Would your school consider you a star? a superstar? You don’t have to answer here! the point is that that’s the kind of stats (your school might not rank, but their school profile will make it pretty clear where you are on the bell curve) and LoR you need.
Fwiw, Cornell is not within shouting distance of any size city at all. Pretty much any university in the top 100 will “grant” you more opportunities to research / grow in most fields than you can take advantage of.