**Decision: Rejected **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Not taken
ACT (breakdown):34(E-35, M-34, R-34, S-33)
SAT II: Math Level 2-800, Chem-800, Physics-800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): We don’t get a GPA at school ( Predicted Percentage - 98.7)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10
AP (place score in parenthesis): Not taken any
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: In a CBSE(National Government Board) school - course load almost equal to 4 AP courses(Phy, Chem, Math, CS)
Major Awards: Finished within top 50 ranks in General AI Challenge, Solving the AI Race Round; Competed in News-Wiz Quiz till pre-televised rounds; Finished 4th in the western round of JAIBC India Competition; Participated in NASA’s Cassini Scientist for a Day Competition
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
I have published a Research Paper on Acta Astonautica Journal of Elsevier on GAGAN and future airports
2 projects on Data Science to be used in my school from the next academic year(LORs mention the same)
Zonal Level Table Tennis Player
Certified Scuba Diver
Working on creating an 8-bit computer using breadboards
Designed a Journal to enhance productivity for high-school students - working on releasing and selling copies on Amazon
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Helped initiate Storytelling sessions for underprivileged students to teach elementary English with AASHA Foundation
Summer Activities: Completed various online courses on Data Science and Mathematics - Part of an online Data Science invite-only community
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CA Essay (10) - Spoke about how I dealt with finding friends and adapting to a new life due to a move from a rural area to a large city - which caused me to go into depression after 3 years of the move. Wrote how I dealt with the switch; drew a parallel between that and my experience with scuba diving.
CoE Supplementary Essay (9) - Wrote about profs, motto and my future goals with a CoE education
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 8; had a good rapport with my Math Sir - worked on a project with him. Not experienced in writing LORs though
Teacher Rec #2: 7; CS Teacher - decent academic relation - again worked on a project with her. Again, not experienced in writing LORs
Counselor Rec: 9; Built a strong connection with her
Additional Rec: 8; written by my academic mentor
Interview: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major and College: CS, College of Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): None
Country (if international applicant): India
School Type: extremely competitive private school
Ethnicity: Asian(Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:200000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: strong essays and grades
Weaknesses: subpar ECs, unrecognized school - weak school profile
Why you think you were rejected: CS is the toughest major to get into, I guess. Should have done more competitive coding as most of my ECs were theory based only 2 being projects.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Not received any intimation from UMich, UWash
General Comments :
Incredibly disappointed, was really hoping to at least get deferred. But, then that’s life - you do not always get what you want. Congratulations to whoever got into Cornell - it truly is an amazing school - hope you have an amazing and enriching 4 years.
Sorry to go so philosophical in the end.