rejected from my first choice, Duke) and I hear that the university doesn't ignore appeals without some sort of review. Any ideas on how to approach this? I know for a fact that I'm not under qualified. Here's my info:
I'm Asian, my GPA is 3.65 Unweighted (with upward trend, and senior year is my best year so far)
SAT: 2270 superscored
SAT2: Biology 760, Chinese 780
10 APs taken (planning to finish 16): Statistics 4, Physics B 4, European History 3, Chinese 5, Physics C - Mechanics 5, Physics C - E&M 5, English Lang/Composition 5, Biology 4, US History 4, Calculus BC 5 (AB Subscore 5)
Awarded National AP Scholar in Junior year, AP Scholar With Distinction same year
AMC School Winner (American Mathematics Competition)
AIME Qualifier (scored 4)
Foreign Language Essay Contest Winner
Extracurriculars:
Captain of Varsity Swimming Team, about 4 years worth of Boy Scouts (never got to Eagle), Youth Group volunteering, and Swimming Instructor (paid work). All of which took relatively large time commitments.
From what I heard, my essays are strong, and I have a recommendation letter from a Physics Professor at Columbia.</p>
<p>where did you hear that Cornell even accepts appeals? Nothing in what you’ve written says that you’re some shoo-in for admission. Your GPA is your mill stone. If you look, there are people with better achievements than you that have been rejected.</p>
<p>Congrats on being WLd but you should accept a WL spot, put it out of your mind, and move on to your next top choice. You are seriously mistaken and have no grounds for an appeal and if you initiate one now, you can imagine how that will look to them when the DO decide to look at the WL for people to invite.</p>
<p>You were waitlisted just get over it and move on. </p>
<p>@T26E4 I never said I was a shoo-in for admission. All I said was that I know for a fact that I’m not underqualified. I’m aware my GPA is low, but you ought to consider that I’ve taken 16 APs from Freshman to Senior year, making my course rigor among the hardest anyone has seen. And there are people with lesser achievements who have been accepted. Secondly, I heard from the admissions office, when I called, that they will look at appeals… so I’m not seriously mistaken. And I can imagine that it’ll look like I was really going for that spot if given the opportunity. So gee, as much as I’d like to thank you for all the “encouragement” and “support” during a troubling time, nobody really needs you’re negativity (no matter how true) on this forum.</p>
<p>“nobody really needs you’re negativity (no matter how true) on this forum.”</p>
<p>It’s not so much negativity as it is a reality check. 43,000 people applied to Cornell this year. 37,000 were rejected (with a small percentage being waitlisted). The reality is, your stats make you an average candidate for Cornell; nothing more, nothing less. A very high percentage of those 37,000 rejected/waitlisted students have equal or better stats.</p>
<p>P.S. you misspelled “your.” </p>
<p>Well, I wish the poster well. Only Cornell can give him an accurate response. He has very solid credentials. Good luck!</p>
<p>You were waitlisted. Your GPA is average. Move on and get over it.</p>
<p>Cornell wasn’t your first choice… that’s your first issue. Don’t look for pity. Many people got rejected with better GPA’s than you who dreamed about going to Cornell. </p>
<p>I wasn’t looking for pity or reality checks… I was looking for any and all advice… hence “Any ideas on how to approach this?” being my only question in this post… I know wait list decisions should be treated like rejections and I probably won’t get off the list due to my low GPA, but I’m choosing to fight that. Please let me sink or swim on my own without criticism… and only post here if you have any actual advice on how I should approach an appeals process</p>
<p>The problem is that you have no basis for an appeal. You can accept your place on the waitlist and submit any additional information (recommendations, awards, etc,) that may be new, but you cannot “appeal” from a decision to place you on the waitlist. What would be the basis for your appeal? That the adcom messed up by not reviewing your application closely enough? How do you plan to express that view without possibly offending the adcom? As many posters, including me, have pointed out, you are qualified, but there were thousands of qualified applicants who were rejected. At least you got on the waitlist. All you can do is hope for the best. I’m sure Cornell sent you the information about their waitlist; if not, here is some information from their website:</p>
<p><a href=“http://admissions.cornell.edu/pdf/about-waiting-list”>http://admissions.cornell.edu/pdf/about-waiting-list</a></p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Cornell does not do appeals. Their decision is final. You may want to stay on their WL, send in additional information, like your latest transcript and another essay. If/when Cornell goes to its WL you may have another chance.</p>
<p>There is no need to be so harsh. His stats were solid, just like so many other applicants. No one likes to be turned down.</p>
<p>DO NOT appeal. DO NOT. I guarantee that your slim chance of acceptance (granted by the WL) will be tossed out of the window.</p>