Chances for Carnegie Mellon MCS ED?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm applying ED to the Mellon College of Science. I want to become a financial engineer, so I plan to study Operations Research or Computational Finance. </p>

<p>I finished my senior year in HS and I'm taking a gap year this year. During my gap year, I'll be pursuing three internships, one in CS (which is wrapping up now), one in economics and one in finance. If you want more details on my plans for the year, I can send them to you by a PM.</p>

<p>I won't post complete stats here, but will post the most important ones. </p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>]SAT I: 2320
[</em>]ACT: Didn't take
[<em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 (1st science SAT), 780 (2nd science SAT)
[</em>]Unweighted GPA without Freshman Year (out of 4.0): 3.85 (very strong upward trend and extremely rigorous courseload)
[<em>]AP: Got 5's on 14 AP exams, none of which were self-studied (this should give you some idea of my courseload). I took 8 exams in junior year alone. My AP's include AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: E&M, AP Chemistry, AP Calc BC, AP Stat, AP Macro, and AP Macro.
[</em>]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school doesn't rank, but I'm in the top 14% at least.
[<em>]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, US Physics Olympiad Semifinalist, many state-level awards in physics and finance
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): business club (president) [1 yr], math team [2 yrs], math honors society [2 yrs], high school theater critics team [1 yr], national honor society [1 yr], orchestra pit [2 yrs], organized a concert that raised over $9000 for charity.
[<em>]Job/Work Experience: I've had three internships so far in computer science and finance, and one of them was paid.
[</em>] Recommendations: One from my BC Calc and Multivar Calc teacher who also coaches math team, one from my econ teacher who sponsored my business club. The econ rec should be pretty good and the math rec is almost as good. Also getting a supplemental rec from my mentor at NIST, where I'm doing a CS internship.
[/ul]Other:[ul]
[<em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>]Gender: M
[li]High School Type: Public[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>I'm worried that I'm not a good fit for MCS because: (1) I got a B 1st semester in two science classes in 10th grade, (2) I also haven't done any scientific research or participated in hard-core science EC's. Is it still OK for me to apply for Math at MCS given that I'm interested in financial engineering? Should I just apply for Business or Econ instead because my profile is a better fit there?</p>

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<p>bump… (10 char)</p>

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<p>I don’t see is passion. Sure, you have 3 internships; but anyone could get what you have with a gap year. Nevertheless, honest opinion, you’ll get in. Try ivies? Why are you worrying…
My school sends out weighted gpas. So they send out a 3.94W but they convertt it to a 3.4UW. Which is unfair…Sigh
Why are you doing ED CMU? I think you’re more qualified for ivies. when you apply to cmu, you apply to 3 places. So apply to MCS, Tepper, and blah blah blah. So you’ ll get your pick. but i think you’re investing wrong in cmu… considering your research. ivies love those.</p>

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<p>bump…</p>

5

<p>bumping in progress…</p>

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<p>Seriously? What’s a brother gotta do to get a decent chancing?</p>

7

<p>Dont worry I’m chancing you man :smiley:
Your SAT Score is very good for CMU, even your GPA is good enough. I think you make the cut academically. I think, you will get in with little difficulty, since you seem to have many state level awards as you put it. I’d peg your chances at ~75 percent at CMU. (I also like your Internships).
I hope you did well on the essays since it seems to be a crucial factor for you.
But, you do seem to lack a “spike” (Sorry). Definitely very competitive even for CMU though. You can try applying to a higher level uni (Ivies or something) but if CMU is what you truly want, go for it and you most prob. will get in!
All the best!</p>

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<p>CMU - pretty solid match, I think. Physics Olympiad semis is definitely noteworthy, too…</p>

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<p>@guyinblue My “spike” is my interest in finance, which I’ve shown through my awards, internships, and EC’s. I didn’t post this above, but in the summer before 11th grade, I developed a risk analytics platform for the credit division of Citibank India. I think that internship will show my interest in finance and financial engineering. I lived in India for two months during my internship.</p>

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<p>Wow thats nice! That really ups your chances a lot. I think you’re in! (Maybe im a naive amateur).
You have ECs that match your choice of major. Right on spot mate !
Did you like it here? :P</p>

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<p>I’m actually Indian so I go to India every two years. Interestingly however, I spent those two months in Mumbai, a city I had never been to before. The transportation system took some getting used to (especially those ridiculous trains) but the city was incredible. Not many tourist attractions, but the restaurants are amazing.</p>

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<p>So worried about ED results. Anyone else in the same boat?</p>

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<p>Like the others you probably have a low reach for CMU which is an awesome school. If thats the school you want I would definitely go there! Also I am extremely worried about ED/EA results (MIT here I come!)</p>

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<p>Where did you apply ED?</p>

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<p>bump… (10 char)</p>

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<p>HAHA, Mumbai? It is one of the MOST crowded places to be in. I am surprised how you managed to survive the trains there! Come to Delhi sometime and we could hang out haha :stuck_out_tongue:
Nevertheless, Im sure you had a lot of fun and it was a valuable experience :D</p>

17

<p>The gap year may have hurt your chances a little bit. Colleges will want to see that you’ve used it to the best of your abilities, and it seems as though you may have done a little bit more? Just my opinion…
Other than that, you have excellent scores and your awards are meaningful and substantial. I think CMU will be a high match just because of your situation, and I am probably not being generous enough.
Good luck!</p>

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<p>@kitts95, I’m doing three different internships during my year off: One in operations research, one in computer science (which I’ve already finished), and one in finance. My finance internship is in an Asian country and will last 5 months. In addition, I’m also working as a tutor for P2P tutors and my local Kumon center to raise money for my lengthy trip abroad. Are you sure that I’m not doing enough?</p>

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<p>EDIT: I realize that the internships section of chance post is very, very vague. To clarify, here are the internships that I either have held or will pursue this year. I’ve also included some other relevant summer activites.</p>

<p>Summer before 10th grade - Worked at a health NGO in India and wrote a 20 page paper.
Summer before 11th grade - Took college courses at top 15 university through the university’s summer-school program. Got an A in one course and a B+ in the other.
Summer before 12th grade - Worked an analytics company in Mumbai, India. Developed an advanced credit analysis dashboard for the credit division of Citibank India. Most of the people who worked in my division had Bachelors or Masters degrees in computer science.
Gap Year - See the above post.</p>

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<p>Lol, I was just trying to clarify a very vague portion of my original chance thread. Please don’t misinterpret it as “gloating.” Also, I get paid for 2 of these internships, so they’re kind of like jobs already…</p>

<p>EDIT: Lol at trying to curse on CC.</p>