Should I bother applying next year?

skatj
Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:20:16 +0000

I’m currently a junior with above-average GPA and SATs, and only two but somewhat good ECs. I am currently deciding on colleges to apply to and Carnegie Mellon is a dream school, but I am debating on whether to apply ED to CMU or just suck it out and apply ED to Cal Poly SLO, which is a school I would be decently happy to go to (not quite as happy as CMU though!), and would probably be a safety.

I want to apply to CIT.

Here are my stats:

2070 SAT (660 CR, 720 M, 690 W) waiting on Jan. 26 results…
About ~3.8 GPA if only counting 10-11th grade. But if CMU counts 9th grade, I currently have a 3.0 cumulative =(

Huge upward grade trend: Ds and Fs freshmen year, 3.6-3.7 soph, 4.0-4.2 junior year.

One problem: I’m in an honors physics with a teacher that teaches at snail’s pace! (we have only learned f=ma and energy so far). He covers them well and teaches us to apply them very well, but in terms of actual material we have learned so little, and since SAT II Physics is a requirement, I’m afraid I won’t be able to break 600! (chemistry is not an option either)

I’m also in Alg II, but i’ll probably be able to take precalc over the summer so I can get an okay Math II score.

My ECs are: Botball team (since middle school and this year in high school),
and Intel Science Fair, where I’m also working on a robotics project, which I believe will win state’s assuming I actually manage to get it to work. This summer I’ll be interning at an underwater robotics lab at UH-Manoa.

Essays will probably be about my experience with robotics.

Anyway, my question is, should I even consider Carnegie Mellon? Or would my chances be below 50%?

Oh and 1. Do they superscore SAT?
2. How much do they weight SAT IIs,
and 3. Do they count freshmen year?

Thanks!