My son got denied ED from his dream school (Carnegie Mellon). Their policy is to allow students who were denied ED to fill out a request form and change status to defer to RD. He can’t apply to his first choice college (College of Sciences, Math specifically) and will need to write the supplemental essay again to explain his second choice. I’m thinking that selective schools are looking at every nuance so if he wanted Math so much, how come he changes his mind to Statistics or Computer Science (both require taking many math classes). Anyone has tips on how he should approach the essay so it is viewed favorably by admissions? he really likes the school and likes Math/problem solving (less building, hence why not applying to engineering). Thank you.
Before he goes too far down this path- are all his other applications done? Is there another school in that pile that he can fall in love with over the next two weeks?
Does the admissions office have statistics on how many kids who move from deny to defer end up getting accepted? If it’s a miniscule number I’d be inclined to start shifting the “dream” elsewhere. Sure- do another essay. Sure- talk about math is math- the language of computer science, the fundamental building block of statistical analysis. Sure- keep CMU on the radar.
But at some point it starts to feel like too much energy expended on a moonshot, and not enough love being shown to the places which have better odds of accepting him.
^^This. Usually, to change status, something meaningful has to have happened to your application - a major award, new, dramatically different test scores, etc.
To invest a lot to get put back into a pool that yields few acceptances is fine to eliminate every “what if”, but make sure it isn’t detracting from more realistic options.
If he wants Math, he should take Math…but at perhaps a different college.
@blossom and @gardenstategal - Thanks for the response. It’s not either/or as you can imagine. He applied to other schools (and has one acceptance already in his pocket of a likely school) but is still interested also in CMU (not only in CMU). you’re right though, they did tell me that the chances are slim.
@bopper - there’s a lot of overlap between Math, Statistics and even CS so i’m not sure going with the “Math Only” blinder is the way to go.
For sure write a new essay on math as a language, building block, guiding principle, architecture of many other disciplines. And I don’t think your son has to be apologetic about it- my own kid started out in physics, then moved to math (theoretical) and ended up in applied math/statistics with another major in a social science. And now does something completely unrelated professionally- but his true love is STILL math, even though he “abandoned” it career-wise. Adcom’s know that a kid who loves math can also love many other things.
If it were me (and I know talk is cheap) I’d be focused on finding something new to love about each of the other schools. Just so that psychologically, CMU doesn’t end up in his head as the “Dream Denied”, but can be an early love which got replaced by an even BIGGER love.
@blossom Thank you again. Great advice and I will use it!
Carnegie Mellon is a little different from other places since each school within the school does their own admissions. So he might have different results elsewhere. As I recall when you apply regular you can apply to more than one school so you get the fun of writing an essay that applies to more than one possible major. My son refused to apply to anything but CS so he didn’t have that problem. Point being that each committee has different criteria and some of the schools are more selective than others, even though you can take the exact same math courses as part of Engineering, the Science school or CS majors. I think Blossom’s advice is spot on, don’t get too fixated on CMU, but write the essay about math and how it is multi-disciplinary.
I would think you would be able to find many quality math programs, be loved, and get some money. I would spend my effort looking around at other options. Good luck.
@4boyzsmom I know just how you feel. At this time last year my son was just deferred from Penn’s Huntsman program ED. Ironically, now he is at CMU Dietrich (with a merit scholarship) and very happy. With the Penn deferral, he had the option to write an “update” letter to Penn Arts and Sciences (not his first choice) asking for admission. He chose not to do this, as without Huntsman he was not sure how he felt about Penn. Being able to rapidly put aside his dreams of Penn is what gave him the time and mental energy to apply to CMU – a last minute add-on to the application list. So, for us at least, not chasing the original dream led to a positive outcome.
The other item I wanted to mention is that CMU SCS is impossibly hard to get into, so probably that will not be successful for an applicant already denied ED. Dietrich (home of stats) is somewhat less competitive, with the caveat that (1) statistics/big data is the “hot” major at Dietrich right now, and it is increasingly hard to get in with that major, and (2) CMU particularly seeks students whose entire application show a progression and passion for their major interest.
