Carnegie Mellon Class of 2021- ED RESULTS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

Well looks like the time is ticking!! I saw on the website that they will notify on the 15th, but on this website it says the 10th :-S. Maybe someone can clarify?

Here it goes, best of luck to ya!

Choose One
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Waitlisted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments :

2

Oops, forgot the website that says we get notified on the 10th: https://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■/blog-0/class-of-2021-early-decision-notification-dates

3

Comes out on the 11th! Best of luck to you all <3!

4

Lol I’m so nervous right now

5

Also nervous. SCS babyyyy

6

I think we know at midnight, right?

7

yeah

8

ONE HOUR

9

so nervous… is it out yet?

10

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360 I believe
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 M2, 780 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school does it differently but I have a 94
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Too excited- will do later!! <3

11

Decision: Accepted (CFA School of Architecture)

Objective:

SAT I (nSAT): 1550 Eng: 750 Math:800
SAT II: Math II: 800 Bio: 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA (out of 100): 94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP: AP Human Geo (5), AP Drawing (4), AP US History (4), AP Calc AB, AP Art History, AP Comp Gov, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics 1
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1, AP Calc AB, AP Art History, Critical Analysis of Cultural Context (English), Architecture Portfolio (more fine arts focused), AP Micro, AP Comp Gov, Spanish 5, Team Sports
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NAHS, NHS, National Merit Scholarship Program semi-finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): JV + Varsity soccer, travel team soccer, National Art Honor Society, National Honor Society, ACE Mentor program, one season of spring track
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Church youth Bible study teacher, Taiwan ESL mission trip translator, community Chinese New Year celebration MC
Summer Activities: Cornell Summer College (Architecture 6 weeks), Taiwan ESL mission trip translator
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 7-8 (wrote about my phone getting scammed away when I was 11), Writing supplement 9 (wrote about my background and beliefs and how they relate to the environment at CMU and the requirements for architecture)

Teacher Rec #1: APUSH/AP Micro teacher, would say it’s decent
Teacher Rec #2: Drawing/Arch Portfolio teacher, should be very positive
Counselor Rec: Heard from substitute counselor the rec was great
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: On-campus portfolio review. Went pretty well, didn’t get to finish on time but it was a nice conversation.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Architecture
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): Country of origin: China (Moved here 4 years ago)
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle - Upper middle class
Hooks: Required architecture portfolio: 10 pieces of drawings, would say they’re strong (would probably get a 5 on AP Drawing if only these 10 were required, 7 of them tied to a theme), including sketches, still life, anatomy studies, skyline drawings, portraits and a self portrait.

Reflection

Strengths: Standardized test scores, range of activities (maybe varsity sports helped), essays, decent portfolio, decent recs
Weaknesses: low GPA, no leadership roles, no too many major awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments : Just really happy tbh, still shaking a bit. I guess my advice is to show passion towards something (doesn’t have to be related to what you’re applying for), show a general understanding towards what they look for in applicants for their majors, and have a variety of interests instead of focusing on one subject. Good luck to RD applicants and future applicants!

12

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
MCS
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): r710/m790/w7-7-7
SAT II: math2 750, physics 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Weighted GPA:4.55
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 50/400 I believe
AP (place score in parenthesis): hg(5)/wh(4)/cs(5)/ph1(4)/calcAB(4)/ush(3)/phC(4)
Senior Year Course Load:AP classes: calcBC, ph2, chem, lit, gov, psych
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): nhs, mhs, chess, music
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: like 300?
Summer Activities: not stellar
Essays (rating 1-10, details): specific essay: 10, really good. CA essay:6
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): idk…but my teachers are really nice people.

