I want to go to Cornell’s CALS, but I have one C- on my transcript. It was in a business course.
Let me give background.
I have been diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder. It has greatly impacted my life. This course, was easy, but I struggled immensely with the anxiety and it pushed my grade to a C-. I have a glowing recommendation from my business teacher though, stating that he knows I produce exemplary work. I finally got a formal diagnosis and letter form my doctor and put on medication.
I want to got Cornell’s CALS for my love of environmental sciences. I am taking AP Environmental (have an A), have done environmental internships, and wrote an essay that truly illustrates my passion. When visiting Cornell, I fell in love with CALS.
Now, I feel miserable because I know there is basically no chance I would get in. I heard of people getting in with one C- on their transcript, but I feel completely helpless. I don’t now what I should do. I applied to other environmental schools, of course, but Cornell’s CALS is my top choice.
Please answer.
I doubt that one C- will completely derail your chances for Cornell, although it won’t help at all.
More importantly, you should not focus on one school. There are a LOT of very good universities in the US. While Cornell is a great school, so are at least 100 other great schools (and probably more).
Cornell is academically quite challenging. As such it will be a stressful school and you should think hard whether a lot of academic stress is what you want. I suppose in the specific case of Cornell you might also ask whether 3 feet of snow over a long weekend is what you want.
I will also add that when I went back to graduate school Cornell was my top choice. I did not get in and had to go to my second choice. I loved it (my second choice that is). To this day I still thank Cornell for rejecting me, since if they had taken me then I would have gone there.
I agree with the points you made. I know Cornell has a rigorous curriculum, but truthfully it is not the difficulty that stresses me out. The course I took was easy (the C-) and I loved it. However, I truly reached the apex of my anxiety (I was aware I had it but no formal medication). I was mentally stunted, not necessarily because of the level, but no matter what, I could not find the power to overcome my mental stump until I was on medication. I truly never found my high school curriculum difficult to be completely honest, but when you have a disorder as severe as my case, it can change things rapidly.