Chances for CMU SCS ED?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

Hi guys, couldn’t focus on apps so decided to make this.

  • Indian male, upper middle class, large top public HS in Cali, applying to SCS ED.
  • ACT: 36, Essay: 10
  • SAT Math II: 800, SAT Physics: 770 (both 2nd tries)
  • School doesn't rank
  • GPA: 3.91 UW w/o 9th grade, 3.94 w 9th grade (kind of low, with Bs in 1st Sem Calc and 2nd Sem APLAC :/)
  • APs: Macro, CS, APLAC, AP Calc BC (5), APUSH (4)
  • Senior year courseload: AP Stats, AP Spanish, Econ (1st sem)/AP Gov(2nd sem), AP Physics C: Mech, Euro Lit, Calc D at CC
  • 6-year debater (officer of club this year + webmaster, captain of event last year, reached late outrounds at many tournaments + won some, ranked in top 50 in nation at start of season)
  • 4-year tennis player (varsity all 4 years, ranked 140 in my USTA region for singles)
  • won various small awards at Synopsys Championship, and one grand prize junior year for research projects
  • interned at research lab for EE/CS in fairly prestigious program (30-40 kids) over summer, wrote paper (which i'll submit as a supplement), won small award for presentation there
  • won various regional hackathons
  • National Merit Semifinalist
  • Qualified to regionals in FTC & FLL
  • work with organization that builds websites for journalism programs for free in districts with almost zero funding/low-income students
  • lots of volunteering in debate community (both local and nationwide)

Rec letter #1: 9/10, teacher loves me and reputed across campus for really good recs.

Rec letter #2: 8/10, known teacher for a long time and knows a lot about me in terms of research (heads the research competitions)

Rec letter #3: 8/10, from the lab I interned at (my name will prob be on website too), worked with this person for 5-6 hours/day

Interview: Interview went really well, lots of casual conversation, went very in-depth into my research.

Please be brutally harsh. Thanks yall :slight_smile:

2

In terms of stats, your ACT score and UW GPA are already there. ACT essay doesn’t matter. However, there is aslight downward trend but I don’t think its that big of a deal. The B in Calc might raise an eyebrow, but your ACT and SAT II math scores should makeup for that.

Your senior course load is very good. What is your weighted GPA? Your overall course rigor matters as well.

770 on physics is a bit low because of how large the curve is, but I think it’s fine, no big deal.

Your ECs show commitment, and your research experience is good. ECs in general are good, hackathons show demonstrated interest in comp sci.
Volunteering is very good, since that is a “Very Important” factor for CMU this year. Check the 2017-2018 common data set for what CMU considers important.

Also, which 5 awards did you put on your common app?

Your recs and interview, according to your information, should be right on point.

Main thing really past stats is the essay. From my experience searching up profiles of past admitted students, the essay really does matter after stats. If your essays show a lot about your character, aspirations and your reasons for choosing CMU for computer science with specific details, then you are set. The thing about essays is you want to give the committee a clear picture of what kind of person you are; admissions committee can then imply why you did certain ECs and that those ECs are out of personal interest and passion rather than just for college apps.

In the end, it becomes a question of, “did you brand yourself well” and “does your profile show promise and potential for our college community”. I think if you tied your essay nicely into all the stuff that you do, then you have a strong application.

As for demonstrated interest, your in luck. This year, they do not factor in interest (but I speculate they are doing this for public image and still factoring it in in some way, no way to be sure :P)

For demographics, being Asian male will make it tougher to get in :stuck_out_tongue: but you are from the west coast and you are applying east coast so that’s a plus.

You do not have a heavy math or computer science oriented profile (as in big awards and big activities like running clubs for cs/math), but that’s perfectly fine. CMU takes all sorts of people. A lot of profiles were not math or comp sci oriented (you can search them up on ■■■■■■■■■■■■ or check past year CC posts on CMU decision results), but they all have some kind of compelling and coherent image/impression. As long as one or a few areas stand out on your application.

In short, you have a good chance. You aren’t guaranteed in, nobody is these days, but you should be around mid to upper mid range for your qualifications assuming your courses are rigorous and your essays are good. Chancemes are too inaccurate these days, so I gave you as much as I can think of.

3

Wow thank you for this detailed response! really appreciate it, just needed some reassurance before this Saturday haha