Applied for Financial Aid?: ya
Intended Major: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): hmm…

Reflection
Strengths: My essay about my passion for physics, really good.
Weaknesses: I don’t have job/work experience, not very active in science (like I didn’t do science fair or anything…) also I took regular classes my freshman year lol. But I guess it’s ok as long as you show growth in your grades.
Why you think you were accepted: I guess my numbers were good? Also that I’m a female applying for physics probably didn’t hurt. TORQUE IT
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted FSU

General Comments : Really excited!! Now the next step is to not get senioritis :))

13

Choose One
Decision: Accepted (SCS School of Computer Science)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): math 720/writing 800/ reading 800
ACT (breakdown): 34 reading/ 35 math/ /36 science / 35 verbal / 35 composite
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9? Not sure
Weighted GPA: 4.62

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/ 313
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on Calc BC / 5 on Chemistry / 5 on English language / 5 on World History / 5 on Psychology/ 5 on Computer Science A / 5 on Latin
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus, Research, AP Physics, AP Lit, AP Bio, AP US Gov/Comp. Gov
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist (so far)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): science bowl, science olympiad, a few tech challenges, piano (>level 10 ABRSM), lacrosse, debate, some competitive programming stuff
Job/Work Experience: Piano teacher
Volunteer/Community service: Mu Alpha Theta, Key club, combined ~150 hours
Summer Activities: UVA and Princeton summer camps, otherwise not much
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Great commonapp essay (10) Other essays kind of average (6)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: calc bc teacher, thinks I’m great at math
Teacher Rec #2: honors bio teacher, likes me
Counselor Rec: Thinks I’m intelligent
Additional Rec: AP World teacher. Thinks I’m a great student.
Interview: Asked some questions, then unfortunately brought out the ‘chance of admission question’. Sat in awkward silence for twenty minutes… don’t do that.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No.
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, extremely competitive STEM magnet school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, as a girl? maybe

Reflection

Strengths: Essay was good, about metaphysics. Stats were decent, course load good. Recommenders like me more than normal. Submitted a video of piano playing, not sure if that helped.
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars are limited. Had passions that were never acted on.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Stats, female applying to SCS
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Too early to know

General Comments : Yay!!! I’m so happy! I knew I had decent chances, but only the objective outcome matters, right? Now I can prioritize programming/math before grades a little bit.

14

how do i know if im rejected or deferred?

15

Choose One
Decision: Accepted to SCS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 36 math, 36 science, 34 reading, 33 writing, 31 essay - 35 composite
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Probably 3.9? - not calculated
Weighted GPA: 4.68
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t tell us rank, but probably 5-10/740
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn’t even report on my common app, but I got 5’s on APUSH, Calc BC, Chem, Comp sci AB, and Psychology.
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Honors: Calc 3/Diff EQ, AP: Physics C, Lit&Comp, Latin Vergil, Biology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Just Letter of commendation for PSAT and informal award of top 10 on 2/4 of NJ Science league tests for chemistry

Subjective: I’mma only list stuff I put on my common app, doesn’t make sense to write extra stuff.

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Officer in Math and Latin honor societies. CJML math team for 4 years but never got an award. Columbia Science Honors Program senior year. Made a club teaching 4th graders some basic business stuff (founder/co-pres). Community Youth leadership program senior year.
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: 1 year: 200 Hours at a hospital (not like intern, just patient discharge), 2 years to current: 200 hours per year cadet on rescue squad
Summer Activities: EMT Camp rising senior year - 350 hours in 8 weeks
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app 9, other essays average. Used them to explain that I wanted to do med until end of junior year.
Note - I didn’t do the resume either

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Chem teacher, probably 8
Teacher Rec #2: Comp Sci teacher, probably 7
Counselor Rec: No clue, probably just favorable, never really connected with her.
Additional Rec:
Interview: Alright - did it really early (June) and I didn’t even know if I wanted to go to cmu at the time. The interview was mostly about what’s CMU like and should I apply, then I answered some questions about myself. Kind of dodged the important “why CMU” question because of this.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yea
Intended Major: CS
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Suburban
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Couple 100 k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Pretty strong student academically and lots of community oriented service
Weaknesses: Show no interest to comp sci through activities, no varsity sports, no competitions or awards.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was accepted because I explained that I only recently decided on doing CS in the supplementary essays. My background of EMT and healthcare work is probably very unique coming into a CS school.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: N/A

