Chance Me for $200 Next Time You Pass Go (:

Colleges & Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>Hi there!</p>

<p>I am currently a senior from New York and will be applying for the Class of 2015.
Please chance me for Carnegie Mellon RD (:</p>

<p>Was Deferred from Cornell University CALS ED</p>

<p>Planning to major in Biological Engineering or related</p>

<p>Objective:
Superscored SAT I: CR:770 M:740 W:710 TOTAL: 2220
SAT II: Math Level II 800, Chemistry 780 Biology M 710, Chinese 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.733<a href="A+%20=%204.0;%20A=%203.8;%20A-%20=%203.6">/b</a>
UC Weighted GPA (10-12): **4.333
Rank: School Does not Rank</p>

<p>Course Load:
Format Class: Grade (AP Score) [New York State Regents Grade]</p>

<p>Freshmen Year
Chinese 2: A
Concert Orchestra: A+
Honors Coordinated Science: A-
Honors English: B
Honors Geometry: A-
Honors Global Perspective: B+
Living Environment: A-
Math B (Algebra 2): A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
A.P. European History: A<a href="5">/b</a>
A.P. Statistics: **A-<a href="5">/b</a>
Regents Chemistry: **A [100]
College Prep Writing: A
English II: A+
Health: A
Pre-Calculus: A
Science Research: A
Spanish I: A- [95]</p>

<p>Junior Year
A.P. Calculus BC: A-<a href="BC:%204/AB:%205">/b</a>
A.P. Chemistry: **A<a href="5">/b</a>
A.P. Composition: **A+<a href="5">/b</a> [100]
A.P. Computer Science: **B+<a href="3">/b</a> LOL
A.P. United States History: **A<a href="4">/b</a> [99]
Science Research: **A-
Spanish II: A-</p>

<p>Senior Year<a href="1st/2nd%20Quarter%20Midyear%20Report">/b</a>
A.P. Physics B: **B+/B+
A.P. Biology:: B+/A-
A.P. Economics Macro/Micro: B+/A-
A.P. Government: 2nd semester
A.P. Literature: A-/B+
Multivariable Calculus: A-/A-
Science Research: A-/A-
Spanish III: A-/A-</p>

<p>Graduating with 12 AP Exams/11 AP Courses</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Varsity Track , National Honor Society, Columbia University Science Honors Program, Mathletes, Chess Club
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered at Local Church (100 Hours) Volunteered at Local Hospital (150 Hours)
Summer Activities: Molecular Biology research at local university (11) -- participated in numerous Science Research competitions at county, state, national level in 10th, 11th, 12th grade -- Siemens, Intel, etcetc
Awards and Honors: PSAT Commended Scholar (204), AP Scholar with Distinction, some Honorable Mentions at Science Research competitions (nothing big)
12 Years Violin; 3 Years Piano</p>

<p>Other:
State (if domestic applicant): New York City Area, NY
School Type: Public (Very Competitive: Top 50)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Any idea how much my 1st semester senior grades will affect me?
Thanks so much for reading!</p>

2

<p>Before applying you should probably figure out which schools within CMU you want to apply to.</p>

<p>Anyway, your stats look in line with tons of people that get into CMU, so I imagine a lot of it just comes down to your intended major and if admissions flips the coin in your favor.</p>

3

<p>@RacinReaver: Thanks! As stated above, I am planning to major in Bioeng, in the college of engineering. Any idea how much my relatively poor midyear report will impact the university’s decision though?</p>

<p>Thanks for your input!</p>

4

<p>Your stats on the same as many qualified applicants at CMU and Cornell.
I can see why you were not given a pass at Cornell-- it’s b/c you said you’re interested in BioEngineering - and then applied to CALS instead of COE. Yes, CALS is much less money-- but often CALS is perceived the back door way into Cornell and if you’re really passionate about engineering, you were a mismatch. If you want the Cornell defer to change to admit, you should consider changing to COE. (Cornell Alum here).</p>

<p>Regarding Carnegie
I never chance-- b/c it’s just speculation. from Carnegie’s view of your file- it’s a solid file with a few red flags:
The 4 in AP Calculus – which is redeemed somewhat by the solid grades in Multivariate this year and the 800 on MathIIC.
The 3 in Computer Science-- that’s a potential red flag for a school like Carnegie.
Tipping factor-- Physics–B+ is acceptable - A- would have been better.
You say you’re interested in Bio-- and even with the research- there was no Bio ever taken prior to Senior year, and those grades are not both As. That’s a red flag too.</p>

<p>IMHO-- apply to MCS as a potential Bio Major and CIT. Easy to transfer later and with your stats, you would be more likely to get admitted to CMU through MCS than CIT.
As brutal as this sounds-- you’re another Asian kid with great record from the Northeast-- CMU has lots of those in the applicant pool.
But I certainly think you would have more luck through MCS than CIT.</p>

<p>Sorry about Cornell. Best of luck !</p>

5

<p>great stats. So I guess it might be wise to think about the reason why Cornell deferred you other than mismatch, if there is any. because that might be something you wanna change in your future apps to CMU or other schools.</p>

6

<p>I’d apply MCS/CIT like mom2012 suggested if you want to max out your chances. Honestly, your grades are just fine for MCS - for CIT you’re maybe a little behind, but you have extracurriculars like Intel/Siemens (you don’t mention if you placed in those or not?) so that’s something at least.</p>

<p>I disagree that your app doesn’t show much Bio experience. You’ve done university research as a high school student. That’s extremely qualifying and outside of CC very rare among Bio students. Many Bio kids haven’t even done research at CMU until their junior or senior year. </p>

<p>I’d say your chances are fairly good. It’s hard to tell though. Like mom2012 mentioned, you are a fairly wealthy Asian kid from the NW with good grades. you will be competing with many, many others in your ethnicity with similar credentials, and CMU has to build a “diverse” class - so that will be about as competitive for you as it would be for an Indian or Caucasian student.</p>

7

<p>@mom2012and14 and others: Thanks for all your input! Unfortunately, I can’t change colleges within Cornell between my deferral and RD, but i admit that one of the reasons why I applied to CALS was because of the reduced tuition for New York residents.</p>

<p>To be honest, some of my grades are slacking this year, so would this be a major tipping point in terms of regular decision? I’m worried that my poor performance would slide some college’s decisions from the acceptance to rejection pile. Once again, thank you all for the kind input! ((:</p>