I am a Mexican-American senior at a competitive public high school in California whose dream school is currently Cornell.
However, with only a 3.6 Unweighted GPA, (3.83 weighted) and a 2100 SAT (retaking), I realize that based on my numbers, my chances aren't that great :/
I wasn't able to take as many classes as I wanted to, have battled ADD, Depression and familial issues and have an extensive list of extracurriculars and a personal statement that my AP English teacher framed and posted on her wall, but I'm still concerned about my chances.
Since Cornell is my first choice school and the only Ivy League school I'm applying to, I considered recently applying Early Decision after hearing how admissions rates typically double for ED applicants to Cornell, and thought with that in mind I might have a slight chance.
But recently, my guidance counselor told me to be careful and that sometimes, applying ED can actually HURT my chances if I'm not top of my class.
I wasn't able to inquire why or how, but could someone shed some light on this? Are there any risks to applying ED? Would it be better to apply RD? I'm not concerned about being locked in, as I'm pretty sure that's where I would like to go, but rather, I'm looking for everything/anything I can to boost my chances for admission to make up for a rocky high school career.
I'm also applying as Human Development major with Animal Sciences as second-choice major, if that matters at all.
If anyone can shed some light on this or would like to comment with their opinions on ED vs. RD, please let me know.
Muchas Gracias
