<p>TrilliumCB–April 27 IS this Friday! (though maybe you were speaking of a different “this Friday”). Who knew all of this decision-making would take up so much of our lives. Several years ago, our first child applied at one school ED and was accepted right then and there. We actually were worried about what would happen if the ED didn’t work out, because this kid didn’t really have any other places of real interest in mind–dangerous! But it all worked out. This has been a completely different ballgame. I’m glad to hear that you and your D have reached a place where what happens, happens, and you’ll all be fine with it. It’s fun to watch the decision-making process and the acceptance of outcomes among parents and students happen on these boards.</p>
<p>Thanks Dr._Mom! Think I’ve been working too hard. Can’t believe this is already the end of April! </p>
<p>Yup, I remember when I was there. I applied to two colleges, I got into two colleges. Those days are long gone. Now you have to file elaborate applications and you are lucky if it gets read. Sigh.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I was just pointed to this thread by a friend who is in a similar situation as me. My friend and I are both freshmen waiting to hear from CALS on whether we are accepted for sophomore year via the GT program.</p>
<p>I just wanted to throw so advice to everyone who relieved this decision this year. I am from out of state and am attending Florida State University. I was originally accepted to the CALS GT Bio program and was allowed to switch to the Engineering program because I decided I’d rather be an engineer. Anyways, I want to tell those of you who are accepting this offer that it may not be as easy as you think. </p>
<p>The classes I had to take for Cornell are basically all sophomore level classes here. At FSU, most students get their liberal studies electives out of the way during their freshman year. Those are simple 100 level classes and other basic classes. You will be taking challenging 200 level courses with sophomores. So while your friends are doing easy thing to ease the transition into college, you will be swamped with hard work. For instance if you have no AP credit, or you AP score wasn’t high enough your year will be rough. </p>
<p>For the CALS engineering program you needed to take CALC 1, Bio 1 w/ lab, English 1, and Comp Programming. Then second semester, you have to take CALC 2, Bio 2 w/ lab, English 2, and Physics 1. Which is VERY tough for a freshman. Luckily I had AP credit for CALC 1. I STRONGLY suggest you do a summer semester before you first fall semester to get English out of the way and get used to the swing of things. It will make you freshmen year so much more enjoyable.</p>
<p>Also, you need to make sure you have the Preq. for Calc 1 complete so you can jump into calc 1 fall semester, or you need to do pre-calc over the summer. I know at FSU a 680 SAT on the math tests you out of Pre-calc, but that didn’t matter because I had AP. Just thought you should look into that.</p>
<p>The way the program works is you submit your transcripts after fall semester so they have your grades, then mid-spring semester you need to have your teachers fill out a form with your current grades. Then Cornell makes your decision based on that. When I had the form filled out I unfortunately had a C+ in physics. Although I prob will have the B after the Final today and some other various assignments, I don’t know if i can appeal a declined decision after my transcripts are released, or if they will hold my decision until they receive them. I have called a few times to get an answer and have basically be turned in circles. They have been “fairly” easy to work with regarding classes to take. I wasn’t able to get into a Bio 2 lab, because there just wasn’t enough room, and they excused that for me.</p>
<p>I just though I would share my story and give advice to anyone who is considering the GT option. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns. <a href="mailto:zipperman19@gmail.com">zipperman19@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Harrison</p>
<p>Thanks for posting in this thread, Zipperman. I appreciate hearing about your experience with the GT so far and hope you will let us know how you make out with Cornell’s final decision. I’ve been worried about just the scenario you speak of with midterm grades–they just don’t always reflect a student’s performance in a course, or always predict the final grade accurately either. I’m hoping the GT people realize that and take it into consideration for a case like yours.</p>
<p>Ian just called…my d. is officially in! The committee had been meeting since early this a.m… It was so nice of Ian to call tonight knowing that kids are waiting with baited breath…</p>
<p>ooo…congrats! that’s great to hear 
ya Ian is incredibly kind!</p>
<p>TrilliumCB - Congratulations!! This has been a very suspenseful year. We got the packet in the mail today, but have been trying to figure out the login for a week to choose housing. Was hoping something would be in the packet to guide us, but we’ll have to call them on Monday. Is your D going to participate in the Post program? Our D’s may end up meeting in ILR in a few months…</p>
