<p>Hello everyone. I applied today to Cornell, but after reading some threads here, I certainly don't match up. Me:
Community College: Have A.S. (General.Professional)
GPA: 3.9
Work: Supervisor for shipping company
E.C: I have two daughters, one with autism spectrum disorder PDD-NOS and a 6 month old. I'm lucky if I have time to shower :).</p>
<p>I'm a single mom, I'm 26. My essay was quite risky compared to what I've been reading. I barely attended high school, but have all A's & one C+. </p>
<p>Do I even stand a chance, or did I just blow $70?</p>
<p>The top schools really do use a holistic approach for selection. What you have accomplished while raising your family is exemplary. Perhaps Cornell will agree. The best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks, but after wasting an hour of my time reading a lot of these posts, I think I’m better off not going anywhere near these Ivy League schools! Especially Cornell!</p>
<p>I found a thread on here where some who attend(ed) Cornell were blasting community college transfers. Quite a bit of replies that seemed to agree with that type of mindset. It was actually how I found this site. I believe I googled something to the effect of cornell transfer admissions.</p>
<p>I understand how frustrating it could be, when you have done everything right, unlike someone like me, and you get denied access to the college of your dreams. However, I do not feel I am any less hardworking or less qualified, simply because I didn’t get it right the first time around.</p>
<p>don’t let the opinions of a few anonymous online people influence your opinion too much. at Cornell (or similar schools) you have the opportunity to get a great education, that’s what matters!</p>
<p>Your story is really heartwarming. You stated that you barely attended high school, so I applaud you for realizing the importance of education. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t hold any stock in the opinions of high school students regarding your chances of admissions. Anyone on this forum who tells you what your likelihood of admission is has no real knowledge of the admissions process or criteria beyond what is stated on colleges’ admissions website.</p>
<p>That was part of my essay. Cornell offers a form of housing which is roughly what I pay now in rent, and there is also a daycare there that is about the same as I pay now. I would have to leave my job here, and I have saved what I believe is enough to get me by until I can find some work up there. Plus, my employment has made a few recs to some nearby similar companies, so I don’t feel to worried about finding something! Ithaca schools also have ABA programs for my daughter, so she will not miss a beat with school.</p>
<p>I am scared though, but I feel that I’ve already made a lot of risky decisions, and they haven’t always been the right ones. </p>
<p>I take back my original statement. Perhaps I should have spent some time talking before I rushed to judgement. I apologize; you guys have been quite supportive.</p>
<p>Ignore those posts. They are from current or recent student who didn’t take the route you did. Transfer students are already going to have a different experience than those who attend for 4 years.</p>
<p>From what you’ve written, Cornell looks like a good fit for you - even if a handful of current students don’t want you. You’re going to find that at any school. The consider you an interloper, but that’s their problem, not yours.</p>
<p>If you are overly worried about the possibility of being admitted, don’t be. All Ivy admissions are a bit of a lottery, but you have a strong application. You have strong grades, and while you don’t have many EC’s you have what they are looking for in the EC’s - commitment, and engagement with the community. You set a goal to go to Cornell, and did what you had to to get there - that’s commitment! You have work experience - and not popping around from job to job, but staying with one long enough to join the management team. You are raising an autistic child, all while completing your A.S. with a 3.9 GPA. </p>
<p>If you’re worried about what it will be like there, don’t! While there will be some students who think you don’t belong, those same students don’t think that half their classmates belong - and they are the ones likely to congregate here. There will be plenty of other students who will welcome you, and will be supportive. Like you said, you just found this site, so you can’t be expected to know who these anonymous posters are. I wouldn’t waste the time, but if you really want a better sense, click on their username, and view their other posts. I think once you get a better picture of the individuals, you will see that you don’t need to worry about their opinion - because that’s what it is - their opinion!</p>
<p>There is a certain bubble with any of these schools. The students who are firmly in the middle of it essentially start chanting “one of us… one of us… one of us…” and slobber over each other to see who can be the most cliche representative of their ideal. This website, in particular, is a forum designed for that group to do just that.</p>
<p>The extraordinary beauty that is Cornell is that it provides a top-flight education to both conventional students and those who would not fit the mold at most other peer schools. When I was there, I knew plenty who were outside the box. It certainly undermines the reputation of the school for some tribalistic folks, but the school truly does provide “any person… any study” to those who qualify for their field of study. For example, Architecture students have the lowest average standardized test scores in the university but are in the premiere school in the country for their field. Different fields require different skills.</p>
<p>Remember, these are mostly high school kids or people with maybe a handful of college years. They don’t really have enough perspective to as authoritatively as they often do on here.</p>
<p>Addendum: Your situation reminds of Philipp Meyer, author of the 2009 book American Rust, which made many “best books of the year” lists. From Wikipedia:</p>
<p>"Meyer attended Baltimore city public schools, including Baltimore City College High School, until dropping out at age 16 and getting a GED. He spent the next five years working as a bicycle mechanic and occasionally volunteering at Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Center.</p>
<p>At age 20, while taking college classes in Baltimore, Meyer decided to become a writer. He also decided to leave his hometown and at 22, after several attempts at applying to elite colleges, was admitted to Cornell University. Meyer graduated Cornell with a degree in English but then took a job on Wall Street to pay off his student loans."</p>
<p>I assume what you earn now is sufficient to support your family. Getting an equivalent job or making enough money while going to college fulltime would be your biggest problem. Colleges are good at keeping a student afloat with financial aid while attending but the same may not apply for keeping a family afloat. So make up a good financial plan.</p>
<p>Architecture is actually around the middle of the pack when it comes to test scores. The fact that they really do have a truly specialized field and yet still maintain higher SAT averages than half the school says something about its student body - or something about the other half of the student body. The real anomaly here is that at least a quarter of Hotel students scored a 590 or less on the CR section, and I would argue that Hotel is no more a specialized field than Architecture.</p>
<p>You’re taking numbers from the entire College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, which obviously includes much more than architects. Perhaps students in that major have improved but their numbers were lower not too long ago. </p>
<p>Anyway, it’s not insulting at all. Test scores don’t reflect much in terms of actual analytic or creative intelligence that provides the most overall professional value.</p>