Hi,
I’m currently a senior in high school. I’ve had some trouble with depression, anxiety, and family abuse during my time in high school (mostly freshman to sophomore year).
I’ve done classes to make up these classes, but my transcript will remain 0’s (even though my makeup classes gave me an A at the same difficulty). I have taken honors biology, honors human anatomy, chemistry, and physics. I’ve also taken algebra, geometry, precalc, and calculus. I’ve been in all honors english and history, with A’s in both (other than the 0’s in my first few couple of years). I was sick junior year on my history final, and my school didn’t let me retake it and so I got a 0 (overall grade from 89 to 71).
I got a 1480 in my SAT with a perfect essay score. My top school is Cornell and I was wondering if it would be better to apply with this transcript or to get a GED. Is there a bias towards applicants with either, and do I have a chance to get into Cornell?
I teach GED prep. If there is any way at all that you can see fit to finish your high school diploma, then do that. The GED exam series is not easy. Even if you would finish all of the exams in time to apply to college this year, you would still need to send your high school transcripts.
Are you a NY state resident? If so, go ahead and apply to Cornell. And also apply to at least one of the community colleges that have transfer pathways that lead to admission at Cornell. That will give you more options.
Speak with your guidance counselor and social worker about your personal concerns and your college admission concerns. Your guidance counselor may be able to include information in his or her letter about the difficulties you faced in your home that affected your early high school years, and your illness during the history exam.
First, check if your targets accept a GED. Also, what your state or district requirements are- some need you to be x years out of hs, first.
You may need to submit a transcript, even with a GED (think about it: why not? They do want to know your academic background.)
And before making choices re: colleges to apply to, check their stats for admitted or enrolling kids. Cornell shows 750 EBW, 790 Math, as the 75th percentile. 83% of enrolling kids were top 10% of their class, when reported. That reflects just how competitive an admit is.
The idea to start at a cc is good. GIves you a chance to catch up-and catch your breath. Look into it.
I think at this point, Cornell is not going to be a realistic option. You can apply, but your application is going to get tossed in the recycle bin. They want to see applicants with a consistent history of top grades. Also, even if you manage to get in, it’s a very costly school to go to. Are your parents able to pay the tuition costs? My suggestion would be to hit the ground running at a community college and to apply to an affordable 4 year university after a year or two.