4'11.5" AF seeks committed relationship with "gorges" university

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
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<p>Hi!
Cornell really made me love it, even when I visited it in February in Snow Season. O_o The Bell Tower, the libraries and the whole atmosphere are just “gorges”. However, I’m not entirely sure I might fit in/get in. Any comments would be welcome. </p>

<p>In particular I’m looking to see if <em>I</em> will click with Cornell. I’m not sure if my personality and skills will fit in; will I be happy here, academically and socially?
(Feel free to scroll past the test stats–will my ecs and interests be well-recieved?)</p>

<hr>

<p>I’ll start off with something different:
Two words to describe me: Passionate. Committed.</p>

<p>If I had ten dollars I would: </p>

<p>I bought five dollars worth of T tokens and spent a day wandering around Boston for wandering’s sake. My shoes are scuffed and I am not sure I want to know about the sludge on the bottom of my jeans, but it has been a glorious day. Sallying forth into the mazes of red brick and creeping ivy, my attention was caught by little things. An amber bottle, an ugly flowerpot, and the blue of the Charles as it wound through the city like a living necklace–these sights drew my eyes. I bought a cup of coffee from a small cafe with flimsy plastic chairs. The coffee steamed with vanilla and heat, and it was the best coffee I’ve ever had, sitting on the sidewalk, watching Boston live. </p>

<p>Name: Linda Y.
Asian-American Female
First Language: Chinese-Shanghai
Speak: English, Chinese-Shangai, Chinese-Mandarin, French </p>

<p>SAT I:
760 Math, 760 Verbal</p>

<p>SAT II:
800 Writing
800 Chinese
780 Math IIC
780 Literature
770 Math IC
750 Biology
740 US History</p>

<p>AP:
5 AP Biology
5 AP US History
(going to take:
AP English Language
AP English Literature
AP French
AP Physics B
AP Psych
AP Calculus B)</p>

<p>School: Top-tier public school in MA
GPA, weighed: 4.183 (out of 5)
Classes: always the most strenuous</p>

<p>-Extra Curriculars-
Academic Decathlon (11,12) <a href=“11:%20MA%20Alternates,%20Gold%20for%20Economics,%20Art,%20Literature,%20Science,%20Music%20and%20Overall%20Scholastic%20Score”>8 hr/week, 32 wk/year</a>
(12: MA Large-School, Silver for Art, Literature, Social Sciences, Music and Overall Scholastic Score, Gold for Superquiz)</p>

<p>School Newspaper, Senior Editor (10-12) [8 hr/week, 32 wk/year]</p>

<p>Violin, at New England Conservatory (9-12) <a href=“9,10:%20Chamber%20Music%20with%20Gillian%20Rogell”>15 hr/week, 52 wk/year</a>
(11,12: NEC Youth Symphony [Kula!])</p>

<p>Madrigals (auditioned a capella group) (10,11) [8 hr/week, 32 wk/year]</p>

<p>Chorus, Alto Section Leader (10-12) [3 hr/week, 32 wk/year]</p>

<p>-Awards-
Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, Gold Key (regional) for Personal Essay
Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, Gold Award (national) for Personal Essay
Best Teen Writing of 2004, “Communion of Epidermis”
National Honor Society (11, 12)
National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist (12)
National French Exam Honorable Mention (9-11)
VOICE (school committee on racial prejudices in the school system) Outstanding Contribution Award (10)
Emerson Hospital, 100+ hours Volunteer Award (11) </p>

<p>-Experience-
Intern at Boston University International Management Program in Shanghai
Intern at Boston University Medical School, Genetics Department
(Under Professor K. Albrecht, I optimized PCR [polymerase chain reactions] for three genes potentially significant in developmental genetics: 281MO5-Rik, Klf-5 and Ar-X. In addition, I killed mice and decapitated mouse embryos in order to scoop out their gonads with a pair of tweezers.)</p>

<hr>

<p>I’m most concerned about my GPA being too low. In my sophomore year, due to due to health issues (severe psoriasis relapse) and family problems (father stuck in China for a year during the SARS scare) I amassed an “admirable” 3.9/5.0 <em>weighed</em> GPA (solid B- average). </p>

<p>I tackled that problem in my major essay, which revolved around my reconciliation and maturation in regards to my mother. In that outline (introduction with original viewpoint, development in tackling my health issues/our fmily issues, and recapitulation in my mental change) I made reference to the difficulties I went through. </p>

<p>quote: “When test scores came back with lower grades, she just hugged me silently, both of us knowing how poorly I slept. We kept countless vigils, changing damp towels on my back as the feverish, itching lesions elevated my temperature to 102 degrees.” </p>

