<ol>
<li>have an 1840 SAT (hoping to get it to at least 2000)</li>
<li>play 3 sports, 2 are varsity, and I am a team captain for one of them</li>
<li>chosen to present a project of mine in front of the Board of Education</li>
<li>provide free school and SAT tutoring to those who need it in my school</li>
<li>involved in a club</li>
<li>3.8 GPA unweighted</li>
<li>Volunteer in a soup kitchen every week</li>
<li>single parent home</li>
<li>low income</li>
<li>first generation college student</li>
<li>top 10% in my class</li>
<li>pretty high performing school in NJ (in top 1000 of all high schools in country)</li>
<li>and I'm black (just throwing that in there)
what are my chances of getting into Cornell?</li>
</ol>
<p>SAT score is your biggest hurdle.</p>
<p>What college at Cornell, What do you want to study.</p>
<p>SAT – what is your breakdown – (we think) that Cornell doesn’t look at SAT-W yet.</p>
<p>As it stands – the 25th percentile SAT scores at Cornell are SAT-CR 630 and SAT-M 670. This means that 75% of the enterring class attains these scores or better. The Median is about 50 points higher per section.</p>
<p>There is a lot of variance from college to college withing Cornell, so this is a really rough guide.</p>
<p>Your 1840 – I’ll assume it breaks evenly to 610-620 per section. But if you provide your actual score, it could change the analysis (especially if the Writing is either relatively high or low)</p>
<p>Currently, your SATs are on the low end of the range for Cornell, but not impossibly low. Another 50 points or so per section would help. You also have a lot going for you, with grades, first generation, etc.</p>
<p>The fact that you’re black makes you an Under-Represented Minority (you’ll see the phrase URM a lot on this site) should help. Top Universities are looking to recruit well-qualified minority students such as yourelf.</p>
<p>Bottom line – With your current stats, you should apply. Improving your SATs can only enhance your application.</p>
<p>Math-640
Reading-600
Writing-600</p>
<p>I have begun to practice for the SAT now and I am getting around a 2000-2100 every time I take the test. Hopefully my practice scores will translate to a great score on the real thing though. The problem is that my strongest subject is writing (consistently getting 730+) and they might not even look at it. But using my score and extracurriculars right now, do you think I should apply to Cornell?</p>
<p>Do you know of any URMs that got into Cornell with similar credentials?</p>
<p>So there are a few URMs there with 1800s? Of course I will still strive for a better score but it does put me at ease knowing that we do exist</p>