<p>Hey People,
I always found these forums useful when I was applying. I was a GT to Cornell, and am currently a student at Cornell. Let me give you some advice from someone who transferred after freshmen year. Whatever college you decide to go to, make sure to take the required courses. 2. Do well in those required courses. I went to a top ranking state school, and trust me when I say that it is not easy to maintain the GPA Cornell requires for transferring. You will be taking science classes with pre-meds, math classes with engineers, and english/wrinting courses with upperclassmen. (Ex. My GPA at this stateschool was much lower than my GPA at Cornell) 3. Advice to parents: I know that you may feel like you are helping your student by making sure their forms are filled out and contacting the admissions offices for them, but you are really doing them a disservice. That is their job. Your children are adults and are perfectly capable of making phone calls and writing letters on their own. 4. Find a good group of friends, balance work with play, and don’t advertise that you intend to transfer.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m kind of worried about getting a 3.3+ at USC… that’s my biggest concern about GTing right now.</p>
<p>Hi collegemom, if you’ve forgotten the admissions pin you can get one instantly by email…they’ll just need an email address and you should get it right away! </p>
<p>Request online login pin:
<a href=“https://admissions.cornell.edu/selfservice/getpinid.cfm[/url]”>https://admissions.cornell.edu/selfservice/getpinid.cfm</a></p>
<p>Account login:
<a href=“http://housingweb.campuslife.cornell.edu/register/Default.aspx?Params=TC2K1DAiqK0PMgqVYmEfbR5IvXnsf8kd[/url]”>http://housingweb.campuslife.cornell.edu/register/Default.aspx?Params=TC2K1DAiqK0PMgqVYmEfbR5IvXnsf8kd</a></p>
<p>Thanks all! I cannot tell you how the information and support gained from reading/posting to this board without adding extra stress to my d. has helped. Collegemom4, wouldn’t it be fun if all the regulars did end up meeting! </p>
<p>Acerbic, great info in your post, I’ll pass it on to my d. so she can start working on her housing, thanks!</p>
<p>What are the stats of the people who get this guranteed admission? ACT/SAT wise?</p>
<p>TrilliumCB–Awesome news! I’m so happy for your D and your family! It’s great to hear that there’s some sanity to the GT process. Did your D have to “explain” her one B-? I don’t mean to belabor an uncomfortable point–I’m just gathering info. in case it’s needed in the future. If you need any information about Ithaca/Cornell, please feel free to PM.</p>
<p>cornell.blg–Believe me, I’ve been through this college thing before with my older child. When a son or daughter is ready to break away and do things totally on their own, they let their parents know. No parent involvement at all in helping monitor the GT process, in my opinion, is a big risk for at least some h.s. seniors–especially younger ones who are not even yet 18. Once they get on campus, the independence streak, if it hasn’t before then, normally kicks in. Our S did some very brave things on his own during the application process in terms of letters and calls, etc. that I’m not sure I could have done at his age, so we’re very proud of him. Thanks for your advice to the upcoming GTs! I think your point about getting the grades is very important. Socially, I think each kid just has to feel that out for themselves. Our S, for example, already has some friends going to the college he chose for Year 1, so they know about his GT status.</p>
<p>BTW, all: Our S ended up choosing the 4-year, smaller SUNY over the CC in town, so it’s going to be bye-bye for us in August. His reasons were that he would not feel like he was in college staying at home and going to the CC (the phrase “13th grade” kept coming up!). He also thought it would be good to get the homesickness, learning to live in a dorm, etc. over with Year 1 so that he does not have that pressure on top of tough coursework when he gets to Cornell sophomore year. He also knows some kids going to the 4-yr. SUNY to stay, so he thought that would make the social aspect easier, since he’ll just be there one year. There are other reasons, too, but those were the big ones. I’m impressed with his making this decision and sticking with it. He made it totally on his own, since I would have advised the CC to save $ and more easily stay focused on next year and get the grades req’d for his future plans with rock-solid no problem (and more help from instructors if needed)! :(</p>
<p>Good luck to the other GTs! This forum has been great! I hope the 2010 GT parents/students will keep in touch and let us know how the transition to Cornell sophomore year goes. For some majors like my S’s, sophomore year is one of the toughest coursewise, so that remains a concern even if everything else up until then goes well.</p>
<p>Wow! CONGRATS Trill and daughter. That’s really great to hear! Maybe I’ll be seeing her around next year. Great job!</p>
