thevicfung

Not very optimistic about my chances :/
I'm a U.S. citizen(Chinese) who took all of middle and high school in an international school in Shanghai, China. My dad was accepted to Cornell 41 years ago on full scholarship.
My GPA: Roughly 4 ish, can anyone explain what "weighted" means?
Rank: Roughly 20/2-300
IB HL History, Chemistry, Eng
IB standard bio, chinese, math
AP Bio, Chinese: 5
SAT: 2150 or something, i forgot (Math 760, Writing 660(***), Reading~730)
SAT 2: Bio 770, Chem 760, Math 720
Intended major: Biochem or something

EC: none, whatsoever. Maybe some astronomy club vp for a few years, some random ec a few hours for each event, helping out, volunteering, but all broken up and not too important to be listed as one thing.

As you can see, EC is probably my weakest, and my scores are nothing too special. I will be applying early. My family has an income of roughly 5-10k USD a year, which isnt very much, so im also worried about financial aid. Thus, the prospects seems to be very, very dim.

cowking15

you are a legacy, so that helps you out.

Dont worry most colleges will try their best to help you with financial aid. Im geussing you live in china right now?

Dont worry, just apply and wait for the response. Dont kill yourself if you dont make it, youll get over it in a few days and attend a different university, and im sure itll be a great one

thevicfung

yeah..im still living in china right now... Its good to know that legacy helps, but still i guess the odds are against me... I have some UC universities as safety such as UCSD which i hope i can make it...if i don't then well... :/

thevicfung

bump anyone?

Djokovic

why is your family income so low? I thought your dad is a Cornell alumni!!!! geez

kidwithshirt

10k USD in China is pretty decent income. I have relatives back home would have to take years to earn that much

thevicfung

yeah...though income right now isnt my main area of worry, because it seems cornell is rather generous in aid. However it seems i must address or balance the problem of my bad ECs, maybe in my college essay, which I have yet to start... for example talking about my intellectual initiative and interest in chemistry or something, thought it may seem a bit generic and boring.

thevicfung

.......what?

ac1234

you will be fine... Cornell may be a hard one but you have a strong SAT score and GPA... 4.0 and a 2150? right?... if its accurate you will definetly get into a UC School.. UC Schools are great and it will save you alot of money compared to the Ivy League Schools.

nikeofsamothrace

I think with a strong essay you could get into Cornell especially considering the legacy and such. Be sure to explain about extracuriculars. You could try joining some stuff now too.

hmom5

UCSD cost almost as much as Cornell but gives no aid to OOS students. Doesn't sound like a financial safety.

motion12345

if you're looking for a good safety that's somewhat cheap, then I'd go for University of Toronto or McGill University in Canada. Tuition is ~$20,000 (30k with room and board) for international students and with your scores I'm sure you'd get some financial aid. Along with that, Canadian universities are basically 100% numbers (although not 100% numbers for scholarship/financial aid considerations which might not fare so well for you) which should play in your favor.

thevicfung

thanks for the responses and advice! I guess ill start working on my essay and hope for the best! thank you!