Chance Me: Cornell Dyson with 3.95 GPA, Strong Extracurriculars

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi everyone,

I’m a senior at a private dual curriculum school in Manhattan, and I’m looking to apply to Cornell Dyson. I’d appreciate any feedback on my chances! Here’s a snapshot of my profile:

Demographics:

  • White

Academics:

  • GPA: 3.95 (unweighted)
  • Testing: I don’t have a strong enough test score to submit for Ross. (Cornell is test blind, so I’m not submitting one there.)

Extracurriculars:

  1. Work (Paid)
  • Position: Analyst
  • Details: Worked at a finance-related firm, where I gained experience in market analysis and strategy development.
  1. Research Author
  • Publications: Published in two national high school journals
  • Details: Conducted independent research and wrote articles on business and finance topics.
  1. School Leadership
  • Role: Elected grade Representative
  • Details: Serve as a liaison between students and administration, and help organize school events.
  1. Investment Club Founder
  • Role: Co-Founder and President
  • Details: Started a student club focused on investment and trading simulations, growing it into one of the largest clubs at my school.
  1. Entrepreneurship Club Leader
  • Role: Co-President
  • Details: Lead initiatives to help students develop business ideas, with events featuring guest speakers and workshops.
  1. Athletics
  • Position: Starting Player
  • Details: Compete at a high level in club soccer, showcasing teamwork and leadership skills on the field.
  1. Varsity Sports
  • Position: Varsity Athlete
  • Details: Represent my school in competitive sports, balancing academics with athletic commitments.
  1. Tutoring and Community Service
  • Role: Volunteer Tutor
  • Details: Provide academic support to younger students in underserved communities, focusing on math and science.
  1. Team Competitions
  • Role: Team Leader
  • Details: Participated in national-level business and data science competitions, leading a team in developing strategies and solutions.
  1. International Volunteer Work
  • Role: Assistant Coach and Volunteer
  • Details: Volunteered abroad, helping coach youth sports and supporting local community programs.

Additional Info:

  • Recommendation Letter: Strong letter from my boss at my analyst job.
  • Pre-College Programs: Completed two business-related programs at top universities.

Goals: I’m passionate about finance, entrepreneurship, and consulting. Ultimately, I hope to pursue a career in investment banking or private equity, aiming for placements in NYC.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! Any feedback on my chances or advice on my application would be greatly appreciated.

2

What type of curriculum…math especially…have you achieved.

Your private school should best know your odds.

Best of luck.

3

Calc AB

4

Dyson is one of the most difficult undergrad business programs to get into in the country. Its acceptance rate, if I recall, is around 4-5%? Definitely, have plenty of backups. Although not the same, apparently many in the Nolan school do go into real estate and even some finance. The acceptance rate for the hotel school is around 20% I believe. The majority of Nolan students do go into hotel administration, however.

5

Nolan is very focused on hospitality and is very much a “fit” school at Cornell that expects to see hospitality related ECs on an applicant’s application. I see nothing written in the OP to suggest this student would be a fit for Nolan. Transferring to Dyson from a different Cornell college has historically been impossible.

6

Dyson is a reach for any unhooked applicant. You are qualified – but Dyson will get more well qualified applicants than it has spots available.

The counselor at your private HS will have the best advice and should know how students from your HS do in terms of admissions results from Dyson.

If Dyson is your top choice and appears affordable then apply and give it your all. But be sure to craft an application list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that you would be excited to attend.

7

I understand your thinking that Nolan is a niche program and the OP does not appear to have any hospitality interest or experience, and agree with your thoughts in part, I disagree with the thinking that Nolan cannot be a good fit or that the OP cannot be accepted into the program/college. Although the vast majority of Hotelies do go into the hotel/hospitality industry (50-66%), I also understand that there are a number of graduates that enter into other areas including real estate, finance, IB, business management and consulting. In fact, although students do take a number of hospitality courses, they take their share of accounting, management, finance and entrepreneurship courses as well.

Depending on if Cornell is the school for the OP, and the specific college is secondary, since Nolan and Dyson are both part of the SC Johnson School, take similar (not identical) core classes, and the outcome for many in Nolan is in finance, IB, and consulting, with a substantially higher chance of acceptance (20+% as compared to <5%), why shouldn’t the OP do their own due diligence to see if this program is the route to go rather than rule it out due to a superficial glance at the program?