General Comments :
You don’t need to be insane like some of the other people I see on these types of forums with a term paper for their extracurriculars. They also have all these competitions and awards I’ve never even heard of + made a ton of coding clubs and stuff. All really not necessary. Just be a solid student and have something unique to show. Not everyone knows they want to do CS from the start of high school and are able to tailor a resume just for it, it’s actually pretty unreasonable to expect that. Also, a peer of mine from my school also applied and got accepted. He’s a very strong math student, has awards from competitions, and has made some apps. It shows there’s many ways to get in besides being a comp sci wizard.

16

Decision: Accepted CIT

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 35 Math 35 English 35 Reading 36 Science (35 Comp)
SAT II: 760 math 2, 770 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.76
Weighted GPA: na
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): na- prob top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC 4 (5 AB subscore), APUSH 5, AP Lang 5, (took AP Chem class)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Bio, AP French, Honors English, online university Physics 2 (electricity and magnetism)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nat Merit Semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Robotics (Captain 3 years), Debate (co-capt), Music (band and symphony), anti dating violence task force (vice pres), lots of other lesser things
Job/Work Experience: tutoring
Volunteer/Community service: bunch of things, some through robotics
Summer Activities: attended six week CMU program before senior year
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 9/10 - it was about a day I had at CMU
Why CMU 9.5/10- lots of specific details from my experience there
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 chem teacher really liked me, he had a lot of recs to write though so not sure how detailed it was
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10 history teacher, had lots of great conversations, I know he wrote about a really interesting project I did in his class
Counselor Rec: 9/10 knows me very well
Additional Rec: 9.5/10 from CMU prof
Interview: eh, generic but interviewer was really nice

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: np
Intended Major: MechE
Geographic Region: Northeast (not PA)
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): female in MechE?

Reflection

Strengths: experience at CMU, commitment to engineering, communication skills and essays
Weaknesses: GPA on low side for CMU in general, but average from my hs for CMU is ~3.75
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Passion for CMU and engineering showed in my app
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere - ED

General Comments : Remember that your genuine interest in learning is more important than any grade, and if you truly have a passion for what you’re doing it will help you get into schools and make you a more interesting person overall.

17

Decision: Accepted to SCS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 36 math, 36 science, 34 reading, 33 writing, 32 essay - 35 composite
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 800 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Weighted GPA: 4.72
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t tell us rank, but probably top 10 out of 400

AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Physics 1, AP Physics C mechanics, AP Physics C e&m, ap psychology, ap spanish, ap calc ab, ap calc bc, ap environmental, ap chemistry. I got 5’s in all except ap environmental.

IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Honors: Princeton University Number Theory & Graphical Analysis, AP Biology, AP lit, scultpures & ceramics ( need it for graduation), AP statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Letter of commendation for PSAT, Passed AMC 12 with a score of 108 and got a 6 on AIME., physics olympiad bronze semifinalist (Top 200 in the nation for physics)

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Captain for the Science Olympiad team, President of the Rubik’s cube clube, Officer for the Physics Olympiad Club, Captain for the Varsity Track&Field team

Volunteer/Community service: 200+ hours at Liberty Science Center
Summer Activities: Science Olympiad Camp Instructor, STE Engineering tech intern, Summer research at University
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app 9, CMU both supplements were 9.5, idk for this college i let all my passion get converted to words

Note - I did resume and attahced my research paper, I also got a stellar rec from my professor who is ranked as the 13th best physicist in the world.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Math Teacher, 9
Teacher Rec #2: Spanish Teacher, 9
Track & Field Coach: 10
Research Professor: 10
Counselor Rec: Loves me, 9.5
Additional Rec:
Interview: Alright - My interviewer was also a student athlete so we really connected and I loved him. We bonded very well.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yea
Intended Major: CS
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Suburban
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200 k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Solid Application I would say, tbh I wasn’t expecting cmu cs
Weaknesses: I have never done anything cs related, no hackathons, or anything, the max i did was take ap computer science junior year, thats it.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted into Caltech early, but cmu is binding, but I’m still happy about cmu cs

General Comments :
Just be confident in what you do and translate that in your writing because it’s the only way that counselor can see who you are besides a geek.

