Please chance me for Cornell Engineering ED

clwc59
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:21:48 +0000

Hi, everyone. I posted this on the Cornell sub-forum but received no replies, so I’m starting a thread on this sub-forum.
I am a Chinese male from rural Missouri.
I will be applying Early Decision to the College of Engineering at Cornell. I will select Environmental Engineering as my intended major.
Below are my stats and other info.

GPA: 4.0 UW (school doesn’t do weight grades because they “benefit too few students”)
Rank: 1/283. Currently, about 13-14 students, including myself, share this rank. However, I have the most rigorous course load out of all of them.
SAT: 580CR/800M/640W. I just took the October one. Didn’t feel too great about the CR; it seemed much harder compared to past tests and practice tests. I think I will get mid-700s on the writing this time, although I don’t think Cornell Engineering considers the writing section.
SAT IIs: 790 Math II, 710 Chemistry, 760 Chinese w/ Listening (worthless test?)
AP Tests: Calc AB-5, U.S. History-4, European History-3

Extracurriculars:
-Football (will this help me since not many Asians play football?) - 11th-12th grade - JV/Varsity junior year, Varsity senior year - 20-25 hrs/week during season, 4-5 hrs/week during offseason, 10-15 hrs/week during summer
-Basketball - 9th-12th - Player during freshman year, Co-manager sophomore year, head manager junior and senior years - 15-20 hours/week during season
-Link Crew - 11th-12th grade - Link-Leader - 1-4 hrs/week
-Spanish Club - 10th-12th grade - Treasurer senior year - 1-4 hrs/week
-Student Council - 10th-12th grade - Honorary Member all 3 years - 1-3 hrs/week
-National Honor Society - 11th-12th grade - Elected Member - 1-3 hrs/week
-Piano - 12 years experience - 4-7 hrs/week
-Violin - 6 years experience - 4-7 hrs/week
*Note: I didn’t join any school clubs until 10th grade because the senior high school here starts in 10th grade, and at junior high, there were like 2 clubs, neither of which interested me.

Volunteering:
-Food Distribution - 10th-12th grade - 3-6 hrs/week, once a month
-Math Tutor - 11th-12th grade - 1-2 hrs/week
-Various Service Projects - 10th-12th grade - I actively participate in service projects sponsored by the clubs I am a member of. - hrs/week varies

Awards:
-AP Scholar
-1st Team Academic All-Ozark-Conference 08-09; should get it again this year
-National Honor Society (if that counts?)
-several school awards

AP/College Classes:
-AP European History
-AP U.S. History
-Calculus I w/ Analytic Geometry (through Missouri University of Science and Technology)
-Calculus II w/ Analytic Geometry (Missouri S&T)
-currently taking AP English Lit, AP Chemistry, and Calculus III w/ Analytic Geometry (1st sem.; Missouri S&T); during 2nd semester, I will likely take Intro. to Probability and Statistics @ Missouri S&T
My school offers very few AP classes. By graduation, I will have taken every AP class offered by my school or the equivalent at Missouri S&T except for a couple, which are irrelevant to my interests (such as AP Studio Art). I have also gone beyond my school’s highest math class, which is AP Calc AB (which I didn’t take; I chose to take Calc I/Calc II instead). Additionally, by graduation, I will have taken every advanced science course offered by my school except for Advanced Earth Science.

Work Experience:
-Summer research internship at Missouri University of Science and Technology - 25-35 hrs/week (summer '09) - I conducted research in the field of environmental chemistry. By the end of my internship, I drafted a paper as the 1st author. The paper has since been submitted for publication to an undergraduate research journal (it is a peer-reviewed journal), and I am still awaiting a decision as to whether my paper will be accepted or rejected for publication (hopefully accepted).

Essays: decent. The Cornell one definitely shows my interest in Cornell and I gave many specific pieces of information to describe how Cornell can help me achieve my goals.

Recs: counselor one is superb; biology teacher wrote a great letter; haven’t seen chemistry teacher’s letter, but should be great, she likes me. I have also asked the professor I worked under this summer for a letter of recommendation, and he said he would write a “beautiful” one. He said he really enjoyed having me work in his lab, and he’s a family friend, so the letter should be solid.

Final Comments:
I know my SAT scores are not too amazing; my CR score is mediocre. I think I will retake the SAT one last time in November to try and get at least 600-650 on CR. Additionally, I am enrolled in AP English so I hope I am showing that I am willing to improve my weaknesses. If only I excelled as much in English as I do in math and science…
I am also hoping that my research carries some weight in the admissions process and, along with my Cornell essay, shows that I have a passion for environmental sciences and environmental engineering.

What are my chances for admission to Cornell Engineering (through ED)? Thanks in advance.