Low Grades...Great test scores, adn ECs

asdjkl · 07-01-2006, 01:03 PM

SAT 2340 dont remember composite (800M)
SAT II 800 M2 800 PHysics 800 Chem

GPA; 3.6 UW/4.1 W

Competitive Private School in CA

Good EC's...

Do I stand a shot at cornell ED.

oh yeah, Asian Male

SorGirl · 07-01-2006, 02:03 PM

Which college?

asdjkl · 07-01-2006, 02:07 PM

im in high school, applying to cornell ED?

SorGirl · 07-01-2006, 02:07 PM

I mean, which college at Cornell?

asdjkl · 07-01-2006, 02:08 PM

oh, umm engineering.

SorGirl · 07-01-2006, 02:16 PM

Your scores are impressive. If your GPA is in the top 10%, you should definitely apply ED. Be sure to use your essays and ECs to show a direction and passion for your intended field; Cornell cares about this more than a meaningless list of unrelated memberships.

asdjkl · 07-01-2006, 02:22 PM

thanks for the advice. Now heres my dilemma--im not in the top 10 percent of my class

. The top 10 percent of my class is an exclusive club of 4 people (small class).

However students from like the top 30 percent (mines within this realm) went to cornell this year.

As for the EC's, I show my passion in robotics only. Debate adn Chess are more "normal", but robotics I spent so much time on it the last 4 years.

SorGirl · 07-01-2006, 05:48 PM

40 people in your senior class? Wow, I thought my high school was small! In this case, percentages don't tell the whole story, and do not give an accurate assessment because just a few spots separate the top 10% from the top 20%. Definitely focus on your robotics passion in your essays and make the connection between that and your intended major; the debate and chess stuff won't impress unless you won some prestigious competitions, and they aren't too related to your field anyway.

AJKates · 07-01-2006, 09:38 PM

Of course you have a chance, at anywhere you apply with your scores. How good a chance one cannot say, but a chance indeed.

If Cornell is your first choice, I wouldn't hesitate to apply ED.

asdjkl · 07-01-2006, 10:03 PM

Thanks guys. See im debating on applying early to MIT or Cornell. MIT i know ill get deferred. I was wondering if i had a "good" shot at Cornell if i write killer essays.

I started the chess team, and I have a reasonable amount of NFL points for debate, so that might show some initiative/commitment.

My EC list (in brief)

Chess Club Founder (President as well)
Robotics club founder in 9th grade (president in 12 th grade)
Last year team went to national championships and placed 44/86.
Science Honor Society President-elect for Senior year
Varsity Tennis 4 years
Debate 4 years
AIME qualifier.
Chemistry Olympiad finalist (second highest in district 54/60)
COSMOS summer program (jr year)
SANTA clara summer engineering seminar (SES) (jr year).

and 2 "non-standard" things;
1. im filing for a patent.
2. i hope to get a recomendation from a UC professor when I do this summer program there.

AJKates · 07-01-2006, 11:20 PM

Life I said, there's no way of knowing for sure, but:

IF you apply ED, AND you have a carefully considered, creative application, I'd say you probably have a very good chance at gaining admission.

Figgy · 07-02-2006, 12:18 AM

Ya definitely apply ED. That patent thing is great for Cornell as well. Speaking of robotics, someone put a video up earlier of a chair that would fall apart and was able to repair itself, and then a self destroying/reparing mechanism (both made by Cornellians). They were both really cool and I'm not even interested in engineering...so if anyone has the links...

SineWave · 07-07-2006, 06:26 PM

To Figgy:
I just remembered this thread when I found this movie!
Follow the link to see a video of that chair! (replace x's with t's)
hxxp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4226669818703358754&q=cornell

Figgy · 07-07-2006, 08:07 PM

haha nice catch, I hope people like it