Another possible option would be to simply take various courses of interest at Dyson. Another thought could be major in one major, but minor at Dyson. It might be challenging, but it sounds doable. You cannot double major at Noah and Dyson. Or, you could double major at CALS and Dyson, however, that might be very challenging and difficult. These are just various thoughts and trying to think out of the box. Regardless, actually getting into Cornell is always a challenge, although there are ways to get into the college. My daughter, for example, applied ED1 to Cornell Nolan, got deferred, was waitlisted and eventually received the TO option. Although it is not a guarantee, if she decides to complete the transfer option, our understanding is that the chances of being accepted as long as she meets the qualifications and requirements is good.

8

I think the Nolan option was covered and dismissed on another thread from the OP.

9

You are a strong contender. Apply, but I hope you have a good number of other fine business schools that you applied to.

As someone who has done a ton of college research to assist first our son and then our daughter I must warn you that Cornell Dyson is a truly intimidating school to apply to for even the most competitive students. Yeah, I know that’s a cliche comment for all the top tier universities and colleges. But Dyson is unquestionably in a niche of its own. Most years it is as hard to get into as MIT, CalTech, Harvard or Stanford—or harder. Yes, admit rates fluctuate at all schools everywhere, and that’s true of Dyson also, but post-Pandemic, admission rates have tightened even more. Over many years Dyson admit rates haven often been between 2-4%; other years slightly higher. The year our son applied and was rejected, 2017, the admit rate was 2.5%, I believe.

As the smallest “traditional” undergraduate business school in America Dyson enrolls only approximately 150+/- students each year and enrolls only about 40+/- transfers in sophomore year. Again, these numbers fluctuate based on university needs—but not by much.

The second smallest undergrad business school is MIT Sloan (who knew MIT even had an undergrad business school?), but be aware that it has an even more quantitative curriculum than Dyson (which requires 3 additional STEM courses). So this is another option for you to try for. Many Sloan students vie for Quant roles upon graduation. But again, not much “easier” to get admitted to.

Our daughter, who attended a very good but not prestigious public high school, attends Dyson (class of 2027) and remarked that she was amazed at the many elite public and private high schools represented among her admitted class and earlier classes. Quite a few have additional achievements related to science and math but especially business internships and even prestigious “business or finance prep” courses or certificates taken at colleges while in high school, over summer break. More than a few she met earned a finance-related certificate at Oxford and other similar world-class universities abroad. Moreover, quite a few of her classmates have parents in IB, PE, VC, Hedge Funds and related high-finance or consulting fields.

While on campus on Move-in Day last year, waiting for a campus bus after I parked our car in the designated lot, I was chatting with a Cornell professor (whose wife was a Dean at one of Cornell’s schools) who was also waiting to get back to his son moving in as a freshman, as I was for my daughter. When he asked which school our daughter was accepted to he said that’s always the most difficult school to gain admission to at Cornell.

So, I tell you all this just to prepare you for the extreme difficulty of getting in. But I hope you tried and wish you the very best.

10

Just read this depressing and frustrating article in the WAPO newspaper relating to some conspiratorial skullduggery afoot by a small cabal of “elite” universities who were allegedly (and probably, in my opinion, as I’ve read things like this before) secretly rigging the system in their favor by favoring wealthy and connected students over others, usually for financial benefit.

LINK TO ARTICLE: Chance Me: Cornell Dyson with 3.95 GPA, Strong Extracurriculars - #9 by RamDass

This is one reason why college admissions have become so brutal for most students who’ve been denied even though they were top achievers.

It’s a sad commentary on some players in the college admission game and a sad commentary on human nature.

So, to you top students who’ve been rejected: There are many factors outside your control concerning college admission. Just do your best, hold your head up high and continue the good fight to be an ethical, honorable human being.

11

Very, very strange. For some reason the WAPO news article link I posted to my above comment was changed by the CC AI program to this thread. When I posted the link to my comment it was correct, but later changed by the AI program.

Anyway, here is the article:

“ Students overpaid elite colleges $685 million, ‘price-fixing’ suit says”

Article date: December 17, 2024

A lawsuit claims a group of highly selective universities colluded in the past to reduce financial aid to students at a group of 19 elite universities.

It’s worth the read. I’ve read similar articles over the years. This information just goes to show that there are factors relative to college admission outside the control of students.

12

There is a dedicated thread to discuss that article: Not Need-Blind After All? "Top" Universities Agree to 9-Figure Settlement - #109 by Mwfan1921

1 Like
13

As the other commenters have mentioned your chances are 100% best predicted by your school’s counselors.

As for Dyson, you can break into high finance from any major or school at Cornell. There’s a lot more nuance to it than just assuming “Dyson or bust, you won’t place into anything otherwise.”

At a place like Penn, Wharton undergrads are definitely seen as more valuable than the other undergrads. The same does not hold true for Cornell.

14

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