Am I Screwed?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>I'm very depressed right now... I'm applying for Electrical and Computer Engineering and heard back from some of my schools... got into University of Illinois at Urbana, University of Michigan Ann-Arbor, UCSD and UC Santa Barbara, but have gotten rejected from MIT, UC-Berkeley, and waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon.</p>

<p>I wasn't very concerned about MIT because its a reach at any rate, and even UC-Berkeley because they only took 2% applicants out of state (1000 of 45,000 applicants out of state). However, getting waitlisted from Carnegie Mellon came to me as a shock. For me it's like a roadblock from the other schools I'm hearing from - Stanford and some of the Ivys: Cornell, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Upenn. </p>

<p>My stats are as follows:</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 650 CR 750 M 770 W
ACT: 33
SAT II: 690 Chem 690 Math1 710 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.3/4.6 W (in my school 4.6 is the theoretical highest possible)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 2
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 on AP History
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs: AP French, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics at STanford EPGY, AP Computers at Keystone High School Online, Chess class elective, Public Speaking, English World Literature
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Cum Laude Honor Society (11th), Mu Alpha Theta Math society (11th), AMC 10 (highest score in school), numerous school awards (merit in classes, community service, student council, technology, etc.)
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Chess team 2 years, Lead of TSAs 4 years (Technical Support Assistants - group of tech savvy kids responsible for upkeep of the network, servers, student/faculty laptops), Tech Crew 3 years (setting up the school's PA system for events), Mock Trial 11th, Yearbook 3 years (co-editor senior year), The Leader newspaper (11th and 12th - co-editor 12th grade), Created/founded/run the school's first online radio (11th, 12th), Math Team 9-12th, Student Council Executive Secretary (12th), guitar since 4th grade, bass since 8th grade, played double bass in High School band 9th-10th
Job/Work Experience: Work at school's summer camp (summer of 9th, 10th - started working at age 13), Internship at Brainlink International Inc. IT computer consultancy (from summer of 11th-present - started working at age 15), working on my own company startup in technology and computers - submitted my 39 page business plan to colleges.
Volunteer/Community service: have won awards each year for over 250+ hours, will have 1000 hours+ for my cumulative high school career
Summer Activities: Employment as noted above. In summer of 10th grade I attended a Chemistry Program at Columbia University for a month.
Essays: common app was about my experiences with helping my community after a local university, St. John's, threatened to intrude on the well-being of the neighborhood and residents. working with congressman, during my summer of freshman year and the residents of my community to protest the changes. Related that to what i've learned so far about leadership and giving speeches to my high school, about the economy, racism and diversity, and one as Barack Obama.
Teacher Recommendation: go to a small school so from teaches that knew me very well - my AP US Teacher (and also athletics director), and Chemistry Teacher (also Science Department Head)
Counselor Rec: Included specific information about me, including the fact that my age restricted me from doing any work in labs. (MITES at MIT and the Caltech Programs both called me up and said I qualified but my age restricted me from participating because of insurance reasons)
Additional Rec: From my employer at Brainlink International Inc., one from my Computer Teacher who also oversees the Technical Support Assistant and Tech Crew Programs I lead
Interviews: went well - some were an hour (Harvard, Upenn), some were a lot longer (Columbia, Carnegie Mellon, Princeton) - ended up talking for close to 3 hours.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: major in Electrical and Computer Engineering, major in astrophysics, minor in business economics and finances
State: NY
School Type: private. Graduating class size is 36 kids.
Ethnicity: Parents from Guyana, South America.
Gender:M
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): will be first generation college graduate, youngest graduate - skipped 4th grade - will be graduating at 16.
Sports: Varsity Soccer 9th, Varsity Cross Country 10th-12th, JV Tennis 9th-10th, Varsity Foil Fencing 9th-12th (Varsity Captain 11th-12th)</p>

<p>Overall, I thought I stood a chance. I'm at the top of my grade and everyone in my school expects a lot from me. Two students in my school have gotten into Upenn (ED) and cornell (rolling) but I feel that a large part is because they are minority (black) and female because their SAT scores are below 2000, like in 1800s, GPAs much lower than mine, and are not even in any of the advanced courses I am in.</p>

