Current Upperclassman at Carnegie Mellon: ASK ME ANYTHING!

HSquared2
Sat, 08 Aug 2020 17:38:55 +0000

mkat2003:

Hi! I am a current junior in high school and I am looking to do the same type of majors as you. Are there any tips that you have to boost my application for CMU? My school doesn’t have too many competitive academic activities like math olympiad and such. Anything would be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

Hi @mkat2003!

In terms of academics, be sure you’re taking the most rigorous classes you can and continually look for ways to challenge yourself. CMU’s SCS is ** VERY ** rigorous and admissions officers want to make sure that you’ll be able to hold your own; taking difficult classes and having that curiosity and growth mindset will help show that. If your school doesn’t offer such classes, look towards your local colleges and see if you can take classes there (then you can transfer credits!).

For average stats of those admitted into SCS: [url = https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/undergraduate-admission-statistics] Undergrad Admissions Stats

For things outside of school, definitely be yourself here. You have a lot more freedom in choosing what you want to do and what you’re passionate about. If your school doesn’t have activities that you’re interested in, why don’t you start one? If you find that competitions aren’t your thing (academic competitions weren’t mine either! I’ve never done a math competition - yes, not even math counts in my life) then go deep into something else. Competitions aren’t the only way to show a university that you’re passionate about something and willing to put your all into it. I’m a huge fan of personal projects; you can be creative and you can build something really cool without the pressure of competition.

In CS terms, it’s way better for you to do a depth first search, rather than a breadth first search in terms of ECs. I personally think that you should take some time to try out a bunch of different activities and clubs, but don’t try to do all of them. It makes you seem scattered, and you end up not being able to do any of them super well. After trying a few, pick 1 or 2 that you ** really ** care about and then go deep into those things. Find ways you can impact your community with those subjects! Don’t do activities because it’ll “look good for colleges” because admissions officers will know that you did this club just for the application and it won’t reflect well.

I hope this is helpful! Apologies if it’s a little vague; I can give more tailored advice if you want to DM me with more details.