OFFICIAL Carnegie Mellon University Decision - Class of 2014

dreamupsided0wn · March 28, 2010, 12:37am

**Decision: Waitlisted **
College of Humanities & Social Sciences: English (Creative Writing)

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I: 2090 (CR: 710, M: 650, W: 730)
[] SAT II: Literature (620), Math I (660), US History (660)
[] ACT: 31 (E: 35, M: 28)
[] AP: European History (4), Art History (3), English Lang & Comp (4), US History (5), US Gov & Pol, Spanish Lang, English Lit & Comp
[] UW GPA: ~3.3 (upward trend, I calculated it myself because my school doesn’t tell us), W GPA: 3.89
[] Rank: 116/561 (top 20%)
[] Other: pretty much all Honors classes except PE (required).
[] Awards: AP Scholar with Honor, Illinois State Scholar, Honors Thespian, PSAE (one of the top scores in my school).
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs: Violin 9 years, Concert Orchestra (Concertmaster/Section Leader, Officer), Honors Symphony Orchestra (Secretary), Drama Club (Historian/co-Vice President), Technical Theatre Club (Vice President), International Thespian Society (Honors Thespian), Habitat for Humanity, Math Team, Scholastic Bowl, volunteer at local food pantry
[] Work Experience: work for my school’s theatre as a technician/stagehand.
[] Essays: My common app essay was the “who inspires you” one and I wrote about my crazy foreign orchestra teacher who makes us play Beethoven’s 5th three times a day/week. My “why CMU” essay was about their grilled cheese sandwiches. Everyone who read it really liked it and I think it was my best college essay. It was the first one I wrote, too, so I didn’t sound jaded at all.
[] Teacher Recs: I’m really close with all of them and I did well in their AP classes. They all liked me a lot.
[] Counselor Rec: She loves me.
[] Applied: sometime in October… my CMU essay was the first I finished.
[] Hook: immigrant from Ukraine, born in Kiev, multilingual with strong interesting in linguistics, a lot of ECs especially in theatre, said that I want to get into the film industry (they don’t have a film major, so I think that’s kind of unique).
[] Strengths: being really foreign maybe, ECs, test scores, essay.
[] Weaknesses: GPA, SAT IIs.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] Location: Chicago, Illinois.
[] School Type/Stats: public, average ACT is in the low 20s, no one takes the SAT I/II…
[] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[li] Gender: Female[/li][/ul]General Comments: Carnegie Mellon was my number two choice. I started crying once I saw it online… then I realized I was ECSTATIC just to be waitlisted and not full out rejected, especially with a 3.3 GPA. I’m seriously thankful. Plus, I have a 50/50 shot since it’s the priority waitlist (I think – I found a site that says people who choose to stay on the waitlist that only applied to one college are placed on the priority waitlist). Overall, I’m still happy. I got rejected from UCLA and Northwestern but accepted to NYU and Wisconsin-Madison, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Now I’m just waiting for my number one choice, USC.

vanillasky123 · March 28, 2010, 12:39am

@dreamupsided0wn
how do you know if you are on the priority waitlist? does it say so on your status?

dreamupsided0wn · March 28, 2010, 12:44am

No, it just says “waitlist.” But I googled and I found a CMU student’s site where he wrote that if you only applied to one college you’re placed on the priority waitlist if you choose to be waitlisted. I have no idea if that’s right though. I edited my post to make sure other people don’t get worried.

CaliforniaDancer · March 28, 2010, 12:49am

**Decision: Accepted CIT and MCS **

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 2280 (800 CR, 690 M, 790 W)
[] SAT IIs: 780 Spanish, 760 Math II, 740 Lit, 700 Physics
[] ACT: didn’t take
[] APs: APUSH (5), AP Spanish Lang (5), currently taking APCS, AP Calc AB, AP Physics C Mech
[] IBs: n/a
[] GPA: 3.76 UW
[] Rank: ~30/100
[] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Lots and lots of ballet, basically. Summer science/engineering program. Tutoring at an elementary school.
[] Job/Work Experience: none
[] Essays (subject and responses): Common app was good, on my volunteer work, supplement was so great, but obviously worked out ok
[] Teacher Recs: Didn’t see, but thought they should turn out really, really well
[] Counselor Rec: Probably fine
[] Applied on: Late December
[] Hook (if any): female?
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: CA
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Very competitive, well-known private
[] Ethnicity: white
[li] Gender: female [/li][/ul] General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I’m psyched! I think being a female certainly didn’t hurt, but I really am better at math than my SAT I score might indicate…and I’m really happy I got into CIT and MCS, wasn’t expecting that! Will definitely try to visit :)

