**Carnegie Mellon ED Results Thread 2014**

<p>**Decision: Accepted CFA School of Drama, Design/Production **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2130 (Verbal 730, Math 690, Writing 710)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (place score in parentheses): n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parentheses): European History (3)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Half academics (including AP French and AP English, and only half credits of science and math) and half art classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): some state-wide art and set design recognition (Scholastic Art Awards, State Drama Festival Competitions, etc)</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): High School Drama Guild Tech Crew, all shows for all 4 years (Set Designer for 3+ years, Stage Manager for 1 year)
Job/Work Experience: Set Designer, Build, Painting, and Run Crew for local theater companies and dance shows
Volunteer/Community Service: not much, a little over one summer as a teacher’s assistant at a kids arts day camp
Summer Activities: same as job/ volunteer experience
Essays: common app essay was kind of a stream- of consciousness how- i- see- things kind of deal, “why” essay referenced aspects of the program but was mostly about why i wanted to pursue theater design
Teacher Recommendations: 1 from french teacher I had for 3 years and 1 from my studio art teacher, I didn’t read the recs but I had good relationships with them
Counselor Rec: I assume good because I’m friends with my counselor, who also majored in theater
Additional Rec: 1 from technical theater director in charge of the tech crew
Interview: I brought in a binder with photos of sets I designed and was on the build and painting crew for, and photos of some paintings, drawings, and mixed- media art stuff. I included a little more than half set design stuff and the rest studio art stuff. For the design pages I included photos of the finished sets as well as my sketches and models and process photos of building and painting and such. The actual talking was kind of awkward; I was prepared to talk about and explain my work but they basically asked no questions about design or art at all and instead asked stuff about your personality, like your other hobbies and books and general life things, and I’m not super good at talking about myself but I think overall it went well.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Scenic Design
State (if domestic applicant): East Coast
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Mixed
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: I think having a lot of realized designs to show, also fine arts stuff cause their program has a lot of artsy aspects to it
Weaknesses: kind of a babbly stuttery interview
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: i guess they liked what i had to show in my portfolio? and I think i explained myself pretty well with my essays.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Emerson (accepted and withdrawn) and The University of the Arts (didn’t do my interview yet, withdrawn)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: obviously cause so much depends on the interview, just make sure that you are showing your best stuff. in mine they just passed around the binder and flipped through it so make sure it speaks for itself. you can’t really prepare to talk about yourself because the questions are so varied so don’t stress! i think also the “why” essay is pretty important if you’re going into such a specific major, cause they sense how dedicated you are to it. I believe in you little future drama design applicant!! You got this.</p>

<p>[ b]Decision: Accepted MCS Math**
im horrible at computers
SAT 2220 - 740 CR 800 MATH 680 WR
SAT 2 - MATH2 780 PHYSICS 750
AP- Calc BC (5) Mech (5) Emag (5) Macroeconomics (5) Microeconomics (5) Statistics (5)</p>

<p>horrible with*</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted (not ECE)</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not send
ACT (breakdown): English (35), Math (34), Reading (36), Science (36), Composite (35)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II (800), Physics (690)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.91
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): ~top 10% out of a class of 463
AP (place score in parentheses): US History (5), US Government (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Statistics, AP Physics 1, Honors Italian 4, Science Research course, Orchestra, A level required English and History courses
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Applied to Intel, 2nd Place in Southern Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair, Award of Excellence in Chemistry (school level), “Honorable Mention” on National Italian Exam (twice)</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): National Honor Society, National Italian Honor Society, School’s Environmental Club: Club Green (Co-president), Culinary Club, Played in my school’s chamber orchestra for a few years
Job/Work Experience: Research Assistant at Columbia University in the Engineering School (over summer)
Volunteer/Community Service: Serving Homeless (Culinary Club)
Summer Activities: Intern for Columbia University’s Facilities Operations department, Camp Counselor, Two Brown Pre-College Courses (one on engineering in general and one on renewable wind energy)
Essays: 9/10 (I think…?)
Teacher Recommendations: I had my Pre-Calc teacher who is now department chair and my science project mentor/physics teacher
Counselor Rec: Public school so we weren’t tight. I don’t know.
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: Yes, over the Sleeping Bag Weekend, I thought it went well</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
Projected Concentration: Undecided Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CT
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: My academic (school) stats, research, and “well-roundedness”
Weaknesses: Not the best test scores, ethnicity, not nearly as impressive as some of the others who posted here
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know, It will be a secret forever locked behind the doors of the admissions department
Where else you are applying or have already applied (result): Case Western Reserve University (accepted), University of Mich Engineering (unknown), University of Rochester (unknown)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: They love showing interest. I did a lot of that. Otherwise remember, they do have to accept some people. If you are/were rejected, you are stronger than me because you are/will be able to get over a rejection that I haven’t faced yet. Good Luck Friends and Wish you all the best!</p>

anyone else from India?

Question for the ED students: were you required to supply BOTH SAT and ACT scores? I thought it was an “either/or” situation and my RD applying son (Dec. 31 application) was sent a letter requesting that he send official ACT scores (to verify the score he reported on the Common App.) Hoping this might be a positive sign…?

Sorry for the above post. I found answer under another topic.