<p>Acerbic -
Thanks for the post. We’re using out last name as the username (as the site says to do), and actually did get the pin from Cornell and tried using it on the housing site, but still get an error message.</p>
<p>Do you know if it doesn’t work until the deposit is received by Cornell. We were told it doesn’t matter if they’ve received the deposit yet. Ms. Davenport has been out of the office so we’ve had to wait to ask a Cornell person until next week but D is anxious (as are we) to get going with housing.</p>
<p>Any other ideas?</p>
<p>huh…well, I haven’t sent them the deposit yet, but i can still login…not really sure… i would probably contact them tho! GL :)</p>
<p>Thanks Figgy! The best of luck to ALL of you students; through the generous posts of students like you and Acerbic (and a number of others) we’ve been able to pass along information to enable our kids to make better-informed decisions.</p>
<p>Collegemom4 - do you have all of your blockers turned off when you try to register for a username/password? I’ve fowarded Acerbic’s message to my d.; I don’t know if she has even tried yet.</p>
<p>Wendy08 - I don’t think it would be fair of me to invade my d’s privacy and post her stats, but I will say that I am convinced that the extra submissions she forwarded / and her extracurricular activities weighed just as heavily as her grades. As they said when we went to MIT - if we were just looking for students with a perfect SAT score they could fill the freshman class three times over.</p>
<p>Dr._Mom - yup, she submitted a letter/email of explanation. This is my understanding: the GT process is extremely tight and there are NO exceptions. Miss them, and you lose the “G” in GT. You go into the transfer pile to be reviewed. Does GT status narrowly missing the criteria give you a leg up over the other transfers? My opinion is it did. I can understand why they do this and I feel that it is fair - where do you draw the line when you start granting exemptions? Was it worth the year? My d. thinks so, it forced her to focus on her work and it gave her a goal. She really did not lose anything in trying but had everything to gain. The true test will be to see where they are 10 years from now!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your s. on making a decision! You must be relieved that he reached a decision; the 4-year SUNY sounds right for him. Now go and enjoy those graduation parties!</p>
<p>Take care all.</p>
<p>Thanks, TrilliumCB–Your take on the GT sounds right to me–they do say up front that the requirements must be met for the guarantee, and there are so many other students wanting that seat in the class that they have to keep their side of the bargain or it would not be fair to those other students. </p>
<p>One thing my S mentioned in our talks over this that might be of help to other students going through the process now and in the future is that instead of the admissions process where you do all you can, then wait while the final decision is up to someone else (or a committee of someone elses in admissions) and you “compete”’ against other students for a seat in the class–instead of all that–my S says that now meeting the grades for the GT and thereby getting in to Cornell is totally within his own control; he is now only competing against himself. He feels more empowered over the situation than I thought or expected he would, so that was great to hear. He’s very confident about getting the grades he needs and is determined to make sure that happens. We don’t expect him to have any problems, but what I see as a situation with at least some level of uncertainty still remaining even after all this time and effort, he sees quite differently. And that’s pretty cool! Seeing a young adult take control over his/her own future is an amazing thing to watch!</p>
<p>I hope we can all check in on the boards here and keep up with one another’s stories. I know I’ll keep checking in and looking for updates on everyone, at least over this next school year. Thanks again to all the GT students and parents who post!</p>
<p>wendy08–Maybe fellow students will choose to post stats for you, or maybe you can find them on other threads. It might help to know that we have been told that the GT is offered to a select group of students for several different reasons, depending on the student and the situation. Class size and numbers of students in a major (if one applies to a college at the university that accepts students right into a major from the start), for example, are very real factors in many cases–we were told this directly by Cornell. There just isn’t enough room for all the students they want to offer freshman admission, so this is another way to allow a few more of the qualified students in the door. Good luck!</p>
<p>I just got my aid package. I need to talk to my mom about it…she called me during a rally to Save Darfur so to say the least I couldnt hear her very well. But she said I got like $22,000 in grants and then said she’d call me later about the rest. Looks like Cornell is being nice to me! haha (and I’m middle class). No hole in sight! :)</p>