Hey folks. I live in NYC, am an intern at the office of a major city politician and public health advocate, and a volunteer at a nonprofit bookstore (all of the proceeds go to services and advocacy for both those living with HIV and the homeless). I founded my school’s programming club, am the president of my school’s Tech Squad (a mixed service/technology club), was a Junior leader of my school’s yearbook staff, and might be the president of my school’s service NHS chapter (my school divides the chapter into scholarship and service; I applied for leadership of the former). By graduation, I will have 9 AP’s under my belt, with at least one in each major subject (World, US, Eng Lang and Comp, Span Lang, Microecon, Govt, Bio, Comp Sci, Art Hist). My current GPA is about a quarter of a point short of a 3.7, though I expect that to rise during my senior year. My PSAT score of a 201 left me arrogant enough to not prepare for the SAT and I wound up with an 1870 (1250 CR+M) though I will be retaking the SAT in October alongside my first ACT sitting in September. I’ve taken five SAT II’s, only scoring >600 on 2 of them (670 Spanish w/o Listening, 640 Biology). Basically, my extracurriculars are great but my numbers aren’t incredible (though my workload is clearly rigorous).
My top two choices would be Cornell’s College of Human Ecology and the Macaulay Honors College at the City College of NY; I would love to go into public health and politics.
I feel like I have around a one in four chance at making Cornell’s CHE going in ED; despite my not-so-incredible numbers, I’m a NYS resident with demonstrably good fit. The CHE is a NYS contract college, which would mean that I would have a much better chance at getting in and much lower tution costs if I do.
However, MHC at CCNY is free. Tuition is fully covered, you receive $7,500 as part of the Opportunities Fund to use however you wish (study abroad, most likely), a free laptop, incredible opportunities for employment and internships (being in NYC), and, arguably, a much lower quality education.
MHC seems like a great opportunity because of all of the goodies thrown in, but the quality of education is okay. It’s not bad, not by a long shot, but it’s light years away from Cornell. If I make Cornell, I won’t have the option of applying to MHC (I’m in going in ED as I don’t feel like I’m a strong enough applicant for RD). Having not submitted any applications, I’ve obviously been accepted to neither school yet.
Is it worth it to apply ED at Cornell and potentially close any other doors I don’t even know exist yet? If anyone can pitch some advice, that would be greatly appreciated!
My advice is to wait until you take your SAT again before you decide anything. Then check the Common Data Set for Cornell and see how your stats compare to those of admitted students, Section C - and remember that often those at the bottom have a hook or some exceptional situation that made them attractive that you don’t have. You’ll then be in a better position to decide of ED for Cornell is realistic. Of course, the other big question is, even if you got into Cornell, could you afford it? Have your parents run the numbers and can they afford to pay what Cornell says they would have to pay? Once you’ve got this figured out, the answers may be clear.
Pretty sure there’s no proof that NYS residents have a better shot at getting into Cornell, even at the contract colleges. I think, more than likely, the numbers are skewed because more NYS residents apply to those colleges.
Regardless, study hard for the SAT and ACT. You may find you do much better on the ACT (my best friend/roommate got in the 1800s on her SAT and a 33 on her ACT and got into Cornell). As you mentioned in your post, a lot of Cornell’s majors focus on fit, so be sure to demonstrate passion, which it seems like you’re doing.
Your SAT score isn’t competitive for Macaulay Honors College, where the acceptance rate is quite low.! For the class of 2018, 5,797 applied and 539 enrolled.
You need to have a nice long conversation with your own high school guidance counselor about the likelihood of admissions to Macaulay and HumEc. A school that offers that number of AP courses surely has detailed admissions records for its graduates.
Does Macaulay have Rolling Admissions? If so, then apply there and you might hear back before the ED decision from Cornell. Even if you haven’t heard yet, at least your application will be filed in case you get admitted to Cornell and it is obvious that the money won’t work out. Sit down with your parents and run the Net Price Calculator at the Cornell website and at a couple more places you would consider as back ups. When you know what your family can afford and what the various institutions might offer you, you will be better prepared to make the ED or not decision.
I think I can offer some insight as my D just graduated from the College of Human Ecology at Cornell. First of all the cost next year for a NYS resident at CHE is $49,000, $16,000 less than the endowed schools, but still a far cry from price of a SUNY. My D loved the CHE, their students are involved in more research than any of the other 6 Cornell colleges, many opportunities. As others have pointed out, you will need to raise your SAT and / or ACT score to be a viable candidate. If you can get accepted & your family can afford it, you would likely have a great experience there.
I would say you’re a low reach for Macaulay and a reach for Cornell.
You need a minimum 1250 SAT/28 ACT and a 90 average to apply to MHC. Some Macaulay programs (i.e. CSI, Lehman and John Jay) are more apt to applicants with lower scores, while others (i.e. Queens, Hunter, CCNY, Brooklyn, Baruch) really need a 1350 minimum – at least according to what my CGC told me.
SAT IIs are considered for MHC, and I was told they will take your SAT Writing score as an SAT II (they only count CR and Math for your SAT I).
ECs are very important to MHC and yours look great and definitely overshadow your lower statistics.
Cornell is a crapshoot – as all Ivy admissions are. However, your scores are below their range and you should aim for a 1400/32. Like by MHC, your ECs will help.
I don’t know whether they give preference for NYS residents for their contract colleges, although they’ll definitely be cheaper for you.
Overall, I’d apply to Cornell ED and apply to MHC RD (they do not have ED or RA, but their deadline is Dec. 1).
Best of luck!!