18

Decision: Accepted, MCS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34 M, 36 R, 35 E, 30 S for a 34 composite
SAT II: 790 Chemistry, 760 Math
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
Weighted GPA: 4.3
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro (5), Chemistry (5), Stats (5), English Lang (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP physics Mech., BC Calc, AP Gov, AP Bio, AP Lit and AP Spanish
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Several writing awards, won a scholarship to learn Arabic last summer

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mock Trial, Quiz Team, Science Fair, Internship at local College for neuroscience, learning languages (I speak German, Spanish and Arabic).
Job/Work Experience: Spent 6 months working 20 hours a week as a waitress during junior year when mom lost job
Volunteer/Community service: Library, Local nursing home, babysat children with down syndrome
Summer Activities: Taking classes at local colleges, volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app was 10/10 I think, one of the best things I’ve written in a while. I picked the failure prompt and wrote about taking on to much, ect. Why CMU essay was 9/10.

Teacher Rec #1:AP Physics teacher for two years: Never read it, but he’s really nice and admired my work ethic, so 8/10.
Teacher Rec #2: Got a rec from the women who advised my internship, 9/10
Counselor Rec: He told me my rec was the easiest to write, so I think it was good. 8/10
Additional Rec:
Interview: Went well, on campus

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Neuroscience and chemistry
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
Country (if international applicant):n/a
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Not sure, very middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): White female in science maybe? Also, less than ideal child hood (lost parent, other stuff) so maybe it made them think I was diverse. Don’t know.

Reflection

Strengths: Writing, well rounded
Weaknesses: GPA

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My essays and ECs showed my passions well, and I showed a lot of interest during the interview.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Purdue, I haven’t applied anywhere else and I guess I don’t have to anymore!

General Comments: I’m pretty happy with the outcome

19

Decision: Accepted, Dietrich + Humanities Scholar Program

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): CR 670 + Math 780 + WR 760
SAT II: M 800 SPN 690 USH 670
Weighted GPA: 3.56
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): /
AP (place score in parenthesis): Japanese 4 Phy Mech 4 USH 4 Stat 3 Micro+Macro 5
Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs + Abstract Algebra
Major Awards : National Spanish Exam

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Volunteer/Community service: 5 Years Voluntary Program for a retirement home near my home
Summer Activities: CMU APEA (Pre-college) Program Japanese + Economics, have course credit.
National Academic Quiz Tournament school organizer/player.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9 for both CMU and Commonapp, clearly presented myself, but not too fancy.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Spanish teacher rec. Pretty sure it is great. Did a lot of work in and outside of class and had a pleasant time.
Teacher Rec #2: USH teacher. I think it’s alright. He’s good at writing recs.
Teacher Rec #3: Math teacher (AP Stat) Don’t think he loves me that much
Additional Rec: CMU Japanese Adjunct Professor Rec, had an over 100% average in her class. Was also one of
two students in class (the other one being a senior at CMU) I guess the rec is pretty good
Interview: Content went well, but I spoke too fast so it reduced lucidity

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Philosophy
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Tennessee Private High School
Ethnicity: Han Chinese
Gender: M
Income Bracket:Bourgeoisie
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Asian Male not STEM : )

Reflection

Strengths: I speak 4 languages. Rec from CMU Prof.
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Solid tests/Hard courses kinda made up for GPA I guess…?
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: U of Amsterdam, Utrecht Universiteit (Both in NL)

General Comments : Did not expect this outcome because of my GPA.

20

Has anyone received their letter in the mail yet?