Could I get into Cornell next year?

evanian15
Fri, 06 Mar 2015 00:09:39 +0000

While there aren’t a ton of EC’s there, I’m sure it’s not too much of a disadvantage; you say you’re heavily involved in robotics and tutoring, and it’ll show in your application how involved you are because you list how many hours per week you put in for each EC on the Common App (if that’s how you’ll apply). Make sure to put in the soccer and work, EC’s don’t have to be school-related. That’s why they’re EC’s. Otherwise they would be left to guess what you do over the summer or if you do anything athletic. And I think they prefer not to guess.
I’d say “weak” spots would be the lack of… more. Perhaps you just didn’t include it in your info on the original post, but you have good SATs, good GPA (and improvement over time), good class rank, hard classes, and a few EC’s that you’re passionate about. Not bad by any means, but you didn’t mention any awards, recognition, etc., other than NMSF. I’d say you fit in stats-wise, but when over 40,000 students apply, there are TONS of kids who just fit in like that. Those who get accepted go further than the rest of the pack academically and in their extracurricular activities. I just didn’t get that vibe from reading your info. I agree with @jamesjunkers‌ in saying of course you have a chance, but it’s not a remarkable chance. The subjective things you didn’t talk about are probably what would get you in (letters of rec, essays, etc.).
I’m kind of confused on your AP courses you mentioned though. What do Physics “AB” and “BC” cover? Why take Calc AB and BC simultaneously if BC already covers all of AB’s topics?