Worth applying?

Colleges & Universities Cornell University
1

<p>My school limits the number of applications to 6, so I have to pick schools wisely. I have decided to apply to schools where I have a chance because I don’t want to end up being rejected from all schools. Do I have a decent enough shot to warrant applying?</p>

<p>2280 SAT (800M, 740CR, 740W)
800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry
IB: 43/45 Predicted, Full Candidate
No GPA/Rank/APs offered at my school</p>

<p>8 International Math Competition Awards (nothing amazing, average AIME qualifier level (6 points at AIME))
1 National Award for Business
7 School Awards</p>

<p>President/Founder of 3 Clubs in School
Run successful business
Internship at Barclays
Organized 3 science projects
Student Council
2000 hours of community service
Varsity Basketball
10 Major leadership roles</p>

<p>4 Languages</p>

<p>Chinese
No Financial Aid
Great recommendations/essays.
International Applicant.</p>

2

<p>Yes you have as good a chance as most.</p>

3

<p>^ Thanks. Anything I can do to improve?</p>

4

<p>are you applying from china?</p>

<p>i dont know much about international applicants, but i believe you have a decent chance if you write a good essay</p>

5

<p>I’m applying from Hong Kong.</p>

6

<p>Hong Kong has a very competitive applicant pool, as does China. Many students have amazing numbers so as I have emphasized before, a good essay is crucial.</p>

<p>Good luck in your application!~</p>

7

<p>I think my essays will be good -> great.</p>

8

<p>If you were from the U.S. you would be extremely competitive. All industrialized foreign applicant pools are hard, especially Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.</p>

<p>As long as you can justify your reasons for wanting to go to Cornell (and saying it’s the best you can do is not a good reason obviously). You need to demonstrate that not only are you more than capable of handling the academics here (which you already have), but that there is a unique contribution that you can make to the community here or that there is something Cornell can offer you that is unique to Cornell.</p>

<p>While I know HK is rigorous I do not know how much weight is placed on the “holistic” aspects of students. Cornell doesn’t want a group of identical over-achieving type-a’s, make sure you represent the aspects of you that your academic records don’t reflect.</p>

<p>I applied CoE as a transfer, the essay that got me in was one where I rambled about a side project I’d been designing. At the time I was writing whatever I could to get the essay done, but since then I have read the essay and I realize it illustrates my fit in an engineering community without feeling forced.</p>

<p>Finally, don’t limit yourself. While hedging your options somewhat is a good idea, you should probably go for a few schools that you aren’t sure you can get but that you still want. You may be surprised.</p>