Cornell U Chances for Legacy & Homeschooler

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hey guys, what do you think my chances are for Cornell University?</p>

<p>Applying to CALS as Communication major (late application)</p>

<p>SAT I:1320 (660v, 660m)
SAT II’s: 500mIC 580writing 580literature (ugh on those, I know)</p>

<p>Homeschooled student, so high school GPA is basically thrown out the window(although it is ~4.1)
Homeschooled, but I’ve taken about 8 courses online, with straight A’s
Taken 24 credit hours at a local university, 3.1 GPA :confused:
Florida Resident
Born in Ithaca
Decent rec’s</p>

<p>EC’s</p>

<p>Recreational ice & roller hockey all through high school (42 weeks/year, 2 hr/week) lots of time spent on this
Competetive travel roller hockey 9, 10, 11 grade
Played on high school team for 9, 10, 11 grade
Current captain of recreational ice hockey team
Adult league roller hockey 9, 10 grade
Not a real diverse list of EC’s, but there is a lot of actual time in those activities.</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>Award of Excellence in Leadership
Awarded membership to church (had to pass written & oral exam)
Tons of recreational league hockey awards (MVP, top scorer type awards)
Top scorer in regional qualifier
State champion for roller hockey
Won lots of tournaments with travel roller hockey teams</p>

<p>Volunteering</p>

<p>~40 hrs at church
~50 hrs coaching youth hockey
~05 hrs neighborhood service
A little more helping needy families move</p>

<p>Work</p>

<p>Currently work at ice hockey rink ( 12 hrs/week)
worked 9, 10, 11 grade at roller hockey rink
Web-based sales of industrial & aerospace metals (from father’s website)
Sales of some stuff on eBay</p>

<p>Hooks</p>

<p>I played up the homeschooling thing on my essay
I have 8 siblings (older brother was rejected from CAS)</p>

<p>Legacy: Mother attended (BS, MAT) Father (BS, PhD) Grandfather (BS) Grandmother (BS)</p>

<p>Former dean of CALS (a friend of my grandpa’s) “made sure” that my application got in and all</p>

<p>Another friend of my grandpa who works at Cornell is also checking on my app ( I really do not think this means that it is automatically a shoe-in, my granddad just said the friend would make sure it got in, since it was a late app)</p>

<p>Hmmm anything I forgot?</p>

<p>Whaddya think, o wise ones? ;)</p>

2

<p>Well you certainly have the legacy but you might want to kick those sat scores up a notch. Since the adcom can’t really depend on your gpa, your sat is the primary display of your transcript. However, your college credits are a good showing.</p>

3

<p>Hey Noka, I’m from south Florida and applying to CALS as well! I know this isn’t what you want to hear but your stats look weak. Since you’re homeschooled, it would have really helped if you had higher high test scores and a good college GPA. Your ECs, awards and professed “hooks” aren’t going to help. However, I’m not sure how competitive the communications major is. It may have very few people applying. Obviously your double legacy AND your grandfather working there are factors. Because of this special situation, it’s hard to predict your chances. I don’t know how much weight this is given in admissions. Really, good luck. Hope to see you next year.</p>

4

<p>Thanks FishS. Not real encouraging, but I appreciate your honesty. I also feel that I am a sort of “special situation”, and I hope that works toward my favor.</p>

<p>Ahhh yes I guess my “hooks” part was misleading. Mostly I meant that I thought my hooks were the legacy connection with Cornell. </p>

<p>The former dean of CALS said that they want people for the Communication major, so I feel that that also helps. He also said that someone applying to the Ag school with a 1300+ had a good chance of getting in (I don’t know exactly what kind of “good chance” he meant). However, I may just be getting my hopes up :(</p>

5

<p>You’re stats are in the range and I don’t think it’s unreasonable that you applied.
Your SAT I score is certainly fine. If everything else were up to snuff then I’d say you have a very good chance. Unfortunately the loose homeschool curriculum does not help and I doubt they will be impressed by your ECs. How much money does your family give to Cornell?</p>