How can I improve my chances?

realteal17
Tue, 21 Oct 2014 01:29:18 +0000

Cornell isn’t my 100% dream school but it is a school that I would definitely want to attend and am aiming for. However, I don’t know exactly where to start in order to improve my chances of getting in.
I’m a sophomore at a good private Catholic school in CA. Indian, female. No hooks.
I took the SAT as an 8th grader and got a 2080 on it… I’ll take it again as a junior. I’m about to take the PSAT. I took 3 honors classes as a freshman (the most offered by my school) - my cumulative weighted GPA was a 4.41 and my unweighted was a 3.9 I think (I had one A- first semester). I got a 770 on both the bio (E) and math I SATs. I’m currently taking 2 honors and 2 APs (euro and calc ab) and I’ll take the chem and math 2 sats this june.
I have been doing classical Indian dance for almost 10 years, and I’ve been a violinist for almost 5. I’ve passed with distinction in 3 levels of violin exams and have participating in countless programs for dance. I’m an editor for my school newspaper, and I’m on the board of my schools future medical students club. I’m also part of the international club, human rights club, research club, etc - not important because they’re not leadership roles. I have ~45 volunteer hours so far in the year, hopefully more by the end of the year. Currently working on setting up a toy drive for underprivileged kids at my school. Will be a part of CSF second semester.
I really want to get started on some kind of lab research but I have NO idea where to begin (any tips would be greatly appreciated!!).

How can I improve my chances over the next two (well, three) years? Also what are some good summer programs?
I know, there’s no one way, but I’d at least like to get some advice on where to improve
Thank you!
(previously posted something similar on another forum)