upsetting and unexpected college decision

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
1

I was WL by the CoE at Cornell. Having been accepted to Duke, Dartmouth, JHU BME, and Brown, I just do not understand, especially since Cornell was in my top 3. The accept rate went up too! So, what is it?? Here are my stats:

Here are my stats.

OBJECTIVE

ACT: 35 composite (36 math and science, 35 reading, 34 english, 11 writing)

SAT: 2310 (800 math, 760 critical reading, 750 writing)

SATII: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 790 Bio, 720 US History

GPA: 98/100 UW, 109 weighted, should be a 4.0

9-11TH GRADE COURSELOAD (Grade taken, AP score): AP Biology (10, 5), AP World History (10, 5), AP Calculus BC(10, 5), AP Statistics (11,5), AP Computer Science (11, 5), AP English Lang (11, 5), AP US History (11, 5), AP Physics B (11, 5)

12TH GRADE COURSELOAD: AP Spanish Language, AP English Lit, AP Government and Politics, AP Chemistry
I am taking two online courses because our school does not offer - Multivariable Calculus, and AP Physics C: Mechanics, and this appears on school transcript.

OTHER CLASSES: Science Research (4 years), Orchestra (4 years), Philosophy

OTHER: Middle-class, Indian, 16 years when graduating (skipped a grade)

SUBJECTIVE

SPORTS: 4 years varsity cross country, 4 years varsity tennis (2nd singles sophomore year, 1st singles and captain junior year)

CLUBS (Grades, Leadership positions, Awards): Robotics (10-12, President, NA), Mathletes (9-12, Captain, Top 50 in county and AIME 2x qualifier ARML and NYSML), Spanish Honor Society/National Honor Society

INTERNSHIPS: Interned at MSKCC (Summer after 10), Simons at SBU (Summer after 11), CSHL (Senior year)

VOLUNTEER: 100 hours at local hospital, 500-600 hours in building Q&A application for school to facilitate online tutoring

AWARDS: I won the RPI medal this year, a few others, Philosophy Slam 4th place, Long Island Science Congress Honors, accpeted to PROMYS (didn’t attend), National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar

ESSAYS: 7/10 - 8/10

2

I guess the bigger question is whether one of those other acceptances was your number 1 or 2… If so, your question is irrelevant. You know college acceptances are a crap shoot and wondering and second guessing does nothing positive…

3

@Sdgal2‌ They were not. Cornell engineering is extremely good. I know they are a crapshoot, but what can I do to gain admission now?

4

If Cornell is your top choice and you are waitlisted call and write to the Ad Com to let them know that you are seriously interested in attending. Be sure to update your app status with new info if you have it, including quarter grades. You can also ask your guidance counselor to contact the school in your behalf. It is very important to let them know that you will attend if you are admitted. They may be very interested in moving WL candidates into the admissions pool in the first few weeks in May. In the meantime, choose one of the schools and follow through with accepting their admission. Campus housing is often determined by the date that the university receives your request so proceed along as though you will be attending that school. If Cornell comes through in May, you can switch your plan if needed. Schools love WL candidates that express a commitment to attend if selected, especially as the season progresses. Put on your patience pants. It can be a bumpy ride!

5

You were accepted by Duke, Darthmouth, JHU, and Brown, and you’re still not happy??? I guess you always got everything you wanted and thought you deserved when you were young… welcome to the real world, bro/sis. Besides, you didn’t get rejected, you got wait listed. What are your top 2?

Also, why are you only a NMSF? Not that it makes a big difference as far as Cornell admission goes, but you definitely would have made NMF with your stats. I’m just curious.

6

As mentioned in the Michigan thread, you have some great options. Choose one. There are so many people on these forums who wish they had even one your acceptances. Why waste time on the waitlists unless one is your top school.

7

@96blue‌ I just said, Cornell is one of my top 3. The others were not in the top 3. My top 3 were MIT (rejected), Cornell (WL), Columbia (WL)

8

The fact that so many people find a rejection from an Ivy League “unexpected” is “unsettling” to me. You knew your odds were slim and you are from NYS. You got into some amazing schools that some people dream of getting into. Be happy and move on.

9

But you’ve posted multiple times about your waitlists, in multiple threads. People are telling you the same thing everytime. You really do have great options and it is rare that everyone gets acceptances. There could be a 1001 reasons why and you will never know which one it was for you.

10

I know another just like you who was WLed by Cornell too. It happens. Knew another accepted by MIT and WLed by Cornell, and she picked CMU.

