<p>merit based aid at Carnegie Mellon? For a person with a 4.12 and increasing GPA? and A computer science major</p>
<p>By the way, could you sell me on Carnegie Mellon?</p>
<p>My son had a GPA of around 4.2 at application time and SAT of 2270 and received 10,050in merit aid. However, we are a middle class family who did not qualify for financial aid, but obviously could not afford the sticker price. I think CMU, like many other schools, reserve their merit aid for such families. If you qualify for financial aid, you will most likely not receive merit aid.</p>
<p>He has chosen to attend another school…I do recommend going to a sleeping bag weekend at CMU to determine if it is a it for you rather than taking someone else’s word for it. It is really a personal decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>I heard Carnegie Mellon discontinued merit aid.</p>
<p>MIT Hopeful…</p>
<p>Not to bust your bubble-- but most of the SCS class are that special…many are Stanford, MIT caliber people… at SCS, nearly everyone is exceptional.</p>
<p>Read the webpage on how financial/merit aid is given…it’s designed to bring in and build a class of diverse academic and extracurricular talents…</p>
<p>I’ve also heard rarely do SCS students get merit b/c they are all spectacular…they throw the money elsewhere…</p>
<p>And the rumor is in fact that there was little merit aid offered- most of the earlier specifically named scholarships are no longer noted on their printed or website pages.</p>
<p>My son’s was called the Presidential Scholarship and is listed on his financial aid letter under the name Carnegie Scholarship. Although the detailed description is that of a merit scholarship, I am pretty sure he was not the top student who applied, but merely had something they felt he brought to the table and it was clear he would not qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>That is exactly the point- they look well outside the gpa and sat…they are interested in bringing and building a class of people offering something special in the way of talents, nationally ranked athletes, leadership, community service…</p>
<p>I think there are a couple of things going on with the merit aid at CMU. As an institution for smart people, they have tried to come up with a smart and efficient merit aid system that yields them the best students and really helps kids attend CMU who wouldn’t otherwise attend. </p>
<p>They want to offer it to outstanding students who don’t qualify for financial aid, or do qualify but not for much financial aid and attending CMU is a real financial stretch. So…imagine there is a student who can go to RPI for almost free or has to take on a lot of loans to go to CMU. Good kid, wants to study robotics and latin so wants to do a dual degree…not many of them this year…so…offer him some aid. Seems to meet CMUs needs and student’s needs. CMU needs this type of student, student needs more aid to make CMU feasible without debt load. The problem for you, the applicant, is that it is hard to predict whether you will get aid. We know of students who did get very generous merit aid on top of financial aid that makes their situation at CMU quite comfortable. S applied with some hope of merit aid.</p>
<p>What we learned through this process is that CMU is not going to throw merit aid at at a kid who, at least on paper, can easily afford to come. This is our situation. S is a really good student but just another really good student among many at CMU. Looking at financial aid documents he should only need to take on a light debt burden for S to attend so we look like we won’t be really stretching and giving us merit aid is really a bit of a waste from CMUs point of view…he will either come and spend the full-freight bucks or won’t. </p>
<p>The problem with this is really a problem with the whole financial aid system. The documents are simple (tax and income statements) and do not reflect the much more complex reality in many families. Parents may have lots of stated income and savings but have placed a limit on what they will pay for kid’s education, absentee parent shows on tax documents but refuses to support kid in college, or there are many obligations for that family that don’t show up on the US 1040 such as supporting family abroad, etc. </p>
<p>It is what it is. Even after being disappointed with the merit aid outcome at CMU, we recognize that it is a pretty fair system, but a relatively simple system, that doesn’t always take into account how messy family finances really are. Thus, no one can predict whether you are going to get merit aid…there are ways to improve your chances but you need to apply recognizing that you may not get aid and the family finances may not be in line to send you to CMU. FINANCIAL and ACADEMIC safeties mean that you can face May 1 with some peace of mind knowing you don’t have to depend upon the vagaries of a merit aid system to go to college.</p>
<p>I like how all the people posting in this thread are mothers, not actual students who could sell you on life at CMU. 