scarllatti · March 28, 2010, 12:50am

I got rejected from SCS but hopefully I am going to MIT anyways. That’s kind of weird :)

whateverr · March 28, 2010, 12:51am

**Decision: Accepted to SCS/IS **

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 2350 - Math: 800, CR: 770, Writing: 780
[] SAT IIs: MathII: 710, Bio: 690, Physics: 660
[] ACT: 34 Comp
[] APs: Environmental Science, European History, Biology, American History, Calculus BC, Psychology, Government, English, Statistics, Computer Science
[] IBs: n/a
[] UM-GPA: 3.545 (uw), 3.895 (w)
[] Rank: school does not rank
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: highest rated girl in state in chess, chess captain etc, Science Olympiad, volunteer at hospital, president of computer/tech club thing, Girl Scout Gold Award
[] Job/Work Experience: Internship at GE (tech related)
[] Essays (subject and responses): Common app was about chess, supplement was pretty straightforward although I tried to incorporate my personality in it (i.e. made stupid puns etc.)
[] Teacher Recs: One of them was probably really good, not too sure about the other one (although I didn’t read either)
[] Counselor Rec: He thinks I’m funny!
[] Applied on: the day it was due
[] Hook (if any): Absolutely nothing~
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: OH
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Relatively competitive public
[] Ethnicity: Indian
[] Gender: Female (I think this helped XD)
[/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: To be honest, I’m very surprised. My grades are all over the place, which is probably a result of me trying to do everything and then failing at 50% of it -__- Either way, the thing that I’ve learned through this whole process is that I shouldn’t take myself too seriously. Getting into college is important and all, but I’m very glad that I didn’t let the admissions process take over my life. I think chess played a huge role in my decision, just because there aren’t very many girls that do it and it sounds impressive. Also it helped that I was a girl and was applying to SCS. Now it all depends on whether I can afford to go here or not…

AVHS_Dad · March 28, 2010, 12:52am

Rejected CIT & MCS

SAT1 1580/1600; 2290/2400
SAT2 Math2 (800), BioE (780)
AP (sent all) Bio (5) WHist (5) USHist (4) Eng Lang (4) Stat (4)
Very surprised.
Got good merit money from Case & Tulane so moving on.
Congrats to those accepted!

AVHS_Dad · March 28, 2010, 12:53am

Oh yeah: GPA 3.6UW/3.9W

macca91 · March 28, 2010, 12:57am

Rejected SCS.
SAT 1 2070, SAT 2 800 / 790, International, Female, international olympiad medalist.
i’m a bit surprised, but got accepted by other good universities, so it’s all ok
congrats to those accepted!

bigchilikd · March 28, 2010, 12:58am

Quote:
[size=+2]**Decision:ACCEPTED CIT + MCS!!! **[ /size]

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): Superscore 770 math/710 cr/700 writing
[] SAT IIs: 800 math II 790 chem 650 spanish w/o listening
[] ACT: n/a
[] APs: 5’s on chemistry, calculus bc, and stats…taking 5 this year
[] IBs: n/a
[] UM-GPA: probably close to 4.0, not sure exactly. school doesn’t display unweighted
[] Rank: 2/228
[] Other stats: national merit commended scholar
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Pres. of FBLA and Student Government, habitat for humanity, treasurer of key club, NHS, etc
[] Job/Work Experience: 1 job…not very significant
[] Essays (subject and responses): Common apps were about my mom and quiz bowl, in my supplement essay I talked about how I loved the feel of the campus and how it was a good fit
[] Teacher Recs: probably amazing, didn’t see one
[] Counselor Rec: solid
[] Applied on:1/1/10
[] Hook (if any): i don’t think i had one. other than numerous chemistry awards, i qualified for the national ACS chemistry olympiad test, had a good chem SAT, etc. i think my stats matched my major well (chemical engineering + math)
[/ul][ b]Location/Person:**[ul]
[] State or Country: PA
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Public, decent (don’t know specs
[] Ethnicity: White, Jewish
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul][ b]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
SO EXCITED!!! CMU is one of my top choices and it was a relief. best of luck to all of those who didn’t get in

