<p>Out of curiosity, I'd like to know how other Cornell hopefuls/current students estimate my chances of getting into the Industrial and Labor Relations School. I first became aware of ILR upon receiving a promotional email for the school; I initially thought it was personalized because of the EC's it mentioned. At first, I was slightly apprehensive because I'd been set on majoring in Business Administration or Political Science (with studies in Pre-Law) before applying to ILR. However, I feel that this program would give me an opportunity to study all three of my areas of interest while leaving my options open for graduate school specialization. After much research, ILR has become something of a "dream school" for me.</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2140 (740 Math, 730 CR, 670 Writing)
ACT: 33 (34 English, 31 Math, 36 Reading, 29 Science, 29 Writing)
SAT II: 750 Literature (probably gonna take Math II in January)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6 (will go down) /:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 54 of 503 (will go down) /:
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A (took an AP World History Exam my sophomore year; was not invested and did poorly—will take an AP Government Exam at the end of this upcoming semester)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Math Studies SL (5); will take Biology SL, History of the Americas HL and English HL at the end of this upcoming semester
Senior Year Course Load: AP Government, IB Biology, IB History of the Americas and IB English (half-day schedule to accommodate extra-curricular and employment responsibilities)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Overall 3rd Place in the International Principles of Marketing DECA competition; multiple area- and state-level awards for DECA competitions; Western Region DECA Member of the Month (December 2010)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): DECA (2 years as Chapter President, currently the Arizona DECA State President), Teen Court (Attorney), Freshmen Achieving Maximum Excellence aka FAME (Mentor), Peer Mediation (Peer Mediator, obviously =P)
Job/Work Experience: Chick-fil-A (Team Leader, Inventory Director and Internet Marketing Director)
Volunteer/Community service: Food bank volunteer, summer camp volunteer
Summer Activities: DECA leadership conferences
Essays: Common App essay was about a DECA experience in which I supported two members of my chapter throughout a comprehensive community service project and learned the value of unrecognized effort.
Supplemental essay detailed my EC's and their relevance to ILR.
Teacher Recommendation: Very strong recommendation from an English teacher, strong recommendation from the State Director of Arizona DECA
Counselor Rec: Have not seen
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went very well; interviewer said he was "impressed". However, I've heard that these interviews don't hold a lot of weight.
Other:
State (if domestic applicant): Arizona—the alumnus who interviewed me said that I will benefit from a little bit of geographical affirmative action
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college
Reflection:
Strengths: Test scores, extra-curriculars
Weaknesses: Academics
General Comments: My test scores are good excluding the writing portions; I'm not sure why my standardized writing scores are always so low. My academics are admittedly horrible, and the mid-year report is going to showcase my worst semester yet (with two B's and two C's). However, this was the result of a lesson in time-management and prioritization. I bit off more than I could chew this past semester with extra-curricular and employment responsibilities, and there is a significant scar on my transcript reflective of this. I've taken accountability for my poor performance and embraced it as a learning experience; better I learn now while in high school than when I'm in college.</p>
<p>Also, the first generation college hook might be irrelevant, as I've have four other siblings who are in or have graduated from college.</p>
<p>Your thoughts?</p>