Hello! Advice needed for an Ivy. [NY resident, 90.65/1560, pre-med]

OP, your best chance at an Ivy is to apply ED to the College of Human Ecology at Cornell.

Even at a challenging, competitive HS, your GPA and imputed class rank make all of the Ivies and other colleges with comparable admissions rates a giant reach, even with first-gen status.

At Cornell CHE, the admissions office will be very familiar with the context of your HS. As one of the NYS land grant colleges, it gives a slight edge to in-state applicants. They have several majors that seem to fit your interests. You would need to write an incredible “why” essay explaining how one is right for you.

Cornell’s other “statutory” colleges that fit your interests, Dyson and CALS, are test-blind: they will not consider your excellent scores. I don’t think that your scores guarantee admission, but they do add a valuable counterpoint to the GPA, and I can’t see how it would help your chances to apply without them. CHE is test-optional and your scores count there.

With a family income of $40,000 and typical assets, your EFC at Cornell would be zero.

Apart from this very specific recommendation, I do think there is a subset of colleges where your test scores will be sought after because they are aggressively trying to move up in the rankings. Someone mentioned Denison earlier; that is an excellent example.

Good luck.

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