Chances of getting into Carnegie Mellon SCS

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys, I was just wondering, what are my chances of getting into the school of computer science at carnegie mellon? I know its super competitive so I wanted to hear other people’s feedback

Major: Computer Science
• SAT I: (Will retake to raise Critical Reading)
o M 800
o W: 780
o CR: 670
o Total: 2250
• SAT II:
o Math Level II 780
o Physics 760
o Biology 720 (don’t know if I will use)
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.556
• Weighted GPA: 3.8
• Rank: Unknown
I go to one of the hardest / well known private high schools in the nation, so our GPA’s are lower than other’s.
My grades have drastically improved. It’s really only my freshman year that holds back my GPA

Course Load:

Freshman Year (Fall, Spring)
Geometry
•English 9
Biology
Ancient Civilizations (History)
Intro to Programming I & II
Spanish II
Symphony Orchestra

Freshmen Volleyball
Club Volleyball (Captain and Junior National Participant)

Sophomore Year
Algebra II with Analysis
English 10
Chemistry
The World and Europe I *history
AP Computer Science
Spanish III
Symphony Orchestra

Varsity Volleyball (Only Sophomore)
Club Volleyball (Captain and Junior National Participant)

Junior Year (Fall, Spring)
Precalc
English III Honors
AP Physics 1
The World and Europe II *History
Design and Data Structures Honors
• Spanish IV
Symphony Orchestra

Varsity Volleyball
Club Volleyball (Captain and Junior National Participant)
USA Volleyball A3 National Team
Internship (developed iOS apps)

Senior Year (scheduled)
• AP Statistics
• AP Calc AB
• AP Physics 2
AP English Lit
• Advanced Topics in Computer Science
• AP Spanish
• Symphony Orchestra

Varsity Volleyball Captain
Club Volleyball (Captain and Junior National Participant)

• Extracurriculars: Club Volleyball 5 years, USA Volleyball A3 National Team, Varsity Volleyball, iOS Development (Created my own apps to benefit my school) ,Symphony (Percussion), Christian Youth Group, Piano
• Clubs: Robotics Club, Hardware Engineering Club (Co-Founder)
• Volunteer/Community services: Coaches children’s volleyball for schools that don’t have teams (100 hours)
• Awards and Honors: International Academic Competition (Divisional Winner) Mathematics, National Honors Spanish

Other
• City, State: Los Angeles, CA
• School Type: Private (Top 10 in the Nation)
• Ethnicity: Asian (Korean)
• Gender: Male

2

Your test scores are fine, but your GPA is really low and being an Asian Male in CS is a death sentence if you’re not extremely gifted in something besides piano, math, or academics. Being at a top private could help, and your experience could as well. Are you going to ED? I believe you get a backup option in case you’re not admitted. What would you choose in that case?

3

I’m planning on going ED there or Cornell. My strongest extracurricular is volleyball as I spend over 25 hours a week doing it and am on the national team.

4

Have you tried applying for recruitment to any schools? If you’re really of that caliber, you could probably play DI or Ivy League ball.