<p>Is this sufficient? I really don’t want to focus on my disease as a “pity me” tactic, but I would like colleges to understand that there was a reason for my poor performance, and that, most importantly, I’ve grown much as a person from this ordeal. </p>

<hr>

<p>Ever since I was six, I’ve wanted to be a surgeon. Despite this, I’m planning on the School of Arts and Sciences, with a double major in biology and psychology, although I’ll stick with the biology as a single-major if doubles are frowned upon. </p>

<p>Think this 4’11.5" petite future doctor-musician-psychologist-writer-llama will fit in here? </p>

<p>Thanks,
-L.</p>

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<p>that ten dollars thing sounds much like a hopkins essay.</p>

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<p>Was it the application question for last year? (I haven’t looked at the Hopkins essay yet.) </p>

<p>I heard it from a friend of mine who was ranting about strange creative essays and really liked the idea. I remember him saying how he’d probably go and eat it all up in real life but had to think of something unrelated to gluttony. :)</p>

<p>-L.</p>

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<p>With the ten dollars essay, I said I’d just the 10 bucks, invest it in a stock market, and make more money for fun and games</p>

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<p>i wrote a poem/storybook/essay deal. if i don’t get into cornell, hopkins is where i wanna go so i’m hoping i get into either place.</p>

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<p>that IS a hopkins essay</p>

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<p>come on now, you definitely knew that hopkins had the ten dollars essay. and it is a nice essay so if you plan on starting that hopkins stuff soon, maybe you could use that. alot better than what i have. granted i’m taking the contrived humanitarian approach. good luck. you have great chances at cornell and hopkins and probably everywhere else.</p>

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<p>Hey, if you want to get a jump start on your future stress as a surgeon, here is the place to start :p. But honestly, you will probably have fun if you like to learn (though somewhat painfully sometimes).</p>

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<p>best. subject. ever!</p>

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<p>I think you have great chances</p>

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<p>Barry: are they still using the ten dollar essay? </p>

<p>neutral: I gather the “20 degree weather,” “30 degree inclined slope” and “getting a 40 on a test” is pretty much accurate?</p>

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<p>Pretty much, though this winter has been pretty mild. It only snowed 2 or 3 times so far! All of us juniors feel quite angered that the freshmen haven’t suffered the full wrath of Ithaca that we went through our first year. As for the 40 on a test, to let you know, I had a class where the AVERAGE of an exam was 35 =). Though, I really do like that class.</p>

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<p>yep still using the ten dollar essay. it’s not bad, a chance to be creative, but it could kill ones chances if he or she seems utterly mundane.</p>

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<p>Since no one has actually replied to the OP, I’m going to. I think you have an excellent chance, as your scores and gpa are high enough. Your writing is pretty good, and I think that would be your hook into Cornell. Make sure your guidance couselor mentions the hardships you had to go through; that way, you won’t have to play the “pity” card as much.</p>

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<p>Neutral: A 35 average?! That’s really, really frightening. Has anyone ever graduated Cornell with both their sanity intact and a +3.5?</p>

<p>barry: does spending $10 on train tokens and a coffee and going people-watching count as mundane? </p>

<p>tower: thank you very much! I tend to go off on random tangents, and it is the brave onlooker who dares bring me back. The part of me that says “emphasize the pain” and the part that says “you’ll scare them away” have been duking out this issue since I started thinking about apps. What do you think my angle should be?</p>

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<p>that’s what i wrote my original essay on-- a metro card, coffee, and experiencing new york city. then my friend came to me and told me about her brilliant idea. which was exactly the same thing as mine. so i changed it. point is, you’re not going to be the only asian girl who’s writing about a day trip into a city. since i was once an asian girl who was writing about a day trip into the city. i know i didn’t answer your question directly, but you’re a smart kid. you can figure it out.</p>

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<p>barry: that was the most tactful “hell no” I’ve ever heard. :smiley: Thank you very much for telling me–except now I’ve got no ideas!</p>

<p>Hmmm–maybe pulling a Handsel and Gretel act and scattering change? Or buying ingredients for baking a cake with my sister (including the recipe with the essay)? Or…bribing the admissions officer “if you let me in, a ten dollar bill will drift down from the ceiling.”</p>

<p>Wait, this is a Cornell thread…</p>

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<p>i’m kind of in a rut too… even though i “changed” my essay ideas and stuff. it’s still pretty hard. since this is a cornell thread, we can talk jhu on aim if you’d like. my screen name is karina1287. good luck.</p>

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<p>thanks barry!</p>