So I just got denied from Carnegie Mellon SCS for early, and I’m panicking a little bit bc I thought I could at least clutch a deferral. Duke would be my #1 in all aspects except for the fact I wanna do compsci. Here are my stats:
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2330 composite (770 R, 800 M, 760 W)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 760 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.79
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/340
AP (place score in parenthesis): (I didn’t report any of the scores) Gov&Pol (5), Lang (4), World History (4), Chemistry (4), Phys 1 (3), Calc AB (4) gg, Compsci AP (4) rip gg
Senior Year Course Load: Honors English, AP Phys C: Mech , AP Calc BC, Compsci 4 G/T (weighted like AP), Econ AP, Intern/Mentor GT, Spanish 5 AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): JV/Varsity Soccer (Captain Sophomore Year and then got pulled up to varsity), SGA (Secretary), Mock Trial (VP), Robotics Team (Marketing Lead), NHS (Math, Spanish, and regular), Key Club, Ultimate Frisbee (Co-Founder), been learning Indian Carnatic music for 10 years
Job/Work Experience: Worked as intern at Bowie State University over the summer and now I’m at the NASA Goddard Center
Volunteer/Community service: President of Indian Cultural Youth organization. Did a service project about every month. Raised over $1000 in relief of the Nepal earthquake.
Summer Activities: Howard County Leadership University (11th), Johns Hopkins CTY for 3 years (9-11th)
Other:
State (if domestic applicant): MD
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Suburban
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: couple 100k
Hooks (Athlete; first generation college, etc.): Athlete
Unhooks: I’m Asian
You are right on the cusp. My guess is that your fate will be decided during committee deliberations. This can be quite hard to predict, but a lot will depend upon who else from your high school/region is also applying and the strength of the applicant pool.
May seem counter-intuitive, but your chances are probably higher at Pratt. The reason is that Pratt places greater weight on the test scores and grades, and less on the ECs and recommendations.
Note this is just a guess - I do not speak on behalf of admissions
Thank you so much! Do you think there’s anything I can add to my app that would entice the committee a little more, or is it really just subjective from here and I just have to play with the cards I’m dealt?
@IndianMamba The adcom can smell applicants like you from a mile away. They’ll know if you’re just using Pratt to transfer into Trinity or vice versa. It’s not easier to get into Pratt, btw. Despite it having a higher acceptance rate, it’s still harder to get into since the stats for accepted students is much higher than for Trinity. This means Pratt is more self-selecting, which means you still won’t have an easy time getting in.
Yea thanks Jwest, I kinda evaluated it a little more, so I don’t think I’ll do that. Do you know if Duke looks at desired major when selecting students? As in because Duke isn’t as strong in Compsci versus Medicine for example, would my interest in Computer Science give me a slight advantage? Or do they just not look at that and accept all the best possible candidates regardless of preference?
There really isn’t much you can do to add to your application at this late stage. Duke does not admit by major (except in the case of Trinity vs Pratt). But within each school, there is no preference for certain majors over the other.
It is true that the objective stats for Pratt students are higher than Trinity. This is because the Pratt admissions committee places more emphasis on grades and test scores than does Trinity. This has been outlined in the book by Rachel Toor. This is why I suggested that your chances are higher at Pratt. For the items of Curriculum, Academics and SAT scores you will likely be rated 5’s in all three categories. For Trinity this comprises approx 50% of your total rated score. But at Pratt this would account for approx 70% of your total score. Within Trinity the remaining 50% is made up of ECs, recommendations and essays. For Pratt, the ECs, recommendations and essays only count for 30%.
But I agree with above, don’t apply to Pratt with the intent of transferring to Trinity. If there is a similar major within Pratt that you like, and can show how it closely fits with your interest, then consider applying to Pratt instead. For example Pratt offers a BSE in Electrical & Computer Engineering. Trinity offers Computer Science as a major. Take a look through the degree requirements and you’ll see that both majors end up taking a lot of the same classes, but the Pratt is more focused on the engineering side.
Bottom line: if you think you have an interest in an engineering degree from Pratt, then you might have a slightly better shot. But don’t apply to Pratt with the intent of transferring later, as this will be quite obvious.
@IndianMamba “unhooks” lol!
It’s true though - your chances are worse for top tier schools because of the smart-Asian/Indian stereotype. Otherwise I’d say you have an excellent shot, with amazing scores and strong ECs.
Best of luck!
@sgopal2 Thank you on the info. I think I’m gonna stick with Trinity and just be as candid as possible because I can’t really fake stuff well lol. And thank you @LaikaDoodles !!!
