Chances for CMU?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>Gender: Female
Location: suburban Michigan
Intended Major: Double major in Biology & Psychology (hopefully through the SHS program). I'm also going pre-med.</p>

<p>School:
A crappy public, with a magnet math/science oriented program that only accepts 30 kids a year (yep, I'm in it). Rank unknown, but definitely top 10%, out of 500+ kids. I have definitely taken the most challenging course load possible at my school.</p>

<p>GPA:
3.935 weighted (+1 for AP, Advanced, Accelerated classes)
3.463 unweighted
Slight grade dip in junior year, mostly due to AP Calc & AP Bio. (I did do well on the AP tests, though, which should help, right?)</p>

<p>ACT:
34 composite
English: 35
Math/Science/Reading: all 34
essay: 10 (combined English/Writing score is a 33)</p>

<p>SAT I:
CR: 770
Math: 750
Writing: 740
(1520/2260)
CMU DOES take your best individual score, not your best composite, right? If not, my writing's only a 700, making my best composite a 2220.</p>

<p>SAT II:
US History: 780
Biology E: 750
Math Level 2: 790</p>

<p>AP scores:
US History: 4
Biology: 5
Computer Science AB: 5
US Government & Politics: 5
Calculus BC: 4
- AB subscore: 5</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Lifeguarding @ a summer outdoors swim club. Job includes cleaning, etc. as well. Worked from July 2006-Sept. 2006, and will have a job there next summer from May 2007-Aug. 2007.</p>

<p>Swimming:
I've been swimming since 2nd grade, only taking 7th & 8th grade off. I've been on the varsity team all 4 years, I'm captain this year, and I was Rookie of the Year my freshman year. I qualified for MISCA last year & this year, and I will go to states this year as well. I've been a scholar athlete since 10th grade (not available in 9th). I have Y Zone cuts in 3 events. I will pursue swimming in college if I go to a Division III college. Other related activities include lifeguarding and scuba diving.</p>

<p>Music:
I've been playing flute since 6th grade. I've been in the top band since 10th (very rare), and I was first chair 9th & 11th grade. I've done Solo & Ensemble every year since 7th grade, and in 10th grade I qualified in all 3 events to go to states, and got one 1 and two 2's there. (Junior year I didn't have much time to practice with my 4 AP classes + 1 accelerated class). I did flute choir in 9th & 10th grade before it was disbanded; I've been taking lessons since 7th grade, I went to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for 3 summers, I was in the honors orchestra this year, and I'll be in the pit orchestra for a total of 3-4 musicals, as section leader. I have my Wind Ensemble activity letter.</p>

<p>Community Service:
Early Literacy Volunteers (ELVs) for 4 years. After school, once a week for about an hour, I go to an elementary school & help 1st graders improve their reading skills. I also participated in the summers before 11th & 12th grade.
I'm a member of NHS and have also done volunteering through there. I really wish I had more for this category, but I don't. :P Got a meaningless Youth Making A Difference award in 11th grade, probably for NHS.</p>

<p>Awards:
National Merit Semi-Finalist (got a 233 on the PSAT & MI's cutoff is ~210)
Summa Cum Laude (9th-11th)
Academic letter (11th)
AP Scholar with Distinction
Michigan Math Prize Competition Finalist (10th)
Outstanding Achievement in MSC Chemistry, MSC Physics, and MSC Computers (need any form of an A for the entire year in a class to get this).</p>

<p>Other schools I'm considering, in no particular order:
University of Michigan (safety)
University of Miami (safety)
Case Western Reserve University
Tufts University
Wesleyan University</p>

<p>I'd also like to know how likely it is that I would get a merit scholarship. Cost is a very big factor in where I will end up going to school.</p>

<p>Thanks muchly! :)</p>

2

<p>I think that you're a fairly strong candidate for CMU. However, CMU is stingy with merit aid, so don't count on that. Quite a bit of it seems to be used to encourage underrepresented minorities and females in male-dominated fields, and I know psychology generally has a bunch of girls.</p>

<p>Edit: There's a unified double major in biology and psychology, just for the record.</p>

3

<p>Yup, I'm hoping to get into the Science & Humanities Scholars Program, because that seems to be the best way to go about the biology/psychology double major. :) I put MCS as my first choice college and the humanities college second.</p>

<p>Is CMU one of those D-III schools that tend to give more generous aid packages to athletes, by any chance? (I highly doubt it, but you never know.) Because honestly right now I think Carnegie Mellon might be my first choice school, and it would suck to get in but not be able to attend without taking out $20k in loans a year.</p>

4

<p>I don't know about CMU and athletics, except that they exist.</p>

5

<p>I don't think you'll have a problem getting into CMU. Your SAT scores are similar to mine (yours a little higher) and you've won some nice awards. Congrats on your accomplishments with flute - I play flute too! :) I didn't even express an interest in the SHS program but I got admission for it (I turned it down though). Write good essays and get good recs, and I think you should be good to go.</p>

<p>Merit aid is a little hard to get at CMU -the Financial Aid office is a bit stingy. Do you know if your EFC is high/low? Originally on my financial aid package I had a few scholarships from CMU but they all changed it to grants by the end of the summer...</p>

6

<p>Hey aphoticmelody, I think your chances of getting in the school of Humanities and Social Sciences are very strong. Last year SHS accepted slightly over 50% and your SATs scores are above their 25-75% average in each category. That being said, I agree with Krazy Kow that merit aid will be tough to get for the reasons he stated.</p>

<p>Yes, CMU will take your best individual score in each section. I'm not the biggest expert on college recruiting of athletes, so perhaps someone else would be better-suited, but I don't believe any D III school gives athletic scholarships.</p>

<p>As far as the list of colleges you are applying to, I'd say you should apply to a couple of reach schools in addition to what you have. I would agree that Miami and Michigan (for an in-state student) would be safeties and I also think Case Western would be a safety. While CMU, Tufts, and Wesleyan will be a little harder, I certainly wouldn't call them reaches either. </p>

<p>However if you definitely have no interest in going to a school unless they give you financial aid, then I guess there'd be no reason for applying to a reach school. We had a good discussion on an earlier thread about good schools that often offer financial aid. Some that we mentioned were USC, Rice, and RPI. It might be a good idea to look into those schools.</p>

<p>Hope this advice helps and best of luck in the college process. Feel free to write back with any more questions or comments.</p>