Decision: Accepted (to CIT, rejected from SCS)
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: 2330 (770M, 760CR, 800W) (2nd sitting)
[] SAT II: Math 2: 790; Biology E: 760; Chemistry: 730; English Language: 730; US History: 720
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0!
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A, I’m homeschooled actually
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human Geography: 4; AP Biology: 4; AP English Literature: 5; AP USH: 5; AP English Lang: 5
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Macroeconomics, AP Physics MEM, AP Calculus BC, Spanish 4, AP Environmental Science, and British Literature
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Did not submit any, but I just tried out math exams (I took the AMC) and they are actually really hard! I thought with my advanced math classes I would have no sweat with the problems, but I have a lot of respect for everyone who does these well. Oh, I also won the President’s Gold Volunteer Service Award, which is for volunteer service.[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Robotics (9th and 12, mentored a team this fall), Piano (9-12), Violin/Youth Symphony (9-12), Speech and Debate (9-12, taught a speech class to junior high kids), Kickboxing (11-12), Beauty Pageants (10-11?), plus all my internships.
[li] Summer Experience: (adding this category because I think it was an integral part of my application)[/li]Summer 2011:
Organized and hosted my own benefit concert, raised over $3k
Interned for a local senator, gave presentations in the community and networked with officials
Summer 2012:
Went to China for a month on my own for a summer camp at a university
Summer 2013:
Worked at Subway
Interned at a local Chamber of Commerce
Summer 2014:
Interned at the UCSD Supercomputer Center
Interned at Kramer Engineering
Attended an all female construction camp!!!
[] Job/Work Experience: Worked at Subway previously, am now working at Starbucks (Starbucks happened after my app was submitted though)
[] Volunteer/Community service: 990 hours total when I applied!!! Now it’s over 1,000 hours. Mostly from my internships and just finding projects that I’m interested in.
[li] Essays: I honestly didn’t like my CMU essays. My CommonApp essay was okay (about homeschooling and my community and family, 8/10), and then my CMU essays were just okay as well. I thought I totally ruined my chances because I wrote that I was originally interested in the school because of its’ name, and then I really got into it! I was just trying to be honest, and then later I was like ohhhhhhhhhhhhh why did I do that! [/li]
My main essay was about ECE, and had a story by Shel Silverstein, “The Missing Piece,” interwoven throughout the essay. I talked about my accomplishments, my inspirations (Grace Hopper, to name one), and what I want to get out of my education at Carnegie Mellon. I also ended it with a cute (but subtle) allusion to the Rolling Stones, which I thought was pretty cool! 8/10
[] Teacher Recommendations: Math teacher - he tends to write very brief recommendation letters, but he thought I was one of the best students he ever had, if not the best. I also had him as a biology tutor during my freshman year, so I’ve known him for a while. 6/10
Spanish teacher - she absolutely ADORES me. She texts me all the time and we have so many inside jokes (“I louuuve it”)! She’s honestly like a mom to me, and she considers me her third daughter. I’m sure this was really great. 10/10
[] Counselor Rec: Written by my mom. She wants me to be happy and do well, so I’m sure it was good. 7/10
[] Additional Rec: I asked my mentor at UCSD (I had a summer internship there last summer) to write me a letter of recommendation, and he did. Really nice guy, he was incredibly impressed with our project and the progress my team made, so he probably wrote something nice. 5/10
[] Interview: I LOVED MY INTERVIEWER!!! We had such a good time and he honestly got me so interested in the school. I loved hearing about all of his experiences, and it was my favorite interview to date. Really glad I got to meet him. In fact, I emailed him my acceptance right after I found out, and he congratulated me and told me he’d be willing to pass on any CIT questions I have to his friends in that department! I could not have been more thrilled with my interview, and I think he really liked me as well.[/ul]
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA (San Diego)
[] School Type: Homeschooled, I attend a charter school part time (where I got my teacher recommendations from, haha)
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: High
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None![/ul]
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: SAT I scores, interesting person (construction and beauty pageants???), great interview, well done essays, grades
[] Weaknesses: SAT II scores, no major awards or hooks, did not visit the school, not many AP’s
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Being a girl interested in engineering probably helps! ;D I’m honestly just shocked and so excited! I’m going to be visiting CMU in the next month before I make my final decision, but I will probably be going here next year! Absolutely thrilled. CMU is and was my top choice!
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: RIT, Olin, Wellesley, UCLA, UCSB, USC, Rice
Wait-listed: Wash U, JHU, UC Berkeley
Rejected: Stanford, MIT, Yale-NUS
Waiting on: Princeton, Yale, Harvard[/ul]
General Comments:
Okay, I don’t know who else has FULLY read through their fat letter, but it’s actually hilarious! There’s a part on the inside cover that says “I prefer the term ‘Big-Boned’ letter,” and then the motto of the Loyal Scots (CMU Alumni group) is “Plaid to the Bone.” I WAS ALMOST CRYING OVER THAT ONE!
As far as advice to juniors and parents, high school is tough and rigorous. I want to tell you to relax and enjoy your teenage years, but I think that would be misguided. I know that if I had just relaxed, I would never have even thought about applying to any of the schools that I did. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t enjoy high school as well, though! Take classes you care about and are interested in. Don’t lay around all summer, but also don’t intern somewhere that you hate because you think it will look good on a college application. Try to find things that will “look good” and also be fun. Trying to look good for admissions offices is difficult because every college is looking for something different. Work more on your self-development, and then you won’t need the approval of a college (although it sure is nice!! 
) I actually wrote about lipstick and engineering in my USC app, and they accepted me. It’s all about your self expression, and it’s not too hard to tell when a student is being genuine or deceptive. Don’t make yourself out to be something you’re not. I would highly recommend the book “Notes to Myself” by Hugh Prather. It really helped me to overcome a lot of issues and work on growing as a person.
If you want any additional details on my application, the application process, homeschooling, and/or anything else, please feel free to PM me! I’m looking forward to getting to know the rest of the class of 2019. 
Im not sure why Vandy and Amherst even accepted me