Chance a Junior for Engineering?

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
1

<p>I know I’m only a junior now and I’ve got a lot of time to go, but can you tell me if I’m on the right track for Cornell Engineering?</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
School: Private Catholic School in California</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2280 (800 Math, 800 Writing, 680 Critical Reading) - That was my first test. I’m going to retake it to improve my CR and hopefully get a good superscore
SAT 2: US History (760) Math 2 (800) - I also plan to take Physics next year
Ap’s: I will take English and Calc BC this year, then English, Stats, Spanish, and Physics next year</p>

<p>GPA:
Unweighted: 3.97
Weighted: 4.74
Rank: My school doesn’t rank, but I’m top 5% </p>

<p>Honors/awards:</p>

<p>Eagle Scout
Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
Hopefully National Merit (I scored 223 on the PSAT, which is above last year’s 219 cut-off for CA)</p>

<p>EC’s:
Boy Scouts - I am an Eagle Scout and I served as Senior Patrol Leader for my troop for 6 months. My project was repairing and refurbishing furniture for the Ronald McDonald House
Founder and President of the Ronald McDonald House Club at my school - I started a club to keep helping the RMH. We make and deliver a meal to the RMH every month and we raise money for them
National honors society(11, and likely 12)
Spanish National Honors Society (11 and likely 12)
Co-Founder and vice-president of my school’s Young Republican’s club
Model United Nations (9, 10, 11, likely 12, and I have 8 Best Delegate and Gavel Awards)
Seceratary-General of MUN
Varsity Track and Field (9, 10, 11, likely 12)
Football (9, I’m not sure if I should even mention this)
Wrestling (10, I’m not sure if I should mention this either)
Orchestra (Violin, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, likely 12)
Link Crew (11, likely 12)</p>

<p>Community service:</p>

<p>Over 400 Hours with Boy Scouts (200 alone on my Eagle Scout Project)
Ronald McDonald House (over 100 hours)
NHS and SNHS Tutoring (more than 50)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
I served as a clerk at a law firm for the past 3 summers, and I will continue to do so next summer</p>

<p>Hooks: Two of my uncles and my aunt from the same side of my family all went to Cornell Engineering (my dad was the only one who didn’t…) I’m not sure if this is Legacy or any hook at all</p>

<p>Other Notes: My school offers the IB program in addition to AP. I chose not to take IB, but I am taking the most rigorous classes offered with the exception of Philosophy, which is offered only to IB students. I don’t know if this puts me at disadvantage. Also, one thing I’m afraid of is that I have a lot of EC’s, but none of them really have anything to do with engineering. These are just all of the things that I enjoy doing. I don’t know if this will affect my application at all.</p>

<p>I would appreciate any help or tips I could get. I’m really interested in Cornell Engineering or MIT!</p>

2

<p>good chance</p>

3

<p>good chance
improving that sat crit will help you a huge deal</p>

4

<p>Thank you! Yeah, I definitely want to improve my SAT CR score. Cornell superscores, don’t they?</p>

5

<p>Bump please? I’d appreciate any insight</p>

6

<p>Does anyone else have any ideas?</p>

7

<p>You have a great chance. I got into CoE early decision recently with a lower SAT score (1410). As far as ‘Engineering’ ECs go I wouldn’t be worried. I don’t know of any. However, if there is a physics club at your school I would recommend joining that.</p>

8

<p>^Someone else’s admission does not affect yours. College applications are all chances. Do you want to improve your chances? If you do, then i suggest you retake the SATs and strive for a better critical reading score. It isn’t bad to begin with at all, and you have a good chance right now as u are, in my opinion. But if you want to change that good chance to a great chance and perhaps even higher (not just for cornell but any college), then i suggest you retake, since they don’t look at writing.
Yes, cornell superscores.</p>

9

<p>if you apply early, it becomes heck a lot easier. Regular decision - no guarantees.</p>

10

<p>Thank you all very much! Yeah, I definitely plan on re-taking the SAT. I’ll probably try the ACT too. I’m still not sure about early decision, though. The commitment kind of scares me…</p>

<p>Does my indirect legacy do anything at all? Or is legacy only for parents and grandparents who went there?</p>

11

<p>Only parents i believe.</p>

12

<p>Ahh, that’s too bad. Still, I’ll work on my scores. Do you know if Cornell recognizes the IB program above the AP program, or are they viewed the same?</p>

13

<p>Cornell supplement specifically asks for parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent names of relatives. My S has a great-grandparent and got the “legacy” letter for ED in the mail. It’s a small thing, but a thing nonetheless.</p>

14

<p>“I’m still not sure about early decision, though. The commitment kind of scares me…”</p>

<p>There are different aspects to the commitment; what is it that scares you?</p>

15

<p>The fact that you can only apply to the one school early, and if you get in, that’s where you go. I’m afraid I’ll want to change my mind. It’s a tough choice, because ED really improves your chances</p>

16

<p>Well said; that’s a good reason to wait for RD. The more selective the school, the less ED improves your chances.</p>

17

<p>for a borderline student, i think ED can make the difference. the ED acceptance rate is about 35%, whereas the RD acceptance rate is about 15%.</p>

18

<p>The numbers are real, but are deceiving; the ED and RD applicant pools are quite different. ED applicants are much more serious about a school; they can send out only one app. RD applicants can blast out as many apps as they want, some just testing the waters. But I agree that ED can make a difference for a borderline student, at least at some schools.</p>

19

<p>“The numbers are real, but are deceiving; the ED and RD applicant pools are quite different. ED applicants are much more serious about a school; they can send out only one app. RD applicants can blast out as many apps as they want, some just testing the waters.”</p>

<p>No. ED makes a ton of a difference. The notion that ED applicant pool is stronger is merely a speculation. I’d argue that RD pool is stronger than ED since many kids who apply to other top Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc would also apply to Cornell RD.</p>

20

<p>You guys should read here on cc and many other web sites about the Cornell ED myth.
ED at Cornell (and many other ED schools) includes recruited athletes and strong legacy applicants. Cornell recruits a ton of athletes every year and the heavily recruited ones that are talking to coaches at Cornell always go ED. RD is no advantage for a recruited athlete. Connected legacy know that they have their best shot ed. Cornell discloses the number of athletic admits and it is several hundred. When you factor that in to the ed admit pool, the unhooked ED applicant is left to compete in a pool that has an effective acceptance rate equal to or less than RD. You comment that ED makes a “ton” of difference is true for athletes and very connected legacy. At a school like cornell, the unhooked applicant may be better with RD.</p>