<p>I've been looking at CMU for months, but I had no clue until a few moments ago that you need 2 SAT II subject tests!?!? I was under the impression many colleges liked them, but did not require them! Does Carnegie Mellon truly require 2 subject tests for admission?</p>
<p>It depends on what college in CMU you’re apply to. Many of them require the subject test though.</p>
<p>Yes, if it says you need 2 subject tests, you need them. Also, double check the requirements to whichever college(s) within CMU that you’re interested in - for example, I’m in CIT, and I specifically had to take the Physics or Chem subject test as one of mine. Which sucked because I hadn’t taken classes that covered that material. But CMU insisted, so I self-studied physics since I had taken a physics class, and actually did decently well.</p>
<p>Yeah im good in chem. i got a 5 on the ap exam. but i feel like since im taking the test so many months later i might suck. same goes for math 1, i learned the stuff so long ago i feel like i won;t do as well on it as i would have a year or 2 ago. I’m applying to CIT. how much are my SAT II tests weighted for my overall admission. If i don’t do well on them should i kiss my chances good bye, even if the rest of my application is decent? how much do they look at them</p>
<p>Got a 5 on AP Chem as well. I ended up reviewing just a bit a few nights before. 780 on the subject test; it is quite generously curved. That STUPID section where you have to answer if one, both, or none of two statements are true is ridiculous though. Practice and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>yeah I hated that practice section haha. I’m not nervous for the chem whatsoever. but lots of the math on Math I is so old for me i feel like I’ll end up bombing it. How crucial are these grades to my acceptance at CMU?</p>
<p>Why are you taking Math I as opposed to Math II? CMU would definitely rather see Math II if you’re applying to CIT, and the material would be stuff you’ve done a little more recently, at least…</p>
<p>Because I don’t think I have covered all that will be on the math II</p>
<p>Precalculus is the farthest Math II will go, it’s not too deep at all.</p>
<p>How did your guidance counselor and/or the teachers you had for an AP class somehow forget to remind you to take the SATII subject test?</p>
<p>If CMU is on your radar and any other comparable school for any STEM field-- you need MathIIC and a science–. Some schools request three subject tests- rare. As Caldancer noted-- you specifically need chem or physics for CMU-CIT admissions.</p>
<p>If your file is incomplete it’s not reviewed.
You need to hit 650 at LEAST to be competitive. Anything else is a red flag.
700 + ideal – especially on math for engineering or SCS. Eh- for SCS- -you’re not really safe without 750+.</p>
<p>You should aim for high scores on them, but they aren’t as important as the other parts of your application. I was accepted and all three of my scores weren’t even mid 600s.</p>
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<p>I don’t recall ever having anyone bring up the SAT IIs in high school (other than talking with my friends about it) even though my school sent a good number of people to “top” colleges every year.</p>
<p>You’re right. No one ever brings them up, even though we too send several students a year to top universities. To be honest not that many outside of the ivy league and top LACs even require them. There are plenty of universities in the top 20 that do not require SAT II.</p>
<p>ditto…no sat II mentioned to my kids ever by teachers or guidance counselors. My S waited until fall of senior year to take them. I am still wondering how he was waitlisted for CIT since he took math II but also Spanish. Shouldn’t he have been outright rejected if he hadn’t taken a science SAT II?</p>
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<p>One of my best friends at CMU has claimed he didn’t take the SAT IIs. I think it does happen rarely that candidates are let through despite not having the right SAT II requirements, but I wouldn’t count on that happening for any application. I certainly would not recommend that any aspiring cmu student say “well, if it happens, then I bet they’ll make an exception for me because I’m a great candidate.” I’ve only heard of the one (and now two, including your son) case where that happened.</p>
<p>In the case of my S getting waitlisted without doing the requisite SAT IIs, perhaps they saw that he was in in CFA and decided it wouldn’t matter much if he watilisted him in CIT (SCS waitlisted him too). </p>
<p>Not only one of his SAT IIs was in Spanish, he also only had ECs related to art (no robotics or engineering or comp science type ECs) and he did not address why he was applying to these schools in his essay. I didn’t even know he had applied to these schools until he showed me his email with the waitlisted status for the two schools. I asked why he had put them down when he applied and he just wanted to see if they thought he could handle the material in case he wanted to minor or double major. Perhaps that is the way the admissions people see the waitlist category for kids already accepted in another school. Thumbs up in terms of being able to do the work but not good enough to take up a space with a simple acceptance? </p>
<p>Also, the math was high score so perhaps they figured that was the most important SAT II. </p>
<p>I certainly wouldn’t skip doing the required SAT IIs based on my son’s experience. Also, I would have thought that schools would hate what my son and other kids do…take the SAT II in your native language so you get a slam dunk 800 on one test. I know lots of Korean and Japanese first and second generation immigrant kids take the SAT II in their native language and to me it looks a bit silly AND you are messing up the curve for the non-native speakers. However, it didn’t seem to hurt S’s cause at any of the universities that he applied to so the reasoning of admissions is still a bit of a black box.</p>
<p>I know our high school’s math teachers usually brought it up on Parent’s Night since they knew the kids didn’t always listen. And it definitely got brought up at junior conferences, but if you live in areas where most people take the ACT you might not get reminded about the subject tests. Check the specific CMU school for which subject tests they expect - if I recall correctly my oldest (applied only to SCS) had to take Math 2 and either Physics or Chemistry. </p>
<p>fineartsmom, did your son have a science AP score that might have substituted for the missing science subject test?</p>
<p>With all due respect to a few posters here who either skipped or had low SATIIs-- aren’t you URMs? I sat in on a parent presentation at the Sleeping Bag weekend that was for the early arrivals attending Diversity weekend (it was open to anyone – so I figured why not). CMU Director of Minority Recruitment said openly that Standardized test scores are not shown to be predictors of success for underrepresented students-- so CMU really looks the other way at those scores. This would explain why Harvard got in with 600s (And I don’t mean to downplay your otherwise fine credentials). A white male isn’t going to gain a spot at CIT, MCS or SCS with 600s. APs are often a good substitute for SATIIS.
Also, the data required for admissions to pre-college vs. SAMS/APEA summer programs for juniors shows a much different threshold. URMS are being looked at with 600s.<br>
Like mathmom, our high school did a freshman parent night and a junior night. SATIIS were mentioned upfront in 9th grade. Students were given a schedule-- BIO in 9th, GLobal History in 10th, Chem or Physics or American History in 11th and MathII or Math 1 in 11th. Teachers had the review book ordered start of second semester and homework was assigned weekly. We’re just an average public high school - 89% attend college.</p>
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<p>My friend who got in without SAT IIs is a white male. He is in HCI with me. It could be different in the case of SCS/MCS/CIT though.</p>
<p>Yep…S is a URM but I think the admissions results had more to do with him being an art student with some interest in dual majoring that perhaps had admissions less attentive to the SAT IIs. How many sculptors do they get applying to SCS with high Math II scores and lots of science/math APs? Mathematician/sculptor is perhaps a special category of under-represented-minority or perhaps they thought S could be another DaVinci (ha!)? Possibly the APs are seen as substitutes for SATIIs . So what if you didn’t take SAT II but have a 5 in bio and a 5 in physics? However, the mysteries of admissions decisions will never be revealed so the important thing is to try to meet what is required on paper to maximize your chances for admission.</p>