<p>That your GPA drag is entirely in 9th grade definitely increases your chances. For engineering, they almost won’t care at all about those grades in 9th grade. Any top school will weight your most recent years the most. That’s not to say 9th grade doesn’t count, but it counts less and if you’re doing engineering, I think your GPA may actually be an asset for you, given your grades in math/science. Keep in mind, most engineering students excelled in math/science, but also excelled in their other subjects. However, if all you did poorly in was Art and Spanish in 9th grade, I really see you as being above average for even accepted students. </p>
<p>Overall, Cornell looks at all classes. The candidates that apply are too strong to not do so. However, if you had straight A’s except 2 classes in 9th grade, I really don’t see that hurting your chances much. Further, Engineering does weight math/science moreso than the other colleges. So if you were top 7% in all classes, that’s not bad, but Engineering will value you more if you were top 3% in math/science, and top 15% in your other classes. Other colleges at Cornell may prefer that person who was top 7% across the board (esp. Arts, where you don’t apply to a major). Note: That’s a rather crude example meant to illustrate a point rather than actually be a good guideline.</p>
<p>I only do Cornell chances, but given Cornell is a top Engineering school, I’d encourage you to apply to any top school that’s on your list. You certainly would seem to have at least a small chance at any of them, and overall, I think your chances are fairly solid. I’d be surprised if you applied to a bunch of top Engineering school and didn’t get into at least one.</p>