Olivia entered Cornell through the College of Engineering. All students begin “unaffiliated,” giving them room to explore before choosing a concentration sophomore year. Right now, biomedical engineering is her frontrunner as a natural fusion of her early interest in medicine and later love for engineering.

Takeaway: If you’re not sure about what to study, choose flexibility — keep doors open until you’re ready to commit.

Olivia’s commitment to ROTC gave her application a distinctive edge. What started as a last-minute way to fill a P.E. credit quickly grew into the activity that defined her high school years and shaped her leadership story.

Takeaway: Lean into the experiences that set you apart — what begins as feeling left out can become the reason that you stand out.

For Olivia, Cornell was a dream she had to chase without ever setting foot on campus. Traveling from Texas to Ithaca was too expensive, so she had to rely on virtual touchpoints.

Instead, she built her sense of Cornell through Zoom info sessions and the stream of admissions emails that landed in her inbox.

Still, she felt something was missing:

Takeaway: If visiting isn’t an option, make the most of virtual resources — but if possible, try to connect with people on campus to get the real picture and feel for the community you'd be joining.

• Junior ROTC — Cadet: Earned leadership roles, developed confidence as the only female in her grade’s program. • Cornell ROTC — Member: Plans to continue her military leadership path at the college level. • STEM Coursework & Exploration — High School & College: Built an academic profile that blended pre-med and engineering.

🎖️ The Captain Captains are defined by their ability to step up, organize, and lead. They don’t just join communities — they strengthen them. Colleges value Captains because they bring initiative, voice, and courage into every space they enter. For Olivia, that role was shaped through JROTC. What started as a last-minute P.E. credit became the activity that defined her high school years. She rose to leadership positions, found her voice, and challenged herself in a setting where she was the only girl in her grade. “At first I felt left out,” she said. “But later on it was like, that’s what makes me stand out.” That perspective — turning difference into distinction — became the heart of her personal statement and a story admissions officers remembered. 🩺 The Healer & 🛠️ The Tinkerer Hybrid Healers are drawn to helping professions — medicine, teaching, counseling, community care. Colleges value them because they bring empathy and purpose to campus, raising up those around them while working toward futures built on service. Tinkerers are hands-on builders who learn by doing. They prototype, test, and iterate until ideas work in the real world. Colleges value Tinkerers because they turn curiosity into concrete outcomes — in labs, workshops, and project teams. Olivia embodied these archetypes through her academic choices. She entered Cornell’s College of Engineering as an “unaffiliated” student but leaned toward biomedical engineering while also following the pre-health track. “I don’t have a specific main goal yet, so I think biomedical engineering is flexible. It lets me help in medical ways, but also keep med school open if I want to go directly into patient care.” Her application showed someone already imagining multiple ways to use her education to serve others — whether through technology, research, or medicine. Together, these archetypes made Olivia’s application resonate. Cornell saw a student who could lead in challenging environments while channeling her work toward helping others and creating.

Q: If you could go back and give advice to yourself starting this process over again, what would it be?

• Flexibility as Strength — Keeping doors open allowed Olivia to discover new fields without pressure to commit too soon. • Difference as Power — What once made her feel left out in ROTC became the story that set her apart. • Courage to Apply — Despite doubts from others, she trusted herself and took the leap toward Cornell.