laure327 · March 28, 2010, 1:07am

Decision: Accepted, Architecture

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 2160 (CR 660, MA 770, WR 730)
[] SAT IIs: Math II 750, Physics 800
[] APs: Studio Art, Calculus AB
[] UM-GPA: 3.8 UW
[li] Other stats: TOEFL 107, Arch Portfolio[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs: Architecture Club (Founder & Head), Student Ambassador, Public Speaking Club,
[] Volunteer Experience: At a local organization
[] Essays (subject and responses): Pretty good
[] Teacher Recs: One was great, the other was fantastic (called a natural leader, the best role model for younger students)
[] Counselor Rec: Not sure… pretty good I guess?
[] Applied on: Dec. 01, 2009
[li] Hook (if any): None[/li]
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: Canada
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Private, Top in the province
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Female

[/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I think my greatest weakness was such a small number of APs. Otherwise, my portfolio was pretty good, my Physics 11 mark and SAT were high (98, 800), awards in Physics and Art (subjects that are related to Architecture), leadership in Architecture Club for 3 years.

I’m going for sure! It was my first choice. :)

AvgAsian · March 28, 2010, 1:29am

**Decision: Accepted TSB and CIT!!! **

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 750CR 800M 700W =>2250
[] SAT IIs:800MII 780Chem
[] ACT:-
[] APs:5 Calc AB, 5 Chemistry, 5 USH
[] IBs:-
[] UW-GPA:3.97
[] Rank: 13 of ~410 (no weighting in rank, inflated due to kids with easy schedules)
[] Other stats: NM semifinalist (222 PSAT), but solid FBLA awards up to the National level
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: FBLA chapter officer, Chinese School student for 11 years, Violin for 10 years, Science Club Vice President, Quiz Bowl Captain/President
[] Job/Work Experience:n/a
[]Essays (subject and responses): alright I guess,writing is not my strong suit. Wrote one about my FBLA experiences, and the CMU supplement was a pretty straightforward explanation of why I want to do engineering and/or business
[] Teacher Recs: probably good, never saw them
[] Counselor Rec: can’t really say, since my school’s counselors are relatively disconnected from the student body
[] Applied on: Christmas Day
[] Hook (if any): Asian antihook =p
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country:WA
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available):suburban public, not a real ivy factory
[] Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese)
[li] Gender:M[/li][/ul]**General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc **: So legit. I was worried I wouldn’t get in because I suck at writing…

trf1021 · March 28, 2010, 1:36am

**Decision: Waitlisted- MCS, Rejected- CIT **

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 660CR 720M 680W
[] SAT IIs: 740 Physics, 710 M2, 710 USH
[] ACT: 34E 34M 27R 33S
[] APs: USH- 5, Physics B- 4, Chem- 3, Stats- 4, Will take Physics C, Bio, English Lang., Macro, Calc BC
[] UM-GPA: 3.8UW, 4.0W
[] Rank: Top 10%
[] Other stats:
[/ul][ b]Subjective:**[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Some different stuff. A lot of music and video production
[] Job/Work Experience: Summer all 3 years
[] Essays (subject and responses): My commonapp was amazing, but my CMU essay was just ok.
[] Teacher Recs: All amazing- Physics, Economics, Music
[] Counselor Rec: Great
[] Applied on: 12/31?
[] Hook (if any): Not really
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: NY
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Average public- sends a very select few to top schools
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[/ul]**General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: This one was surprising. Judging by the statistics, I thought I wouldn’t have a problem getting in. This was the lowest match on my list, and I am now extremely worried about April 1st, Johns Hopkins, and Tufts. I don’t know how I’ll get in there if I didn’t get in here. Maybe I just aimed too high. I’ve already been rejected by MIT(my first choice), Chicago, and Stanford, but this one hurts the most. I can already tell that this was a rough year just by the first 4 pages of this thread. All of you really deserved to get in. Congratulations to everyone who got in and good luck in the coming week to everyone who didn’t!

joefrommiami · March 28, 2010, 1:57am

Accepted. Not interested in publishing my stats, but they’re like most of the other acceptees (2250+, 750 SAT IIs, etc.).

