Email from VP Emeritus W. Elliott???

Colleges & Universities Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>Hello all…</p>

<p>I recently registered my D on cappex…about two weeks ago she got an email from William Elliott, VP Emeritus. See full text below.</p>

<p>Is this for real?? We are in LA and are only considering SE schools…I can’t imagine how she turned up on his radar…She has fairly good stats, but she’s only a sophomore! Now she did take the PSAT last year as a freshman and got a 192…??? but NM cutoffs are 200+ and in LA it was 207 last year.</p>

<p>Anyway, did anyone else get something like this??? CMU is obviously a very prestigious school, but we couldn’t even consider it unless she got a full ride. Travel back and forth from New Orleans to Pittsburgh alone several times a year will be costly enough!!</p>

<p>Thanks…</p>

<hr>

<p>Dr. William F. Elliott</p>

<p>Vice President Emeritus</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon University</p>

<p>September 7, 2010</p>

<p>(It was personalized with our address…)</p>

<p>Dear ___,</p>

<p>I write this brief note to introduce myself and engage you in a dialog about your college plans.</p>

<p>I was the Director of Admission at Carnegie Mellon during the 1970s and then spent 28 years as the Vice President for Enrollment. Having retired two years ago, I came home to New England and now live on the coast of Maine.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of those “Top 25” (. . . according to USNews & World Report) schools that is overrun with applications (26,000 applications for fall 2010 entry) but is ALWAYS on the lookout for exceptional students. I remain an active member of the admission staff, looking to identify exceptional student from what I call the “Forgotten ZIP Code States” . . . Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Most of the 26,000 applications come from the large populations states . . . Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Texas, California and the list goes on. I know from experience there are equally exceptional students from the lesser populated states. This is why I have taken up the effort to communicate directly with students from these specific states and to be their advocate in the selection process. Many years ago I coined and old adage that still applies today, “If the student does not submit the application we cannot offer student admission to Carnegie Mellon.” Therefore the process starts with you. If you find that Carnegie Mellon offers the academic programs you seek I assure you that I will be you champion in the admission selection process. The Carnegie Mellon selection process is very competitive and based on academic courses studies, grades earned, SAT/ACT scores, extracurricular activities and ZIP code. We are very interested in enrolling students from all fifty states and from around the world. Geographic diversity, ethnic diversity, and socioeconomic diversity are all important to us as we seek to insure an exceptional the experience for every student at Carnegie Mellon. Are you interested?</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon offers programs in . . .</p>

<p>Engineering . . . Carnegie Institute of Technology</p>

<p>Science . . . Mellon College of Science</p>

<p>Computer Science . . . School of Computer Science</p>

<p>Business . . . Tepper School of Business</p>

<p>Liberal Arts . . . College of Humanities & Social Sciences</p>

<p>Fine Arts . . . College of Fine Arts</p>

<p>You can learn about the academic programs offered at Carnegie Mellon by clicking on . . . [Admission</a> > Programs & Majors](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>

<p>Information about the Carnegie Mellon admission process is available by clicking on . . . [Admission</a> > Admission](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>

<p>I look forward to hearing from you. Tell me about yourself, what you did this summer, your college plans, what you want to study, what you want to be doing ten years from now . . .</p>

<p>I stand ready to assist in any way that would be helpful to you . . . questions about . . . admission, the college selection process, what to study, financial aid . . . you name it, I can help.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>William F. Elliott</p>

<p>William F. Elliott</p>

<p>PS: One of my Carnegie Mellon friends was Randy Pausch, Professor of Computer Science. You may have seen his one-of-a-kind last lecture that made the world stop and pay attention. Although Randy passed away in 2008, his legacy lives. If you haven’t yet watched Randy’s “Last Lecture,” check it out on YouTube by clicking on . . . [YouTube</a> - Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo)</p>

2

<p>If she’s only a Sophomore, someone has a messed up data base. There is absolutely no need to be recruiting 10th grade students - not even for summer programs.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

3

<p>There is actually a program that this guy is running to try and get lower-class and racial minority kids into CMU, especially those from lesser-represented states. However, he is not a member of admissions and is basically just “some guy who used to work at CMU” - he really doesn’t have any authority over anything, so I wouldn’t trust his information as accurate.</p>

<p>The admissions department does not work with Cappex. I know this to be true.</p>

<p>Not to mention this email is filled with grammatical errors and typos. It looks pretty sketchy.</p>

<p>You can go ahead and respond if you have questions, but take what he says with a grain of salt and don’t expect him to shower money on you or anything. He’s just some old guy with a hobby from the looks of things.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the info… I didn’t feel right about it.</p>

<p>He listed a number of “under-represented” states, but not ours…screamed cut and paste mass mailing…</p>

<p>oh well…</p>

5

<p>I do remember that DS received something from CMU in his 10th grade (1999), Oregon. I can’t remember whether it was early or late in the school year, but we did think it was odd to receive such mail. I thought it was nice, and of course passed it to DS. </p>

<p>Didn’t think much of it. Thought it was a referral from my previous boss (Carnegie Tech, an early developer of CATV and broadband digital) who enable us to have children. Also thought that it could’ve been a referral from our pubic school because DS was a high preforming TAG. DS was a NMF.</p>