What are my chances for Early Decision?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

Hey all. So I actually posted a chance-me over here last year, but I think that a lot has changed since then. For one, I’m a whole lot more relaxed with regards to college admissions. Hopefully I can keep this brief - I understand reading long posts is very annoying.

Demographics: Indian Male, New Jersey, top/competitive high school where the top of the class does really well. No hooks, unfortunately. Rising senior (class of 2017).

Intended Major(s): College of Arts and Sciences - Math, CS, Econ, Statistical Science

Academics:
ACT: 33 super-scored (not sending)
SAT: 2270 (720 CR, 770 M, 780 W, 11 Essay) single-sitting
SAT 2: Taking Math 2 and Physics this saturday, actually. Expecting 800 in Math 2, and 750 in Physics (after practice tests)
Class rank: unavailable, but top 15% of class
UW/W GPA: 3.68/4.15 (the weakest part of my application. There’s an upward trend since freshman year, though).
Coursework: 6 AP Exams taken (AP Calc AB, Calc BC, CompSci A, Statistics, Physics C Mechanics, Physics C E&M). Generally a very Honors/AP heavy curriculum, and I’ve done pretty well since last year in my classes, given the difficulty of them.
Awards: At least 10-15 Awards from robotics competitions (Excellence Award, Tournament Champions, Innovate Award, etc.). AP Scholar w/ Distinction by the end of this year (definitely got above 4’s on my exams).

Extracurriculars:

-Captain of VEX Robotics Team (9,10,11,12). Won multiple awards and attended Worlds Championships twice. Really learned how to lead a group of other people. Wrote business proposal and gained thousands of dollars of funding from multiple companies in the area by negotiating with leadership. Coordinated programs involved with funding (bake sales, etc.)
-President of Financial Leadership Club (10, VP in 11th, P in 12th). Lead a group of kids to finish in the top 10 % of SIFMA Stock Market Game in region. Edited and submitted multiple essays for InvestWrite Challenge. Taught kids about Financial lingo, analysis, and markets. Grew club from 5 kids to 25 kids through thorough advertisement and promotion.
-Violin Player since 6th grade (6-12). In top orchestra of school/district (1st Violin), in top local orchestra in the region. Performed at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall with orchestra. Won 3rd place in a quartet competition and performed at the Lincoln Center. Private lessons from grades 6-10.
-XStem Club (11,12). Helped organize school-wide hackathon (even though it was actually terrible haha).
-Volunteering:
-Rehab Center for 84 hours as a patient escort.
-Local Kumon as a teaching assistant for 75 hours. Graded, entered into computer, taught kids, and taught others about how to do everything mentioned before.
-Robotics Summer Camp/class for 50 hours. Taught and helped younger kids about robotics and introduced them to various aspects of it.
-Religious Summer Camp for 75 hours. In charge of kids and taught important lessons through fun activities. Volunteered at walkathons and other fundraisers for this organization too.
-Summer internship at Financial Services company this summer where I’ll be working with statistical data inflow and customer relationships (basically, I’ll be meeting with many people and trying to get people to buy our financial products).

However, with regards to this summer: I’ve been emailing many professors at local university to work with them this summer. I really want to submit something for Siemens Discovery Challenge or Intel STS before senior year. I know that it’s a bit late to start, but better late than never. Is it really better for me to do research this summer with a prof, even if I don’t submit anything to these competitions? Is my summer internship a better opportunity?

Thanks,
roboticsnerd33

2

For your research questions: if you just started research this summer, you probably won’t have enough time to enter the Siemens Challenge. 3 months is not enough time to get any decent research done.

Intel, on the other hand, is doable. I have friends who became semifinalists after 5 months of research. It depends on a ton of factors, including luck.

Don’t do research because it looks “good”; do it because you are interested in the subject. If you like an internship better, then apply for the internship. It’s a lot easier to talk/write about interesting things (big boon for essays/interviews).

3

@jfx246 Thanks. I am actually pretty interested in computer science and app development, but I also like finance/business too. That’s why I’m asking which one may “look good” in the end, bc I’ll likely benefit a lot from either one.

4

I am also a rising senior thinking about applying to Cornell. I think your SAT scores are really strong and your course rigor is really great too. And yes, definitely stay calm during this process :slight_smile:

5

Other than that GPA, everything else is great! But possibly a good chance considering the 27% ED rate, world champs may definitely get you in! Chance me back!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1897727-chance-me-ed.html#latest

6

@roboticsnerd33

It depends on what college and major you are applying for at Cornell.
Obviously, doing compsci research helps your application a lot more if you’re applying for CS in Arts than if you’re applying for nutrition sciences in Humec.

Choose a major that best fits your strengths to give you the best chance. You are not assigned a major until the end of sophomore year so you can always change it.

7

Looks like your extra curricula activities will make up for your gpa but…a decent shot. What holds you back from a good shot? Being an Asian…you know, they’ll use the highest standard. Sad but that’s how the system works! Also, most Asian students “at this level”, all are gpa 4.3+. Good luck!