It’s strange how the forum works. </p>
<p>Anyhow, MIT, you’ll find a lot of the same atmosphere here as you would at MIT, since I’m guessing that was your top choice. It’s very technologically focused with many research opportunities and exceptional professors who care about the students a great deal. Pittsburgh weather sucks, but no more or less than Boston’s I guess. The city has excellent transit in the form of a public bus system that’s pretty safe, reliable and efficient. The campus is small like MIT and Cornell and you will see the same friendly faces day to day, which is encouraging. </p>
<p>The dorms are nice, the food is good (the people who say it sucks are referring to the previous food servicers, who lost their contract last year) and the programs are well ranked. I would advise you to come visit if it’s possible and get a feel for campus, but from what everyone says it seems like CMU is just MIT with respected arts/humanities programs.</p>
<p>It’s unlikely you’ll receive strong merit aid, as CMU tends to be stingy with it.</p>
<p>Kate…true…lots of moms on here …I jump in and out to keep amused as I am running batch jobs on big computer…and waiting for results.</p>
<p>Moms don’t give a lot of advice about life at schools unless, perhaps, they have a kid at the school who shares a lot (moms of daughters may be fortunate to fall into that category). Mom’s of sons are quick to learn that what happens at college, stays at college…and aren’t able to claim any insight into college life.</p>
<p>However, moms of sons and daughters know financial and merit aid systems well…it is, after all, our years of savings and retirement that is at risk here so we do a lot of investigating and studying and talking to the fa officers. My kid is great at applying to scholarships, working part-time, etc. but the attention to detail tends to fall to the one who stands to pay the highest price of ignorance.</p>
<p>haha, I definitely agree that sons tend to not tell their parents anything. However, I think daughters could also fall into that category - we just selectively tell our parents things and then omit the real truth. ;)</p>
<p>It always amuses me when parents come on these forums and go, “My son is in a frat, and he has so much fun! He does community service and he and his brothers study all the time together!” (Yeah, maybe when they’re not spray painting chickens and releasing them on campus or practicing their pong skills.) or “Oh, yes. My daughter stayed in Mcgill and loves it, so I can say the dorm is awesome!” (because… you know, a second hand account of a dormitory’s life from a mother living 3-4 states away is extremely reliable.)</p>
<p>But when it comes to financial aid, I respect that moms and dads definitely are more in-the-know than a lot of attending students are.</p>
<p>BTW Kate, your info on CMU on this forum seems to be very helpful for my student…thanks…</p>
<p>That chicken thing got PETA’s attention - is that frat loosing their right to remain on campus…
funny to see a blue chicken…but no so funny if you’re a chicken-- cruel actually. </p>
<p>Kate-- one day you will be a mom and understand our interest here…intentions to be helpful - but we all know we have limited/distorted information about campus life-- we are on a “need to know basis” – we know that!</p>
<p>I’m a huge CMU fan-- my kids turned down a total of 14 other schools combined over CMU (some with better aid packages) and I have no complaints about anything D experienced so far-- the academics top notch, admin and faculty for the most part incredibly accommodating and sensitive to D and friends, food better now, dorms fine for a large city and people have been wonderful! I’ve met lots of friends of my D’s and these are really great people - hard working, bright and down-to-earth-- . As a parent, I’ve enjoyed my visits - heard the Kiltie Band, been to Carnival three times and still wonder how a person fits into a Buggy… My only complaint- some of the bathrooms I’ve seen are a bit dirty.</p>
<p>I never try to sell CMU to students-- I leave that to the students. I see my role here as convincing parents that the money is well spent, and I try to highlight some bumps we encountered/or heard about first hand… so others can avoid the mess if possible and have a better experience.</p>
<p>Hopefully I’m doing a good job, helpful and not making anyone’s decisions for them nor stepping on students’ toes posting here as well. </p>
<p>College is all about fit-- academics are great at CMU vs. the colleges people are considering relative to CMU-- the fit has to be right and no amount of comments here can substitute for a campus visit.</p>
<p>No, they just got put on probation for the chicken thing. I can see why the university made that call, it would kind of be ridiculous to expel them from campus considering someone died in Pike’s house and the university didn’t really do anything in repercussion. (Although I guess that’s different since it wasn’t a CMU student and he should’ve known better than to get that drunk at his age.)</p>
<p>lol completelykate, guilty as charged, I think. What you may find surprising (I don’t mean this in a condescending way!)…we parents have our own histories. I lived in a Lehigh (party central) fraternity for three years. Not many of my son’s or his cronies’ antics in their CMU fraternity would shock me, trust me on that. I know what they do in frats.</p>
<p>Anyway, I believe a mitigating factor for Pika, wrt recent death, was this occurred while the school was officially on spring break. I believe, too, the poor fellow was over 21. You would know more about it than I. Still, a terrible tragedy. </p>
<p>I echo the other parent…your posts are most helpful to prospective students and their parents alike.</p>
<p>After reading every comment, ok. I wish I could’ve went to the Summer Academy, but I have finals to take over the summer sadly. I know Stats wise I’ll be fine. Would being a URM who founds a Math Club, Leads MUN, and Will lead his First and VEX robotics team help at all? I’ve also performed close to 200 hours of community service this year alone helping Middle School Robotics and Tutoring.</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom, summed it up nicely.</p>
<p>OP, you should review their financial aid policy, [Admission</a> > Principles and Practices](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University).</p>
<p>continue reading the other subheadings under Financial Aid.</p>
<p>will being a URM help?
Probaby. but if you are an Asian or Indian, maybe not.</p>
<p>Well a student from my school got into MIT her junior year and she started our FIRST robotics club. Infact, she also got into Cal Tech her junior year and on her acceptance letter the wrote, “Impressive robotics experience”. Because Cal Tech singled out her Robotics experience I believe that starting a robotics club would be a huge plus for any college you apply to.</p>
<p>And no I am not ■■■■■■■■ this girl was a flipping genius and she got into CMU, MIT, and Cal Tech her junior year. She skipped her senior year and she is currently a freshman at MIT.</p>
<p>Ok, I am not Asian, I am black . I do want to apply Junior year because I think I could do it, although I did not start my Robotics Club. It started 2 years before I came to my school, and all we have is Vex and FTC. We haven’t the money for FRC. I know that depending on how everyone progresses either next year or my senior year, I will be the head of the team. I might be able to urge some corporate sponsor money however.</p>
<p>You seem to be like a pretty ambitious guy, but I just have to ask. Why the F would you want to skip your senior year of high school? There is really no reason for that, even if you think you can’t “learn anything in the classroom” which is a common reason for someone to skip senior year, you can still learn a lot about yourself. </p>
<p>Also, colleges, cmu especially loves well rounded students. All of your ECs are great, but are somewhat one dimensional. Join a sports team or something, you could be the next peyton manning, you never know.</p>