getting into cmu - advice + other options?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>hi.</p>

<p>i am going to be a senior in hs and my plan is to pursue a double major at cmu - a cs major and a cognitive science major (with specialization in computational neuroscience). at this point i am still in the research phase and am also open to any other schools that offer better programs in those two areas.</p>

<p>background:</p>

<p>SAT I - 2260: W - 790, M - 780, C - 690
SAT II - Math: 800, Bio: 720, might take physics
GPA - 3.912 (unweighted) and > 4.400 weighted
AP - havent received results (expecting Bio - 4, CS - 4, Calc BC - 5)…</p>

<p>ec: </p>

<p>i have been coaching basketball (k-7th) in YMCA since 9th grade (volunteer) and have a bigger responsibility managing the basketball league (paid job) since 11th grade - have been certified as double goal coach by stanford univ.</p>

<p>i have been an officer marketing club since 9th grade and was president of the club in my junior year - have won coveted business plan competitions at the state level and have participated at the international level</p>

<p>started two successful businesses revolving around streamlining school and club-related activities - 70 clubs in my school have enrolled in the service and i am marketing the business all over the U.S.</p>

<p>stanford intern since Feb 2007 - doing research in the school of medicine regarding the use of information technologies in the field of medicine </p>

<p>achievements (highlights):</p>

<p>[ DECA - a marketing association ]
1st place E-commerce business Plan Norcal / 3rd at State level
2nd place Sports Marketing at Norcal and State level</p>

<p>[ Science Fairs ]
1st place Synopsys Science and Technology Competition
3rd place California State Science Fair

  • plan to participate in Siemens and Intel STS with my Stanford research</p>

<p>[ publications ]
got featured in city newspaper for publishing an article on India’s growing economy </p>

<hr>

<p>with that background (and decent essays), what are my chances of getting into cmu in the areas i want to pursue? if not, what univs are of my calibur?</p>

<p>what other univs are out there that offer comparable if not better programs than cmu in the respective fields?</p>

<p>thanks much!</p>

2

<p>IMO, you can’t beat CMU for the incredible program and individual attention. Good choice. You have a good shot at getting in. MIT is the only school that I think is better. However, there are plenty of other great schools out there like Stanford, Rice, Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Cornell, and many big universities that have good programs in your areas. It will be harder to get opportunities in the big universities because there are fewer as a percentage of the student body, but the universities have name recognition and grad dept reputations.</p>

3

<p>Make sure you either are very rich or qualify for good need based aid if you have your heart set on CMU, as they give out Very little merit based aid.</p>