<p>this is a bit of an unorthodox request, but based off of these two scatter plots, which school do you think i should apply to early decision? the scatter plots are formed by data from students who applied to those universities from my high school in the past 5 or so years. (the red circle is me)
green square = accepted, blue diamond = waitlisted, red cross = deferred.</p>
<p>Northwestern - <a href="http://i.imgur.com/QbFMC.png%5B/url%5D">http://i.imgur.com/QbFMC.png</a>
Carnegie Mellon - <a href="http://i.imgur.com/tJ0JU.png%5B/url%5D">http://i.imgur.com/tJ0JU.png</a></p>
<p>i love both schools but since my gpa is so low, i know i don't really have a shot at getting in RD. my SAT score is a bit more to the right than it appears as on those plots because it hasn't been updated for some reason. </p>
<p>given the choice, i'd pick Northwestern over CMU by a slim margin, but my gpa is closer to the accepted average for CMU so agh idk D:
any thoughts on my situation? i'll post my stats below.</p>
<p>my GPA is a 97/105. it just barely skims the bottom of the top 10% at my school, but hopefully my guidance counselor will write in my recommendation that i'm fairly up there.</p>
<p>Standardized Tests + GPA:
SAT I: 2350, 800 CR, 750 M, 800 W
PSAT: 227
SAT IIs: 800 Literature, 780 Math II, 720 Bio E
GPA: 97 W - school doesn’t tell us unweighted</p>
<p>APs: Stats - 4, World History - 5, AB Calc (subscore) - 5, Language & Comp. - 5, USH - 5, Physics B - 4</p>
<p>Senior Year:
Multivariable Calc & Linear Algebra
AP Chemistry
AP Latin
AP Gov & Politics
AP Literature
Wind Ensemble</p>
<p>ECs:
- 100 community service hours from local hospital
- 25 from various opportunities @ service camp
- auditioned for + accepted to Wind Ensemble (clarinet for 9 years)
- vocal music for 11 years, a few awards
- editor in chief of school newspaper 9th grade
- section editor 11th + 12th
- NHS
- national merit semi-finalist</p>
<p>Other: my recs will be exceptional because i know the teachers i asked were genuinely very fond of me…:D</p>
<p>If you’d rather go to NW, apply there.</p>
<p>is it realistic for me to apply there with a GPA of around 3.6?</p>
<p>because my feeling is that if i don’t have a shot there, then i don’t want to pass up the opportunity to get into CMU.</p>
<p>For ed do the school you really want to get in…you dont want any regrets. I do think your chances in getting into Carneige are higher though.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice, collegebound! you basically just highlighted my dilemma: is it worth it to apply to Northwestern ED because i slightly prefer the school, knowing that if i were to be rejected, i basically have no shot at CMU RD? i feel like i might be over-analyzing this, haha. </p>
<p>based off of my stats could anyone chance me for Northwestern ED?</p>
<p>(& this is somewhat random and probably irrelevant but i forgot to mention that i got a 4 on BC Calc this year.)</p>
<p>If you are unsure about which you would rather apply to, the answer is neither. But I have a similar dilemma haha (2300 sat, 3.64 uw gpa) :P. Good to know I’m not the only one!</p>
<p>“the answer is neither.”</p>
<p>i can’t tell if you’re joking…
but lol i feel you; it’s nice to meet a fellow underachiever :P</p>
<p>Apply to the school you like more. Your chances are not great for either, but ED is binding and you don’t want to end up at a school that you like less then other schools you have looked at…</p>
<p>CMU is an excellent school, but NU has higher admissions standards -</p>
<p>As far as chances of admissions go – I’d probably say it’s something like …</p>
<p>CMU ED>CMU RD>NU ED>NU RD. But it’s impossible to really say.</p>
<p>ED decisions – If you had asked the question 2 years ago, I’d probably say that you shouldn’t apply to either ED as it doesn’t sound like you’ve yet made a clear choice between the two. That might even by my advice today.</p>
<p>However, considering that NU accepted approximately 40% of their class ED last year and, to us outsiders, it appears that this is a factor in the decision making process (fair warning – this may or may not actually be the case), the question of whether to apply ED here becomes much harder.</p>
<p>My standard advice – Discuss this with your Guidance Counsellor in depth, it’s not an easy question.</p>
<p>You can easily get into Carnegie Mellon but if you’d rather go to Northwestern, why don’t you just apply ED there? If you don’t get in there, you can apply to CMU in RD and get in (pretty sure you could). That’s what I’d do, but your call!</p>
<p>thank you so much for the advice, guys! i think i’ve decided on applying to NU ED because i’ve been looking over the 2016 ED Decisions thread for it and my stats seem to fit in solidly there. i’ll keep my fingers crossed and go for it. and yup, the fact that 40% of the in-coming class next year is going to be made up of ED applicants is definitely a factor in my decision to take a chance on it! :)</p>
<p>and i think i’ll be applying to CMU MCS RD.
as a girl going into math, hopefully that’ll further my chances there 0: )</p>
<p>my guidance counselor is really under-informed about this stuff for some reason (i don’t mean to sound conceited or anything - she actually is; she didn’t even know what the PSAT was haha) but i’ll definitely run it by her to get her opinion.</p>
<p>thanks again, everyone!!</p>
<p>could anyone chance me for the rest of my schools RD? : D</p>
<p>Stony Brook
Notre Dame
NYU Sterns
UC Berkeley
University of Michigan
University of Rochester
Cornell
RPI</p>
<p>i’d make another thread but i don’t wanna clog up the forum haha c:
- if anyone has additional advice on my original dilemma i’d be incredibly grateful!</p>