Good luck to your son – sounds like he will land on his feet.
I joke that CMU is full of people who already know what they want to be when they grow up. It’s a very different atmosphere from many other universities.
@psycholing and @mathmom - sounds like you’re familiar with CMU so if you don’t mind, I have a few more questions. My son is working hard to apply to other schools now (so please know we are not ignoring the advice to move on). He got into Penn State and waiting to hear from Schreyer Honors College. Applying to UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, University of Chicago, Tufts, Northwestern and Michigan Ann Arbor. For my husband and I it’s the first time we are experiencing the process of college application for undergrads. We got our undergraduate degrees in a different country and for us applying to grad school as international students 20 years ago was a very different process 
(we both studied here in grad school).
Here are my questions:
- His 2nd and 3rd choice are Stats at Dietrich (specifically StatsMath major) and SCS. Both requires a lot of math, which he likes and wants. How do you write an essay that fits both? will the admission committee not look for specific names of professors in each department and/or research he’s interested in for StatMath or for SCS?2. Would you recommend he considers other schools that are strong in Math and on the east coast (he prefers to stay somewhat close to us)? he will not apply to Princeton, MIT, Harvard. He has great test scores, perfect GPA and all AP’s are 5 but he stands no chance there.
Thanks for your help!
What are your financial constraints (i.e. what can you pay) and are all of these schools affordable?
Did your son look at Case?
@blossom we will make it work. He wants to get PhD and stay in research and academia so we will make it work. We did not look at Case, but now we will
It was a while ago, but my son, who was a computer nerd from way back, I don’t think said anything terribly specific about professors. His entire application basically said, “I’m a computer guy, take me or leave me.” His main Common Application essay had funny first and last lines with a pretty boring list of accomplishments in the middle. His why this CMU school I don’t think said much more than I live and breath computer programming and you’re tops, but I could be wrong. I think if he talks about what math and statistics related courses and activities he’s done so far and how that fits in with what CMU offers he’ll be in good shape. While I don’t think he needs to mention specific profs, he should look at the course catalog and see if there are things that intrigue him. Especially if there are things that CMU seems to offer that other places don’t.
I had no idea that Tufts was strong in math. My other kid went there, but as an IR major. He’s actually good at math, but terrible at arithmetic, which sometimes led to interesting results, but he took Calc BC as a senior and survived. I remember him being a bit sad that there was no math for poets type of course.
Since your kid is into Penn State, I don’t think you need any other safety schools. How do you know your kid has no chance at Harvard, MIT or Princeton? It really depends on what he’s done outside the classroom.
@mathmom I don’t this his EC are stellar (from what I can see others bring). He’s on varsity swim team, he’s in Latin club and won a few Latin competitions including being Certomen state champion, summer camp counselor, plays guitar in a rock band, babysit his younger three siblings. He’s in TSA for 6 years and got with the team to Nationals a few years in a raw and this year he’s the TSA club treasurer. Oh, he also founded the Magic Club… BUT… not in Math Olympiad or any Math competition. Why? He didn’t think that Mathematician is what he wants to be. Thought about physics and Chemistry but only this summer after an internship at Wharton he realized how much he loves playing with data. He’s essay was written in a humble way (because he is), showed passion and strong interest in sceimce and Math but I guess they had stronger candidates.
Oh and about Tufts, he figures that strong engineering schools have strong math programs. We are in PA so MA is far but not too far. That’s why.
@mathmom you wrote: “Carnegie Mellon is a little different from other places since each school within the school does their own admissions. So he might have different results elsewhere”
I called CMU because I remembered they explained it differently. AO said it’s the opposite, they review all applications together, other than the school of fine arts.
Okay, then that’s a change from when my son applied.
@mathmom yes, they have changed quite a bit. In previous years they posted that showing interest is important and this year they posted on their site that they do not take it into consideration at all.