JDong217 · March 28, 2010, 2:07am

Decision: Waitlisted CIT

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 770 CR / 800 M / 800 W (Superscored over two sittings; 2360 is highest single score)
[] SAT IIs:760 Math I / 790 Chem / 780 USH
[] ACT:
[] APs: 5 World History / 4 English Lang / 5 Chem / 5 US History
[] IBs:
[] UM-GPA: 4.0
[] Rank: School doesn’t rank but I know I’m in top 2%
[] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Violin (9 years and counting), All COunty Honors Orchestra, Long Island String Festival Honors Orchestra, NYSSMA Music Festival (participated in it as well as helped organzie my division when it was held at my school)
[] Job/Work Experience: Not much, a little babysitting and watching the house of a family friend
[] Essays (subject and responses): might’ve been my downfall. I talked a lot about wanted to become and engineer and volunteer abroad. Talked about wanting to join engineers without borders and stuff. I also think I wrote an essay about music, but I might be mixing that up with another school - they’re just too many!
[] Teacher Recs: read one of them from my us history teacher and it was great. Didn’t read the others though
[] Counselor Rec: generally good
[] Applied on: don’t remember, but really close to the RD deadline
[] Hook (if any): probably none. Being asian might be an anti-hook though haha
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: NY
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): too lazy to post it all, but large public school that sends some grads to top schools
[] Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese American)
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Congratulations to all those who got in! I’m a little upset that I got waitlisted but I knew it was a possibility.

totalcaprice · March 28, 2010, 2:15am

Quote:
Decision: Accepted, Economics

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT: 2150 (Math 750, Verbal 680, Writing 720)
[] SAT IIs: Math II 760, Chemistry 730
[] ACT: 33 (Math 34, Reading 35, Science 30, English 32)
[] GPA: 3.76 UW, 4.36 W
[] Rank: 9/615
[] AP Scores: Calculus AB (5), Chemistry (4), English Language (4), US History (4), World History (4); will be taking Calculus BC, Physics B AP, English Literature, Econ AP
[] Took several college courses at local community college: Psychology, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Drawing, etc…
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Essays: should be really good started them in the summer…I wrote about Monopoly and I connected it throughout my essay in each paragraph so I think that was pretty cute
[]ECs listed on app: president of school’s literary magazine club, Math Club, Academic Decathlon, Future Business Leaders of America , Piano, Bruggemeyer Library
[]Job/Work Experience: none
[] Teacher Recs: should be good since both teachers are advisers of one club I lead, another one I’m in
[] Counselor Rec: should be good I’ve known my counselor since freshmen year
[] Hook (if any): None
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: California
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[li] Gender: Female[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments: Pretty happy, since this is the first college of privates that accepted me hopefully it’ll cancel out the rejections when April 1st comes along >_>

