Carnegie Mellon Class of 2029 Official Thread

Colleges & Universities Carnegie Mellon University
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I know exactly how you feel. My first son was waitlisted at CMU and rejected or waitlisted from several target schools, and I felt just awful for months. I’m now on my fourth son- and I can share some advice.

  1. there are many, many excellent pure math programs. I’m a math professor myself and can tell you that all the places you mention are fantastic for pure math, but so is almost every flagship state school and many less “prestigious” schools.
  2. small liberal arts colleges need students, especially boys. If you were waitlisted at one of them, I would definitely write a letter of continued interest. And if he doesn’t have good options at the end of the cycle, I would share that in the letter to a LOC that he loves.
  3. if you dwell on a college, feeling bad, so will your kid.
  4. yes it’s a trend that a lot of schools waitlist a lot of students. Some of that is for flexibility in case they unexpectedly have a lower yield than usual. But most of it, I suspect, is a wait to tell a kid “you’re pretty great, we’re sorry we couldn’t take you.” Not all schools do this of course, but CMU definitely does (see numbers below)
  5. put yourself on the CMU waitlist but don’t expect anything. Many hundreds of students are offered a spot the waitlkst while very few kids are admitted off that list. For my first son, there were 800 on the wait list, CMU had them write an essay in 48 hours to get a coveted spot, and he was rejected (arguably, a second time). It turned out, 4 kids were taken off the wait list. I was so pissed at the emotional manipulation (the essay was why you are plaid- ie why you fit with CMU) that I wore a seething letter to our school counselor and asked her to forward it to CMU. I don’t know if they got many complaints but they stopped doing that the next year. I leaned my lesson too!

Don’t allow yourself or your son to invest emotionally in a school that hasn’t accepted him . Focus on those that have! He has to make a choice among real options and he should enjoy the feeling of being wanted and having big life choices in front of him!

Good luck!

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Admitted SCS! 1600 SAT, 3.95/4.87 valed., USACO Gold & Multiple-time AIME. Won several math/cs state comps and placed nationally in some.

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waitlisted SCS. I think they prioritize comps, much like MIT. was math prize & aime qual, but never bothered with coding comps. know I can code as well as the next USACO gold kid, but did a lot of applicational projects & published ai research instead, guess it wasn’t enough

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when were you notified?

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Hi! I was notified Saturday evening, far later than my RD peers (I was ED deferred).

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Got in for linguistics, did not have a single comp. Only 3rd place Stanford math tournament 2023 (but that’s math, not ling)

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the acceptance criteria likely differs across CMU colleges

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Thank you very much for sharing your experience and advice–and the raw emotion too.
As I have shared with others on this post, the other Rs and WLs have not affected my son or even our family too badly (not even the rejection from his dream school) but the CMU WL felt a little ‘off’ somehow. We knew about ‘yield protection’ and all that, but the vibe from CMU-- even now the aggressive follow up WL email-- is just weird. If you really want our son there, then you should have admitted him!

My son has moved on and is looking forward to the rest of the decisions. I check in here for advice and shared experience since we do not know other math families. This is my first time posting anything on the internet in more than a decade and I thank you (all) for the safe space.

Our son indicated strong interest in writing LOCI for two of the liberal arts schools with pure math, but he has not yet mentioned CMU. I suspect it’s for the reason you stated and because of its passive-aggressive approach. We understand CMU would like to maintain its competitive edge, its distinctive identity. Other WL offers and instructions are straightforward and don’t have that quality.

Our in-state school seems to have a very good pure math program and to have such a safety with strong pure math is quite a ‘safety’. It may not be comparable to the UCs,(he’s been admitted to excellent UCs thus far, but as an out of state applicant, the cost is too high: our fault there) but the more we look at our in-state school, the happier we are. So as we ready ourselves for the final round of decisions (notorious for WL), my son remains focused and cheerful (he’s been admirable throughout). He is setting an example for his mother.

It is less about the emotional investment in a brand name school: we always knew it was going to be a lottery. I was prepared for the outright Rs, but I admit I was not prepared to navigate the no-man’s land of waitlists. My son’s reason for applying to UCs was family nearby and wanting the adventure of California. His reason for trying for LACs was a more intimate setting, a cosier environment for studying pure math as well as his other interests. He was deliberate in his choices and careful. It has been so helpful to know not only that we are not alone, but that waitlists have different qualities, approaches etc.

I very much appreciate everything you have shared in your message. Thank you for writing that seething letter to CMU on behalf of your first son. It gets at this intangible quality of CMU’s WL approach that I couldn’t quite put into words.

BTW, we have friends whose daughter has been admitted to CMU (for a different school, not STEM-related) and we have sent our sincere congratulations and celebrate their well-deserved place in the entering class. The journey is different for every family. For those waitlisted at CMU and for whom this is their top choice, I wish you all the best in your efforts. CMU is a wonderful institution for the arts, for STEM, for music! For those who have been admitted to CMU or elsewhere, enjoy the moment!

For those rejected by CMU or who may not be offered a place off their waitlist, remember your passion(s) for your subject(s) of study.
I remember a mentor once telling a group of us, faced with a similar situation a long time ago: If you know the path you’re on, it’s not yours. This embrace of mystery and creating one’s own path is what we have imparted to our son these many years. He is living it out quite well. Your message reminded me of the words just now–very grateful.

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I understand the frustration. I wish your son the best

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I’m so sorry to hear this. Like you my son was loves cs and coding but preferred research papers over competitions. He encouraged classmates and peers who enjoyed competitions and LOVED this experience but it wasn’t for him. He was waitlisted as well.

Best of luck to you, and may you publish many more research papers! Perhaps one day, very soon, they will be cited by CS students at CMU.

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Thank you. Learning a lot from these posts!

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does CMU send admitted students day signup email? has anyone received it so far?

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Didn’t get an email but saw it was open on the website so signed up for it

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my son also got waitlisted in SCS, although he was AIME qualifier, USACO Platinum, all As, 12AP all 5s…

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any online SCS parent groups? please do share the link

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Are there any recent updates for those on the waitlist?

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Hi
My DS just got off the waitlist yesterday
He received the email by asking to confirm by phone within one business day.

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