DECISION: REJECTED SCS

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown out of 1600): Not Taken
ACT: 34 (36 M)
SAT II: 800 Math II; 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87 / 4.8 (W)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Possibly 8/450

AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Physics C Mech (5 - taken as freshman); AP Chem (5), AP Calc BC (5)
AP Stat (5), AP Comp Sci A (5), AP Physics C Elec. & Mag. (5), AP US History (4), AP Bio (3)

Also Completed: Multivariable Calculus (A from Harvard Extension), CS50 (A Harvard), Intro to ECE (A from CMU Precollege), Intro to CS with Python (A from CMU Precollege)

Senior Year Course Load: Anatomy and Physiology, AP Comp Gov, Honors Shakespeare, AP Spanish, Honors IOS Programming
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing Major; AP Scholar with Distinction, Baush and Lomb Award, Harvard Book Prize, Creative Coder Award from school’s FIRST Robotics Team, Bronze medal on National Spanish Exam…

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Team, FIRST Robotics
Job/Work Experience: 7 weeks full time as IT Intern at Welch’s Foods
Volunteer/Community service: Peer Tutor at school for struggling students
Summer Activities: Internship, CMU Precollege
Essays: Good I Think…
Teacher Recommendation: Didn’t see but good I hope (one from CS teacher of all four years)
Counselor Rec: Didn’t see
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Highly Competitive Large Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket:> 200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Academics, Focus on CS (6 courses taken),
Weaknesses: Test Scores Ok I guess (not good enough?), Extracurriculars, not ‘well-rounded’
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Would love to know why rejected but…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Was hoping to get in - did very well at Precollege), Deferred MIT and U Mich, Accepted UMass Amherst (Honors), Accepted UMD College Park (Honors), waiting for UIUC, U of Rochester, Cornell, MIT

That’s a surprise^. My understanding was that if an applicant did very well at Pre College, they were almost assuredly in. And you got A’s in two courses. Did you interview while you were at Pre C? Attend CMU’s info sessions when they came to your high school? I haven’t heard that CMU is rejecting high stats students that they think won’t attend because they’ve also applied to elite schools. Plus, this was ED, right?

This was ED. Yes, S did interview - showed the iOS App he had made as a sophomore. Did want to put it out there that this does happen… that ECE course was no walk in the park - had an A without curve. The Comp Sci course was way too easy for him - had close to 100% on everything. Guess it still wasn’t good enough - maybe being an Asian didn’t help… again who knows.

The thing is though … that rejection isn’t going to change a thing about his ability or passion. This wasn’t CMU’s loss - it wasn’t his loss either.

Curious. What are his other options? Also, did the Pre C class require any previous CS experience? My daughter is interested in Pre C but no CS yet.

@goingnutsmom‌
My S had already taken 3 other CS courses, the AP Comp Sci exam and developed an iOS app, so found the course easy but he mentioned others not having as easy a time. I will find out more and post.
We focused only on good CS schools, not on the west coast or south (his preference). So far he has U of Maryland CS Honors which has the first program of its kind that allows a student to major in CS-cybersecurity. He also has admission to UMass Amherst Honors and just got into U of Illinois Urbana Champaign for CS in Engineering. That UMD program is very innovative, has tons of links with Washington DC (NSA, DOD etc) and is a living learning program for Honors students. He has yet to hear from Cornell, MIT and U Michigan.
In-spite of CMU SCS not working out for him, he did enjoy Pre C. The AP/EA program is rigorous. The students are from all over the country and the world and its a real taste of college life.
I would encourage your D to definitely give CS a go… they are under-represented in that field. If she ends up enjoying it, like my S did a month into freshman year of HS, it will be a fascinating world to be a part of!!
Good Luck!!

^ Thank you for your feedback. The cyber security sounds very interesting and certainly will be in demand more and more. My D is not interested in majoring in CS but knows that she needs to understand CS in the future job market.

takanuva: Sounds like your son has lots of good opportunities. If he doesn’t get in RD maybe he’ll find his way back to CMU for a PhD! Best of luck to him.

@kaukauna‌
Thanks.
I think he will have a great time wherever he goes. Yes, maybe CMU for Ph.D - he seems the type - he is working on making his own computer language!
@goingnutsmom Your D is spot on - she might find it useful to understand certain aspects of CS whatever field she chooses. Should she find herself curious about CS, I found that UIUC now offers CS+X majors. The X can be creative - they currently have CS+Anthropology/CS+Astronomy/CS+Linguistics/CS+Chemistry. I’m sure they will extend it to other X majors as well.

^ Wow! That’s great information. I’ll have her look it up - thanks for passing this along. Yes, your son will land where he will make the most of the opportunities and that is what we all want for our kids.

My S didn’t get into SCS during ED. He applied for Comp.Eng (CIT) for RD.
His application status now shows SCS as first choice and CIT as 2nd choice. And the SCS ED decision is no longer there.

What does this mean?

@rasgol‌
Same here - called them up - they just have a messed up portal - SCS won’t even look at his application again. Only ECE will. We are planning on withdrawing our application so doesn’t matter anymore but for a brief while that gave a bit of hope.

@goingnutsmom‌
We just returned from a short trip to UIUC. They are looking to extend CS+X to Advertising, Philosophy and even English.

@takanuva‌
Thanks. BTW, my S has also been admitted to CS/COE at UIUC - which he is seriously considering. Glad to hear that you were impressed (we are also from Boston).