crystalknight · March 28, 2010, 2:33am

**Decision: Accepted - SCS and CIT **

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 2150 (Reading - 740, Math - 730, Writing - 680) (took it once)
[] SAT IIs: Chemistry - 800, Math II - 730, Literature - 710
[] ACT: Did not take.
[] APs: World History - 3 (took sophomore year), Calc BC - ? (taking this year)
[] IBs: Diploma Candidate; Mathematics SL - 5, Economics SL - 5, Latin SL - ?, Chemistry HL - ?, History of the Americas HL - ?, English HL - ?,
[] UM-GPA: 4.0 uw, 4.86 w (I don’t even know really, I’ve never gotten a B, so I don’t know how it really works out)
[] Rank: 1/632 (tied with my best friend [who is going to Berkeley] and ex-girlfriend [who got accepted to MIT…], so that’s cool)
[] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Varsity Wrestling; 3 year Varsity Mathlete and Captain; Latin Club Vice President; etc. other clubs
[] Job/Work Experience: Some internship that made me hate civil engineering. Best thing I ever learned was that civil engineering + me = lose
[] Essays (subject and responses): Why I chose CMU… I wrote about how my interest in engineering has developed over the past few years. How I took that internship that pushed me away from civil engineering. How I saw a TV show about the future leaps in AI and how I want to join them. Then I wrote how CMU could help me get there, etc. My parents said it was the best essay I had ever written. Essay went through 3 drafts after various peer-input and was based on another essay that had been through 5 drafts. Oh, and I kinda made a joke too, so yeah. Common app personal essay about film-making hobby (claymation Odyssey :P) and winning local film making contest. 
[] Teacher Recs: Probably impersonal and generic praise. I dunno. My english teacher bought me a copy of Mass Effect 2, so I’m assuming he wrote me a pretty nice rec. Other rec was from my chemistry teacher, who I help a lot with her first year of teaching IB chem.
[] Counselor Rec: I never really met him, but he loves me. They love all the smart ones…
[] Applied on: I discovered that I wanted to go to CMU, wrote my app, and submitted it all the day it was due.
[] Hook (if any): None! I’m a white, middle class boy who has never had any serious problems. I work hard, get my stuff done, and have fun when I can.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: California
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Public and uh… California Distinguished…?
[] Ethnicity: White!
[li] Gender: Male![/li][/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I’m very happy that I got in. I now have a hard decision to make: Cal vs. CMU. It’s a good dilemma to be in. Congratulations to all that got in!

kenhungkk · March 28, 2010, 3:31am

Decision: Accepted to MCS

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 680 CR, 800 M, 800 W
[] SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 800 Phy, 800 Chem
[] ACT: -
[] APs: -
[] IBs: -
[] UM-GPA: I think it’s 4.0, my school let us know my GPA
[] Rank: 2/~200
[] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Math Olympiad, Physics Olympiad, Olympiad in Informatics, Infinitesimal hours of voluntary services
[] Job/Work Experience: -
[] Essays (subject and responses): Wrote on my idiosyncrasy when doing math
[] Teacher Recs: One vaguely good, one average
[] Counselor Rec: Excellent one, my counselor even sent an additional one for me
[] Applied on: 30 Dec
[] Hook (if any): IMO Silver medalist
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: Hong Kong
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Private but subsidized school, top tier local school
[] Ethnicity: Chinese
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Caltech accepted me, so I was not very surprised.

0123456789 · March 28, 2010, 3:38am

Accepted to CIT (ECE), Waitlisted at SCS. Not interested in publishing much stats (2300+ SAT, 3.9 UW, Boatloads of Activities).

akmeecheen · March 28, 2010, 3:38am

Quote:
Decision: Accepted, Architecture

Stats:[ul]
[] SAT I (by section): 770W740CR800M
[] SAT IIs: MathII - 800 Korean w/ Listening - 790 Physucks - 730
[] ACT: Not Taken
[] APs: Calc BC - 4, 5 AB subscore
[] IBs: n/a
[] UM-GPA: 3.7 UW 4.0 W (not counting senior year… counting, it drops to 3.6/3.9)
[] Rank: DNR
[] Other stats: National Merit Finalist, Architecture portfolio
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] ECs listed on app: Newspaper Editor-in-Chief, Class VP, volunteer work, drumline, Kendo 2nd degree black belt, art classes
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring, Cashier
[] Essays (subject and responses): Arch essay about the modern environmentalist movement, commonapp essay about the utter suckage that is migraines.
[] Teacher Recs: Good, from what my teachers have said.
[] Counselor Rec: Good, from what my counselor has said.
[] Applied on: A day late.
[] Hook (if any): Visited the campus all the way from California. Connected with my interviewer on some level about the strange perspective you get as an Asian.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[] State or Country: CA
[] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): 6+ people to stanford, 12 people to MIT this year…ridiculous. Very competitive, sends many grads to top schools.
[] Ethnicity: Korean
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul]**General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Pretty damn surprised. Two C’s in my first semester grade report. Submitted my application a day late (because i’m on Pacific time and forgot about that 3-hour difference.) and didn’t even send anything to let them know about the accident. I’m pretty sure the in-person portfolio review is what did it for me. But still surprised. Who the hell gets into CMU with a 3.0(2.8 if i dont count my non-academic courses) first semester senior year???

OFFICIAL Carnegie Mellon University Decision - Class of 2014

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