IF Cornell is your absolute top choice, let them know. You will likely get an offer to get an auto accept as a transfer if you get a certain GPA at whatever school you choose, I’ve known a number of students who get that. Or you might clear the wait list like my son did one year.

11

The thing is I didn’t think my odds were slim. For Cornell, the 75th percentile is much less than my 1560 SAT. I know I will get responses like “ECs, essays” but my ECs are pretty good, especially with demonstrated leadership in Mathelets, Robotics, and Tennis, as well as a pretty good essay.

It simply is not as difficult to get into Cornell as is Duke or Brown, which obviously (as you can tell by this thread) does not make Cornell any less desirable to me. Also, I know a lot of people whose applications I extensively oversaw who were accepted whereas I was not, even with an all-around better application.

Also, neither Duke or Brown possess as good of a computer science program as Cornell does. So, it is not like I am trying to gain admission to Cornell for some sort of self satisfaction or to place yet another feather in my cap. Being happy with decisions is something I will utlimately try to do, but I will not stop trying to get into Cornell just because of acceptance to Brown and Duke. It is not about what other people dream of, it is what I hope to get out of my education. I am just trying to understand what I can do to get off the WL, maybe hear some stories about people who did get off. That’s it.

It is not like I am complaining about Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Columbia, UPenn, CalTech, UC-Berkeley EECS, or Carnegie Mellon SCS.

All these schools have acceptance rates much lower than Cornell.

12

@cptofthehouse‌ Thanks so much. These are the kinds of answers I was looking for on these threads.

I do not know why everyone seems so bitter that I am “complaining” about WLs. I, in every scenario, have been trying to understand the WL, and information about if there is anything something can infer about my WL, to help me in my attempt to clear the WL. Not be annoying about not getting in.

The story, and advice you gave, is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

13

OP, Cornell accepts 14% of the people who apply. I mean honestly, you didn’t know your odds were slim?

14

@albert69‌ I am a NMF. I didn’t update this chance thread (it is from before NMSF came out). Again, like I said, it is not about getting into as many schools as I could have. It is not about being happy. I am just wondering what I can do to get off the WL, because Cornell remains one of my top choices. That’s it. Nothing about being unhappy. I am VERY happy that I got in these schools, and do not have a problem attending. But, does that mean I should not even try to understand/attempt for my remaining top choice (MIT rejected, so Cornell is new top choice)? No, of course I should at least try.

15

@CaliCash‌ 14% is the acceptance rate for every applicant. Not every applicant possesses a 35. You have to understand that there is a huge difference between 8% (Brown) and 14% (Cornell). That is almost twice as likely. And plus, I saw a statistic on the Princeton sitethat 2300-2400 have a 17% chance of acceptance. Considering the 7% vs 14% at Cornell, that basically means in my category AT LEAST a 35% exists. When you consider the overall quality of the applicant pool at Princeton vs Cornell, that number definitely rises.

Raw statistics are useless without analysis.

16

You must be fun at parties :-@

17

I’ve read that some schools shy away from young applicants. I don’t know if that’s the case for Cornell.

18

Go ahead and try to understand it. It breaks my heart to see that you got admitted to four top schools, two of which are Ivy League, and you feel a need to “understand” why you are waitlisted at this one rather than be joyful that you were accepted at all of these prestigious schools.

There are miles of threads on this website written by applicants and adults who try to analyze all of the nuances of this world of high stakes college admissions, and never is any kind of conclusion reached except that certain schools are a reach for everyone. The discussions go on and on and on.

There are also lots of posts during the past week from students who are waitlisted or did not get admitted (I hate the term rejected) to any of the many high end schools they applied to. If you can actually afford to go to these schools were you were admitted, you should be grateful for the situation that you are in. There are many many applicants who would trade places with you in a heartbeat.

19

@NorthernMom61‌ It is not that I am unhappy with the acceptances. It’s just that they weren’t where I wanted to go, you know. There is just something special about Cornell engineering. As a waitlistlee, why is it wrong to want to get off the waitlist to your top choice school?

20

"It’s just that they weren’t where I wanted to go, you know. "—> Then why did you apply?

“Raw statistics are useless without analysis.”—> OP, I doubt that students applying with a 35 on the ACT have an acceptance rate of more than 50% at Cornell. If they did, then you can ask this questions. But since they don’t, your frustration is unwarranted. If most people get rejected, you should expect to be part of that same bunch.

Unless of course, I am actually wrong and Cornell guarantees admission for those who pass a certain threshold for test scores. If that is the case, I apologize.