<p>SAT Scores: 2170/2400 or 1400/1600 Essay 10 [700+ each section]
SAT II Scores: 800 Math IIC, 700 Bio M (will re-take in October)</p>
<p>GPA: 4.54 Weighted
3.88 Unweighted</p>
<p>Rank: Top 5%-10%. We are actually "unranked" though.</p>
<p>EC's: Very involved in multiple activities. This includes like various science fairs, robotics [very time-consuming...], music competitions, student council, volunteering, etc.
Recs: Will be great, having a professor at Carnegie Mellon write a rec.
Essays: Should be good.
Awards: Regional awards in science, robotics, music, school awards, Rensselaer Medal. Predict National Merit Commended only... I sent National Merit stuff to Northwestern & USC.
Leadership: Music- concertmaster, robotics- captain+programmer, secretary, student council -representative, school clubs-officer, and other school-related activities.
AP Scores: 4's and 5's on 6 AP Exams = AP Scholar with Distinction</p>
<p>NOT an URM.
Go to a Private School.
Middle-class, won't ask for a lot of financial aid.
Will send supplement for music.
Legacy: MIT & CMU [maybe??? It was a grandparent]</p>
<p>*Applying to:
MCS
Tepper
SCS--- I'm female by the way :)</p>
<p>I've been told that MIT is an extremely high reach, despite my legacy and good connections to the university. They don't seem to take that into account... or atleast it's not emphasized much. unfortunately. I'd love to get into Tepper or SCS though. Those are my top 2 choices for sure :)</p>
<p>I'm not really very knowledgeable about CS, but I believe that, if you are into "hardcore CS", you might be actually better off at CMU than at MIT (where CS is just a concentration within the broader EECS course, as opposed to a separate major).</p>
<p>I may be wrong though. Hopefully KrazyKow can say more about it.</p>
<p>I was told by my dad [MIT alum] that MIT is currently combining CS and EECS in some ways, as undergrads will have to take courses in both disciplines. It's getting very interdisciplinary, which is nice. Both are ranked #1 in CS, and both are realllly difficult to get into XD MIT is even more selective than SCS. I already have too many reaches on my list, unfortunately. And I don't think I even have a shot at MIT. Hahaha. My scores don't quite cut it.</p>
<p>MIT EECS and CMU SCS have very different requirements, as bruno mentioned. At CMU, you would likely take more math classes, and there is not the strict science core that exists at MIT. I would suggest looking at the course catalogs for both schools and seeing what kind of classes you would take in order to graduate, and that will give you a better feel.</p>
<p>If you visit/research MIT and like it and have the time to do an application, there is no harm in applying- sometimes the people who are admitted are surprising. If you prefer other schools on your list, especially ones that are less reachy, your time is probably better spent working on other applications.</p>
<p>Your scores are fine for MIT. Their admissions has been quite holistic, that's unlikely to change despite the resignation of the previous dean of admissions. So much would depend on how you present your ECs and what the recommendations are like. That said, it is still harder to get into MIT than CMU, even in SCS. My son also had grandparents who attended MIT, but it is not taken into account at all, he was deferred from the EA round and then rejected. He did get into Harvard (legacy) and CMU SCS. I think your chances at CMU are good.</p>
<p>Most colleges are looking for kids who will contribute to the community. That doesn't mean you have to be president of every club, but it does help if you have demonstrated that you are an active contributing member of the activities you take part in. My son's ECs were limited, but they were all things he was very interested in. He did Science Olympiad (won some state medals), Academic Team, took a computer graphics course one summer at Columbia and did freelance computer programming the other summers. He also volunteered in the Senior Center computer lab one summer. He had excellent supplemental recommendations from the freelance work, which I think showed that he went way beyond the high school curriculum and that he was able to work in groups, despite being an introvert. No sports, no leadership, no music or arts. He came off as the consummate computer nerd. He didn't try to change that. Basically he just put it in his application with the attitude of - this is who I am take me or not. Personally, I thought his essays could have had more personality in them - that probably hurt him at MIT. MIT's website, BTW, is an excellent resource for what most colleges are looking for. They have great advice for teacher recommendations, if you think your teachers would look at it.</p>
<p>I have decided that I'm going to avoid commenting on peoples' chances as much as possible. You definitely have a reasonable chance at getting into CMU, but your background is different enough from people who I know the outcome of that I don't feel like I can comment. You're definitely not wasting an application if you apply, though. :)</p>
<p>My largest comment is that you say you're interested in MCS, SCS, and Tepper. What is it that you want to do? Are you undecided between these, or do you want to do something that combines your interests? If you're simply undecided about what you want to do, being at CMU could be hard on you. If you want to combine different interests, I suggest you look into the IS program under H&SS.</p>
<p>I'm largely interested in SCS and MCS, but Tepper is a great program, so I thought about applying to that as well. I'm somewhat undecided between SCS and MCS. I'll definitely look into IS. How difficult is it to get into compared to MCS?</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, is it hard to transfer between schools? Like MCS to CIT or IS [H&SS] to SCS or whatever it may be? I heard it was a matter of one signature by the dean of either school?</p>