WhiteCaptain

so overall, what are my chances....?

WhiteCaptain

soooo overal, what are my chances to cmu??

guyinblue

Hey, thanks for chancing me.
One of my wealthier cousin sisters is doing her Masters at CMU, and from what she has told me, it is a very GOOD school.
Your scores are in the 25-75 percentile range for CMU. Academically youre qualified. Essays and LORs will be the make or break factor here.

Also, not to rain on your parade or something, but I dont really think that your relative going to NYU would count as a legacy, you should email the Adcoms there. (I could be wrong).
Also I think you have a higher chance of getting into NYU than into CMU (since CMU hass one of the most sought after engg. programs). You will get into many schools from your list though. Give extra care to your essays. All the best.

FateGoneAwry16

Essays can't really compensate for low GPA/SAT's. Also, Carnegie Mellon doesn't look at freshman grades, so doing badly in junior year could actually hurt you a lot. Here's my opinion of your chances based on each important admissions factor.

GPA: As far as your GPA goes, how is a 3.4 UW considered top 15%? Do you attend a private school or a really, really competitive public? If so, you're GPA will not be a problem. If not, it can really drag you down.
Course Rigor: I know that you're concerned about your GPA but you should probably be worried about your course rigor as well. Unless you're high school is super rigorous, 2 AP classes is not that impressive (I took 6 AP classes my junior year and I know a few people who took 7).
SAT and SAT II: Good job on the Math section, but a low CR score will definitely hurt you. Just because you're applying for engineering doesn't mean that you can get by with low CR and W scores. Nearly every selective colleges wants to see well-rounded SAT scores. SAT II's won't hurt you, but a lot of students at Carnegie Mellon have 800 on Math II. You might want to retake them if you have the time.
EC's: Excellent. Only problem I see is that you didn't do any science research or join any HS science clubs. CIT like science activites over math activites because engineering is more about science than math.
Hooks: First generation will not help you much if you have another sibling in college. If you're the first child to attend college, it can probably help you a little. Don't count on it too much.
Race: Keep in mind that you're an Asian male applying for engineering. Of all the different colleges at Carnegie Mellon, affirmative action is the most intense at CIT and SCS (there are just too many Asian males applying to both colleges).
Essays: If you're essays are as good as you think they are, then good job. I'm absolutely terrible at college essays, so I am envious at how confident you are in your writing. Again, essays can definitely help you, but it would be bad to rely on them exclusively. A good personal statement should make the adcoms like you AFTER they decide that they like your stats.

Now that I've chanced you, can you chance me? I'm also applying ED to Carnegie Mellon.
Chances for Carnegie Mellon MCS ED?

TerrifiedSenior

I would also agree with the rest of the others on this post.

CMU is a little shaky but the rest definitely look like matches!

Try taking December SATs for an improved CR score?

FateGoneAwry16

"EVERYHING ELSE IS GOOD." No offense, but don't be too sure of that. You GPA is what people mention because it is the most important part of an application. If you're GPA is low, you're completely screwed regardless of how good your EC's, essays, and test scores are. Your GPA isn't in the "screwed" range for the colleges you're applying to, but I just wanted to make that point. If you don't believe me, just look at the common data sets for HYPSMC. HYPS state that 80%+ of admits are in the top 10% and that most of them are valedictorians. You might find that ridiculous, but there are thousands of high schools in the US and, thus, thousands of valedictorians (or equivalents). Also, this means that there are tens of thousands of students who in the top 10% of their class. Like it or not, that is the competition.

Also, colleges don't care about weighted GPA unless it affects your class rank. Most colleges will ignore your weighted completely and focus on UW and class rank. In fact, some schools, like Carnegie Mellon and Stanford, recalculate your GPA based on a 4.0 scale.

WhiteCaptain

Dude you just contradicted yourself... all you talk about is gpa. thats my main problem... lol

FateGoneAwry16

Lol, I know. Forgive me for being so asian:P

WhiteCaptain

So this is the consensus ?

WhiteCaptain

any one elseee??

FateGoneAwry16

Lol, internet consensus is absolutely meaningless. No one this thread is an admissions officer and none of us will every see your complete application. What we can do however is point out your strengths and weaknesses to roughly gauge your chances at admission. Anyone who posts a chance thread should know not to take the results too seriously.