<p>I am wallowing in my misery on the couch in my basement, stopped doing work, and have given up. Please give me your perspective on if I stand a chance anymore.</p>

2

<p>I'm not college admissions expert, but I think it may be because of your age.</p>

<p>I've seen a lot of profiles pop up that were amazing like yours but the age seems to play a big role (15 & 16 year olds). If worse comes to worse, you can just go to one of the schools you got accepted into (safties I'm guessing) and attempt to transfer to one of your dream schools?</p>

3

<p>hmm and i thought age would be a positive =/. i skipped a grade years ago because i'm smart and ambitious why would they portray that negatively</p>

4

<p>I got waitlisted as well - the best I can recommend is write back and hope for the best. I feel you. The only thing I regret was not applying to more Ivy League schools, because although I was not accepted to Computer Engineering Program, I was accepted to the other majors/schools I had applied to.</p>

5

<p>Well I think with the age thing comes the question of immaturity - can you really handle college a year earlier than everyone else?</p>

<p>Just because you skipped a year academically doesn't mean you're emotionally prepared for college? What if you become way too overwhelmed, fail and drop out? (Not saying you will, but maybe that's the question colleges are asking?) </p>

<p>This is only my two cents though...again...not an admissions expert!</p>

6

<p>Thanks wbkidd00 that's actually very comforting. Hopefully things will turn out as such.</p>

7

<p>i think the fact that you're wallowing in misery on your couch shows how your age/immaturity can negatively affect your chances</p>

8

<p>lol well I'm back to my confident self I have to point out several erroneous remarks.
1) couch thing was an exaggeration
2) if anyone faces a rejection its no mark of youthfulness or age to be disappointed</p>

<p>Furthermore, I understand the legitimacy of the remark made but I am completely tired of the argument put forward. Its rash, untrue assumptions and stereotypes like age/maturity that keep hold on those from going forward. I am completely mature - people years old than me respect and follow my lead. If I didn't have leadership and maturity, people wouldn't be committing to my company startup. I wouldn't have raised $17,000 in startup money. And I wouldn't have been where I am today without earning the respect of those around me.</p>

<p>I'm sorry it's comments and assumptions like yours that are the basis of such trivial legislation and a society that makes it so difficult to proceed and excel as an ambitious, yet skilled youth.</p>

9

<p>You applied to 13 schools? I gather that you wanted to have a multiple of choices if chosen, and at least one you can depend upon if 12 gave you a rejection. ?</p>

<p>If you are accomplished as you say in post #8, I wouldn't bother too much with going to school, let alone an high priced school. A college is where you learn. Grades k-12 is where you are taught. After that one is supposed to use what you have been taught and what you have learned. I think you are already past the learning phase and into the using part. :)</p>

10

<p>okay, you're right. your age isn't holding you back. you're stats are just not competitive to those accepted.</p>

11

<p>Short answer to your title question, OP, is: yes.</p>

12

<p>You look like a very strong applicant, but admissions often seems to be a mysterious business. It's possible that CMU thought your SAT2 scores could have been higher, or that your junior year schedule could have been more demanding. You didn't say whether you are a US citizen, but it's possible that played into it, if you are not. Waitlist is not the same as being rejected, so tell them about any accomplishments that may have occurred since the application went in, double check your transcript and make sure there were no errors, and write a letter reiterating your interest. The main CC site has good advice here: College</a> Admissions: Deferral and Waitlists</p>

13

<p>A few random thoughts about your situation: </p>

<p>If you really want to study EE or ECE, Illinois and Michigan are ranked higher by US News than CMU and the Ivy League schools you mention. You can always mention this if you feel the need to defend your decision on where to attend. </p>

<p>Since Cal Tech and MIT already mentioned the age issue to you maybe you should be proactive and ask at the schools you are considering whether your age will be any problem in doing research or obtaining research jobs. Most high school graduates are 18 years old so I'm not sure if you have a summer birthday or are actually 2 years longer. </p>

<p>It seems like the CMU waitlist is further complicated by financial aid issues and they state openly that they are not need-blind in taking people off the wait list. Since you state that you applied for financial aid this might be a factor. On the other hand, CMU may go to the wait list more often this year if accepted students cannot afford to attend.</p>