Chance me at getting into Cornell?

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
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I am currently only a sophomore in high school. Cornell is a school that I am really considering, but I’d like to see what others have to say on what I’m doing wrong and right so far. I know the Ivy admissions process is cutthroat, which is why I’m trying to gauge my chances of getting in as of now while I still have time to change my course.

Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Background: From a middle class family in a rural school district. My dad did not go to college. My mom only has an associate’s degree from a business school.
SAT/ ACT: Have not taken either yet (will in June take my SAT), but I hope to get at least above a 2100. And I will plan on trying to improve my score maybe twice more through high school. For SAT II tests I plan on taking mathematics and biology
Courses for current year: English 10 Honors, Biology II (similar to most schools’ Anatomy and Physiology), Precalculus, Spanish II (our school doesn’t offer foreign languages until freshman year), Chemistry I Honors, World History, Personal Finance (a required course)

Junior year course load: AP Statistics, AP Calculus AB (our school doesn’t offer BC), Chemistry II, Spanish III, AP US History, Physics (our school does not offer AP physics), AP Literature, and AP Biology

Senior Year: AP Chemistry, AP Language and Composition, Spanish IV, Goverment/ Econ, AP Speech and Communications, possibly a math course at a nearby local college, and an internship program in a city close by in a lab

Class Rank: 1 of 153
Unweighted GPA as of now: 4.0
Weighted GPA as of now: 4.493

Extracurriculars: Hockey - spend at least 15 hours a week during the season and 5 in off, team was a state finalist, I was one of the team’s leading scorers and will most likely be a captain in the next year and almost positively my senior year
Cross country - Spend around 10-15 hours a week during the season and maybe 7 a week in the off, varsity past two season, all-county last season, all-conference last season, regional qualifier last season. Will most likely make state my junior year if I keep progressing and pushing myself
Track - same weekly hours as cross country, all conference last season, varsity this year and last
Tutoring - I tutor middle school students for half of my study hall time ~2 hours a week
Guitar - I took lessons for four years and have since been self-taught.
Bass - Using what I knew from guitar, I taught myself how to play bass.
Drums - Drums I am mostly self taught besides help from other drummers.
I have played all these instruments in some sort of band at one time.
I played Tuba in my school concert band up until freshman year, because I had no more room in my schedule to keep the class.
I plan on joining NHS next year.

I feel pretty strong in my essay writing capabilities. My school doesn’t have much variety in courses or offer enough AP and honors classes in my opinion, and the only high school course I was permitted to take in middle school was Algebra I. Will Cornell take this into consideration? Also what could I add into my life that would help? I invest a lot of my time in sports, but I feel like I need to do more for my community? Cornell also won’t be the only school I apply to. I plan on also applying to Columbia, Vanderbilt, and other elite schools. How would I fare in their admissions processes? Do I have a chance, and what do I need to change or add to improve my chances?

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@hockeyflow8‌ First off, glad you’re looking at Cornell! I think it’s beneficial to start the college process soon - early motivation will take you far, regardless if you end up at Cornell or another school. Cornell will know exactly how many APs your school offers, so I wouldn’t be concerned about that as long as you’re taking a healthy number of what is offered. A balance between sports and community service should definitely help your admission chances. Cornell loves students who take initiative with community service - so volunteer at a food pantry or pet shelter if you can put in the time there. Cornell uses a holistic admissions process; so while scores will be very important throughout this process, they won’t be the only factor. I would suggest shooting for as high an SAT score as possible (higher than 2100 if you can). Other elite schools such as Columbia can be much more selective than Cornell (for instance, they had a 6.1% acceptance rate this year compared to Cornell’s 14.9%) and a 2100 likely doesn’t cut it.
What are you interested in majoring in?
Finally, your interest in hockey is something you should highlight. Hockey is a huge part of the Cornell sports experience. You could mention in an essay that club hockey is an attractive part of student life for you.

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@CGZoo42‌ thanks for responding! Club hockey was actually something I was really interested in at Cornell! Do you know more about the admissions process as well, or could I even get a response if I directly emailed an admissions officer? My biggest issue with community work is that I won’t be able to drive until February (young for my grade), and so sometimes its hard for me to get places because I live in sort of a rural area but I’ll definitely try to utilize my summer because of the extra free time. When it comes to majors, I’m not entirely sure yet. If I apply to the College of Arts and Sciences, I could see myself pursuing a chemistry and chemical biology major or biological sciences major. If I apply to the College of Engineering I could see myself pursuing a biological engineering, chemical engineering, or engineering physics major (with the intent of going on to study nuclear engineering in grad school). I would also like to minor in Spanish, too. I will also raise my goals for the SAT. Also what are your thoughts on early decision?

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@hockeyflow8 I would hope you’d be able to start a dialogue with an admissions officer in order to get more information - I think that could be very helpful. As far as the difficulty with community work, see if a parent could drive you somewhere or ask what your friends are doing. Otherwise look to start your own initiative if you feel up to the task - the key is to find something that you are passionate about. If you’re looking into the sciences, I would put heavy thought into CALS as well. My thoughts on early decision are that if you decide, after doing all your due diligence and school visits, that Cornell is your #1, then you should absolutely apply early if your scores are within range or slightly below. You want to show admissions that you are 100% committed.