Can a B+ student get into CMU?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
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<p>I am wondering if my son will have a chance at this school, or if he should not set his sights so high. </p>

<p>He is currently a Sophomore.</p>

<p>White/ from NJ</p>

<p>3.7 uw GPA
4.05 w GPA</p>

<p>From the PSAT I think he should get about a 2100 on the SAT. </p>

<p>He has all honors and AP physics this year. Plans on taking 9 more APs.</p>

<p>Top 10% of public school which does not rank.</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>Eagle Scout
Robotics Team (currently sub-team captain, but I think will be team captain)
NASA Inspire
Debate Team
Varsity Swim Team
Summer Swim Team</p>

<p>I want him to be realistic about his prospects.</p>

<p>If this school is out of reach, what others could you suggest. He wants to go into Nanotech. Thanks.</p>

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<p>SVMMom, have you taken a look at the admission statistics (and average GPAs)?</p>

<p>[Admission</a> > Admission Statistics](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>

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<p>SVMmom; that profile from our NJ public had admits to CMU over the past few years; but we do rank and that WGPA would also be top 10%…</p>

<p>not sure if those admits were ED or RD…doesn’t distinguish on Naviance</p>

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<p>What major would he be applying for, specifically? Something in the sciences or engineering? That would definitely make it a reach, though not impossible. The college/major you’re applying to at CMU can really make a difference in terms of admissions chances.</p>

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<p>He does plan on majoring in engineering.</p>

<p>Any suggestions for other schools to try?</p>

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<p>Here is a list of colleges my S (CMU/CIT-2012) was visited during his search. Hope this helps.</p>

<p>Layfayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, RPI, RIT, Rochester, Penn St., Rutgers, Villanova, NC State, Johns Hopkins, Northeastern, MIT, Stevens Institute of Technology, Cornell, Princeton.</p>

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<p>California dancer you mention that major might influence how a prospective student is assessed. I am wondering about this bc my son is a talented poet looking for a good creative writing school but he is an uneven student on paper. Do you think that a creative writing dept. at CMU (which sounds great) would have any influence over general admissions? I know that music departments can override if they want a student, but I don’t want to get our hopes up if this is unrealistic at CMU-- any thoughts anyone?</p>

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<p>Here are the schools my son looked at for engineering, however, his GPA and SATs were higher:</p>

<p>Duke, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, CMU, Lehigh, Tulane, Syracuse, UConn</p>

<p>You could also cosider WPI, RPI, Rensselaer and Bucknell</p>

<p>He is at Lehigh and absolutely loves it! He did get accepted at CMU but it was not a fit for him socially.</p>

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<p>Might want to consider CMU’s neighbor Pitt as well. He has good stats and would probably get some academic scholarship money as well. All the top tier schools end up being reaches for almost everyone - but tell him to give it a shot and see what happens. Good luck to you.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the input.</p>

<p>Here are the schools on his radar screen:</p>

<p>MIT
CMU
RPI
WPI
U of Michigan
Georgia Tech</p>

<p>His dream school is MIT and he knows that is an extreme reach, but he is kinda thinking to himself that all the other schools will be possibilities. I am trying to manage expectations. </p>

<p>Does he stand a chance at any of these?</p>

<p>Also, can anyone comment on RPI? What is it like.</p>

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<p>i would say to take the ACTs as well. Because georgia tech, converts act to sat.</p>

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<p>mumof2boyz, Rensselaer and RPI are the same school. :p</p>

<p>My boyfriend and several close friends went to/attend RPI. It’s a little bit more gender skewed towards males than CMU is, but the programs are comparable in engineering. It is very much a tech-y Georgia Tech/CMU/RIT type of atmosphere. It’s located in Troy, New York, which is a hellhole of a town, but the actual campus is really nice and the dorms are awesome compared to CMU’s.</p>

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<p>jazzzmomm - while I don’t think that the creative writing department will really have any specific influence over an admissions decision, being a strong writer can only help in the admissions process. To clarify what I meant in my admissions process, while most programs at CMU are very strong and academically competitive, certain colleges are easier to get into academically/they look for different things. For example, SCS might be a reach for a student, but they might stand a better chance at getting into MCS. </p>

<p>H&SS, the college creative writing is in, will obviously be looking for strong humanities students. It is not as academically competitive to get into as other colleges such as SCS; that said, the colleges look for different things, and are all competitive. </p>

<p>If I’m not mistake, completelykate, who posts a lot on this board, is a Creative Writing major, and would probably know more about this than me (engineering major!)</p>

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<p>Oops, just saw that post.</p>

<p>Jazzzmomm - I just sent you a PM with some info that might help your son regarding admissions. :)</p>

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<p>this is a really dumb question (trust me it sounded a lot better when I was thinking it haha) but what exactly indicate a strong humanities student? I figure that for scs its math, mcs math/science, cit math, but for humanities is it english/history? how about specifically for a psych major?</p>

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<p>I always get the best help here! I don’t know how I would have gotten through admissions with my musical son without CC parents and the creative writing major is just as difficult. High school guidance is zero help.</p>

<p>Thanks all!</p>

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<p>Oops, I meant to say RIT Kate!</p>

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<p>bump. </p>

<p>I was hoping someone would answer my other question about what exactly constitutes as an HSS student? (specifically psych)</p>

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<p>jazzzmom, speaking of CMU’s neighbor, Pitt’s undergrad creative writing program is comparable. It’s graduate English and creative writing programs are ranked ahead of CMU in US News and it is listed in Ruggs along with CMU. It has produced Michael Chabon (his novels Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonderboys are somewhat based on his time there). Pitt is easier to get into and is a lot cheaper, so you may want to give it a look because it is literally adjacent to CMU.</p>

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<p>this sounds just like my son (incl nasa inspire) and it’ll be interesting to see more comments since these are the schools on his radar also! we live in md…did he look at univ of md?</p>