<p>I would love to go to Cornell Engineering… if my essays/recs are average, should I expect an acceptance come April? I’m looking to do Computer Science and maybe ORIE. </p>
<p>Profile:
School: Public, IL
Gender: Male
Year: Senior
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
GPA: 3.95 UW 4.65 W.
Rank: 2/1015</p>
<p>Scores:
SAT I: 2400, superscored 2 sittings
ACT: 36 superscored, 2 sittings
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Chem
AP: 8 so far, one 4 and all others 5.
Taking all AP’s and Calculus 3 this year</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
JV/Varsity Cross Country Team (10-12)
Played for Club Soccer Team outside of school (9-12)
Student Council (9-12) Class Representative
WYSE/JETS Competition (10-12)
BPA-Business Professionals of America (10-12)
Scholastic Bowl (10-12)
Interact Community Service Club(10-12)</p>
<p>Awards:
Some regional stuff through Scholastic Bowl, WYSE, and JETS.
1st in state for Java Programming, 2nd for C++, 12th at nationals for Java (all in BPA)
National AP Scholar
Likely National Merit Finalist(235 PSAT)</p>
<p>Volunteering:
125 or so hours at hospital and in activities at my school</p>
<p>Just so you know, I don’t think Cornell accepts superscored SAT scores. When I applied last year they told me they did not; you have to send all of the scores you received on any given sitting of the test. Given the fact that you have 2400 superscored, I doubt this will hurt you very much (I assume all of the scores you have received are relatively high).</p>
<p>I don’t think you should expect to get in, because as people say all the time, a lot of blind luck goes into admissions. Cornell looks for people who stand out from the crowd and demonstrate “fit”, and they will reject people with perfect scores/GPAs if they feel like you have the same application as hundreds of other people applying. However, I’m sure you can very confident that you have a good chance.</p>
<p>Well, I know I have a good shot based on scores and GPA, but my EC’s are pretty average. Cornell is one of my top choices and it doesn’t seem as random as like HYPS, so I wanted to get a clearer picture of my chances.</p>
<p>No one should “expect” acceptance at Cornell. Despite having a higher admissions rate than HYP, it’s still very selective. That said, you should expect an acceptance with at least one (likely several) of the top schools you applied to. Which ones specifically is more or less random.</p>
<p>Contrary to what mikeyc765 says… I think YOU wouldn’t be crazy to expect acceptance at Cornell, no hate mikeyc765. A kid from my school applied to the computer science major last year with very lackluster stats (32 superscored/30 non, 3.6uw/4.0w, few ECs) and was waitlisted. It is my understanding the computer science major is under-enrolled. You seem like an ideal candidate.</p>
<p>Well… I got rejected. Guess what everyone was saying about not expecting acceptance was true. I’m not exactly sure why, but I suppose it was just a tough year especially in Engineering.</p>
<p>But if Asians like OP can’t get in, then who does?.. They would have to be insane.</p>
<p>Also, what happens if you just leave the race box blank or lie and put white? In the first case, I think they assume Asian. What happens in the second case?</p>
<p>Yep @ GregFields, it’s all about race. /sarcasm. </p>
<p>By the OP’s own admission he possibly had an average essay and average extracurriculars without many leadership positions. </p>
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<p>According to Cornell, essays, recommendation letters, extracurriculars and academic record are all equally considered. If this is to be accepted, then it’s not really surprising that he would be rejected since 2 of the 4 factors were deemed by the OP himself as “average.”</p>
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<p>@OP I’m surprised they didn’t at least waitlist you. I know it doesn’t really matter now, but why did you take the ACT and SAT if you had a 2400 or 36 super score? This probably counted against you. (Assuming you submitted both).</p>
<p>Anyway, it doesn’t really matter since you excel academically. You’re going to dominate wherever you end up for undergrad and beast the GRE. Then you’ll be at MIT or something for graduate school and laugh at this thread. :)</p>
<p>Skiiz21, sorry dude. Your EC’s were pretty weak but those stats are pretty damn strong. You’ll be alright though I applied a few years ago with similar stats as you but fairly weak EC’s. Luckily Cornell accepted me but more competitive schools did not. I ended up doing just fine at Cornell as I know you will at whatever college you attend.</p>
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<p>You think he wouldn’t have been accepted if he were black or hispanic? </p>
<p>He’s applying to Engineering. What the hell do they want? Engineers aren’t exactly social butterflies. They’re supposed to be number-crunching robots. Like I said, I don’t understand Cornell’s admissions policy sometimes.</p>
<p>Asian is the race that is hurt the most by affirmative action policies, even more so than white. This is true throughout the country, but it’s ESPECIALLY bad for Asians here in California. African and Hispanic are the two races that benefit from AA policies, and they benefit a lot indeed.</p>
<p>Also, I honestly don’t care what any college “says” that look for in admissions. What one does and what one says often don’t line up in this world, especially when money is involved.</p>
<p>Edit: The reason colleges stand to profit from affirmative action is that ranking agencies like USNEWS and whatnot use ethnic distribution as a factor in their rankings.</p>
<p>^
I’ve heard being white is actually neutral. What I mean was, what if an Asian put “white” as his race? They wouldn’t be gaining an unfair advantage, just eliminating a disadvantage. Surely no college would have the audacity to kick them out just for that. It would cause an uproar.</p>
<p>Just how bad is it for Asians in California? Is it like a double whammy?</p>
He probably would have. But saying that the entire college admissions process is about race is a stretch, no? </p>
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Well, I’m defining ECs as things he would’ve listed on his Common App as activities, not awards. I also don’t see how he was screwed by affirmative action when there were asians in the Cornell 2016 RD thread with lower stats that were accepted.</p>
<p>It depends on your major. For the hard sciences and other majors that are especially popular among Asians, it’s very ruthless. </p>
<p>@majoreco</p>
<p>You’re right, college admissions is not 100% based off of race. What I meant in my post is that race is one of the most important, if the THE most important, factor in an applicant.</p>
<p>Personally I feel that it’s stupid that essays play such a high role in admissions. While mine were average, I still think I expressed a clear interest in the school. I’m not a great creative writer, but why should I have to be? It doesn’t make sense for a school to not accept someone, especially in Engineering, because of this. It’s unfortunate that such an important process comes down to luck in many cases. </p>
<p>That said, it’s not like I’m still bitter or angry (though I was a little at first). I’m either gonna go to NU or Berkeley, both of which I like, so I guess things end up working out.</p>
I applied a few years ago with similar stats as you but fairly weak EC’s. Luckily Cornell accepted me but more competitive schools did not. I ended up doing just fine at Cornell as I know you will at whatever college you attend.</p>