What do i need to do to get in.

aasian · 04-30-2008, 11:25 PM

I think i am falling in love with carnegie mellon.
I'm an international btw.
Just want to know what i have to do to get in.

Details:
I'm in a 6 year high school program, which means from grade 7 to grade 12, I'll be in the same school. It's affiliated to one of the best universities in the world for technology, and shares it's facilities like library etc.
This is split into: First 2(foundation-20% of final transcript)
3 and 4(40%), 5 and 6(40%)
highly selective school, new school, first graduating batch graduates next year. everyone in my school takes APs, everyone, and so far 100%, no joke, 100% of them got 5 for AP Physics B and Calc AB. The first Physics C and Calc BC are going to be taken in like 2 wks. Chem and bio, i'm not sure but i think almost everyone got 5 too.

So, i'm in grade 9 now, which i hope counts as freshman at carnegie mellon because my first 2 years sucked because i didn't know how important GPA was.
And usually, everyone takes APs in their junior and senior years, but i'm self studying to take AP Physics B and AP Calc AB, and probably comp science A in my sophomore year(next yr). Will this help? Will they even look at it and give it consideration if i took it an year earlier, without even learning it in school?
This sem my gpa is going to be kinda the same as last sem. I shot up by 1.3 last sem, almost 4/5, which is good in our school, but not very good. Very good is around...4.3ish and to do a first class its 4.5.
I think i can pull it up further next sem.
I really want to go to Carnegie Mellon.
Interested in: SCS, CIT(ECE), but i'm still open.

I know i don't have any concrete Stats or anything, but i haven't taken any standardized tests yet, so...
What do you guys think i can do?

LongPrime · 05-01-2008, 01:07 AM

Internationals pay full tuition. No institutional scholarships or grants.

RacinReaver · 05-01-2008, 01:30 AM

Just get the best grades you can, get to be friends with some teachers so they can write you some good recommendations, and try to get involved in any extracurricular activities you find interesting.

From how it sounds, you'll be a pretty good candidate.

aasian · 05-01-2008, 02:34 AM

I know about the no financial aid thing and yeah i am maintaining my relationship with teachers, thats why my comments are quite good but when it comes to the grades... ... ...no words. But anything in particular? Like, what does CMU concentrate on when they admit their students? Academics is obvious, but what has an "ideal" cmu applicant done in his high school life?

confused2012 · 05-01-2008, 05:39 AM

try to get a variety of extra curriculars, cmu likes technology-related activities, but show some diversity in your talents

cmonyuk · 05-01-2008, 08:59 AM

AP Physics B is useless. Seriously a waste of your time. And everyone at my public high school who took the Calc AB got a 5 for five years in a row - granted, that class had a 30% drop-out rate so only 25 people took it each year.

The "ideal" SCS student has probably written several [programming] projects before applying to CMU and is actively working on at least one more. Also, they should be able to multiply large numbers in their head and enjoy 5-dimensional Rubik's cubes. That said, don't shoot to be ideal because you'll never be able to do it. Shoot for the best at your own school, and you'll fall into place at CMU.

mathmom · 05-01-2008, 07:27 PM

I expect Mathson got a few brownie points for taking the Comp Sci AP as a freshman, but I think the main thing that got him accepted was that aside from good grades, good scores and a decent number of APs (8-10 depending on how you count the ones that give out two grades), was his programming experience. He'd done quite a bit, some fun stuff on his own (mods for Civ4) and obscure things with Linux, some stuff for research scientists, and some stuff for a software company.

awvvu · 05-01-2008, 07:30 PM

Maybe get some kind of part-time IT job.

And most people don't send their AP scores to colleges until after they enroll already (although it's self-reported on commonapp). So scores might not play that much of a role. Just make sure you actually get A's in your AP classes.

KrazyKow · 05-01-2008, 08:02 PM

You would probably be better of working on programming projects by yourself/with friends/in the open source community than getting an IT job- IT is completely different than CS. If you need to make money, doing something like website design might be interesting... but most CS majors don't actually like that stuff.

aasian · 05-02-2008, 04:10 AM

@confused2012.
I invest in stocks....if that counts.
And i'm one of the presidents within my SL board...again, if that counts.

@cmonyuk
Thanks. I liked the way you put it. lol.

@mathmom/awvvu/krazykow.
Yea i have some contacts at a local company, but fyi, over here, it's very hard for a teenager to get a job at an IT company, unlike in usa. =[ i wish i was in usa. Open source community could be an option...

Thanks for all the help guys...i'll look into this. Cheered me up.

mathmom · 05-02-2008, 08:31 AM

Mathson was lucky to have relatives in the computer business. He got his foot in the door by asking just to job shadow for a week. They put him to work and were so impressed they hired him. He's also helped neighbors set up computer systems and volunteered in the senior center computer lab. The research jobs came up through personal contacts too. One was a neighbor who is a chemist. He wanted a program that would analyze proteins, or something like that. The programming wasn't actually that hard, but it made a big impression. My son also did some website work, first for me when he was in elementary school and then more interesting things. But KrazyKow is right, it's his least favorite thing to do! Too bad, I've got a website that really needs to be revamped!