Surprised as anyone could be to see “Congratulations” at the beginning of my son’s letter this morning. We were actually down the street at the start of a Pitt admitted students day when he saw his acceptance to CMU’s College of Engineering.
His stats weren’t perfect (our school’s portal doesn’t even provide families an unweighted GPA, so I don’t have an exact number). Weighted 4.3 at end of junior year. 8 total APs and a rigorous courseload (current classes include Physics C-Mech, Multivariate Calculus, AP Latin, AP Stats). SAT 1510. He has decent but not over-the-top amazing ECs/leadership roles.
Perhaps it was his expressed interest in an area of engineering that was a little off the beaten path and that could be well served by CMU’s Engineering and Public Policy program, or perhaps something else that stood out in his essay or supplementals. I honestly can’t explain with any degree of accuracy.
I know how hard all of your students have worked, and I wish them all the best as they make their decisions. I know my kid has some things to consider, including the cost. All his other options would be around $30K/yr for tuition, and CMU is more than is twice that. It’s going to be important for him to talk with the engineering schools and really understand how they could support his current interest, if he chooses to stick with it.
Also, we need to consider how supportive the school is for students with ADHD and executive function challenges. I’m an ADHD coach to college students and adults, and I know how support (or lack therof) at school and in the workplace can be make or break for neurodivergent people.
FWIW, his other results are:
Case Western Reserve: accepted + $30K/yr merit
Drexel: accepted, $28K/yr merit
Pitt: accepted, no merit but eligible for a special $10,000/yr grant bc we live in DC
Northeastern: deferred EA, now waitlisted
Georgia Tech: rejected
Apparently they aren’t all posted yet. If it was, it would be right next to the see your decision button on the portal. I think they said within a week.
It is interesting that some waitlisted applicants received financial offers along with decisions while some accepted students have not yet. I wonder what the criteria or fin aid decision order have been for CMU.
He only applied to 6 schools? He must have done something right to get CMU offer. It’s a very tough year. For costs and returns, you should definitely consider how much he could make in a few years, based on the CMU education vs others’.
Our student has passed the tea leaf read test and admitted to Tepper. While glad still feel like lot of deserving students are falling through cracks. NMF, High SAT, great creative essays, great recos, well rounded ECs with work experience, 4.0 and probably 5.0 weighted. For those others who feel let down, keep your chin up and probably you might deserve to be there instead of our student if lottery went the other way. Accepting this as humbly as we can and not that our student deserves it outlook.
It is interesting how the reply deadline is different. What does that mean? My son waitlisted (priority) for Computer engineering and reply is May 9th.
Does that mean they have already rank the students or the reply is by dept?
Not a firsthand account, but my best friend’s daughter was accepted to engineering TO. I helped with her applications and have seen the actual acceptance letter, so it’s a secondhand account but a reliable one.
She attends one of the strongest high schools in the Pittsburgh area, so AOs being familiar with her course rigor may have helped. Also, she is a legacy. I really don’t think legacy helps much at Carnegie Mellon — most of our kids aren’t accepted, lol! — but it didn’t hurt. The most recent Common Data Set shows alumni relations as “considered.”
Finally, she is Pell grant eligible. Carnegie Mellon is need blind, but I am cynical about certain decisions. Colleges love to brag about the % of students they have who are Pell grant recipients. I am guessing they salivate at the idea of admitting a Pell eligible student from an affluent, well-resourced high school, who also has a college educated parent. Their risk is low and they are unlikely to need to provide services.
The progress they have made on the male:female ratio since I was a student is remarkable. It was a 70/30 split when I was there, but my friends in engineering were very often the only one or one of 2 or 3 women in lecture classes of 100+. I was astounded when they hit 50/50 about 5 years ago.
There at 50/50 on enrollment, but there were 13K women and 20K men that applied last year. An I imagine its either more skewed in engineering. Considering women account for about 60% of the applicants to 4 year colleges now, I expect that gap on applications to continue to shrink