Q: Why Cornell? A: Well, I believe Cornell was one of the dream schools I had in mind. Honestly, going back to last year, I wanted to apply Early Decision, but about 20 to 30 students from my school were also applying early, and I thought I wouldn’t have a chance. So I chose Regular Decision instead. That’s how much I wanted to go—I didn’t want to just throw away my chance like that, or get my dreams crushed in December. When I did get into Cornell, that was my dream come true. Cost is definitely a lot, so I had to figure out different ways to make it work, but yeah—it had been my dream school for a long time. Q: What made Cornell stand out for you? A: Cornell has a lot of resources, a lot of majors, and in my opinion, because it is the biggest Ivy and has the most students, that’s one of the things I really liked. I like meeting new people, so that was a big option Cornell offered for me. Q: How did you learn about Cornell before applying? A: I know a lot of students try to actually tour the school. I didn’t have the money to do that. I’m from Texas, so it was pretty far away. I’d have to fly to come to Cornell, and Cornell is even further away from the city. But one of the resources I used—it’s mostly the Zoom meetings that Cornell tries to host, or all the other schools host. They send you massive amounts of emails during junior to senior year. I went to those meetings and saw what kind of vibes they had, what they could offer me. I think that was really my only source. Our school didn’t really have a lot of students going to Cornell. I wish, honestly, that I had some students to talk to before I made the decision. Q: Do you know what you’re planning to study? A: Oh yeah. So for Cornell, you get accepted to a specific college in Cornell. For me, I’m in the College of Engineering, so we’re kind of fixated to that. You can always change to different majors, whatever you want. But for engineering, we all come in as unaffiliated engineering majors, and by our sophomore year we decide which concentration we want. For me right now, I think I want biomedical engineering, but I’m just taking different courses to figure that out. Q: How did you show that interest in your application? A: Yes, I definitely did. Engineering had two supplemental essays, so yeah—by college they have different questions. One of them was, “Why do you want to study engineering?” and I wrote about biomedical being one of my passions. For my Why Cornell essay, I didn’t mention my major. It was more about why I wanted to be in the school. Q: When did biomedical engineering first stand out to you? A: I figured it out really late. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do throughout high school. I started off thinking, “Oh, I want to be a doctor” when I first came in. Sophomore year I thought I wanted to be an engineer, and junior year, as I started taking other courses, I realized maybe I could combine that together. Biomedical engineering was one of the best ways to pursue both. So right now, I’m still on the pre-health pathway—it’s not a specific major, but a track. That way I can also prepare for med school later on. For me, biomedical is flexible. I don’t have one main, fixed goal of what I want to do in my life, so I think it fits the big picture. Q: Can you change majors once you’re at Cornell? A: Yes. Within engineering, it’s really easy. We all come in unaffiliated, and they don’t even track what you applied to. They want you to try different courses and figure out what you’re passionate about. Like, I’m taking Intro to Operations Research Engineering this semester. I didn’t even know that was an option—I just heard it was a bit easier, so I decided to try it. I think it’s pretty interesting, and I might even change. Honestly, I really like that about Cornell. We were still high schoolers—how are we supposed to know what we’re going to end up studying? Q: Outside of academics, what did you emphasize in your essays? A: One of the things that stood out on my application was my JROTC experience. I was in junior ROTC in high school, and now I’m in ROTC at Cornell. At first, I joined because I needed a P.E. credit as soon as possible, and that was the only class open. But I ended up staying because it was much more than just military or the stereotypical, very structured, very strict kind of culture. I learned how to speak up more. I moved from Korea in high school, and I had a biased view of the military since it’s mandatory there. But ROTC changed my perspective. People from all different cultures came together, united by those values, and it helped me stand out and speak up, even though I was from a different country. I think that made me unique. I was also the only girl in my grade’s ROTC. At first, I felt left out, but later I realized that’s what made me stand out. I think I wrote about that in my personal statement, and admissions officers told me they really liked it. Q: If you could go back and give advice to yourself starting this process over again, what would it be? A: One of the things I’d tell myself is: don’t get scared. Honestly, just try as much as you can. I definitely got scared in the middle—I thought I needed more safety schools, I thought it wouldn’t work out. Even my parents said I wouldn’t get into an Ivy, so they told me not to apply. But I ignored it and just did it anyway, and it worked out. So my advice is: just try for it. There’s nothing wrong with trying. Everybody works hard throughout high school, and senior year is when it pays off. So just try your best, and just do it, is what I would tell myself.