Class of 2016 CMU Decisions Thread

[bloopey]

<p>**Decision: Accepted into CIT **</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2110 (Math 780, Reading 640, Writing 690)
[</em>]SATIIs: Chem 790 Math I 730
[<em>]ACT: 32 (Math 36 Verbal 35 Reading 29 Writing 33
[</em>]GPA: 3.9/4.0
[<em>]Rank: NA
[</em>]Competitions/Prizes: NHS, MHS, and a few other minor ones.
[li]Otherstats: Bit lazy to type it up again… senioretis. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>]Essays: For the Common Essay, I wrote about my ethnicity, chinese, and how that has inflenced me in my life. Overall, not that well written.
[</em>]Supplement: For CMU, i wrote about a sleeping bag weekend visit. Very well versed.
[<em>]TeacherRecs: 2, one from math teacher, one from science teacher. Had both for 2 years, honors course one year and ap course one year (for both) and I had gotten good grades and 5 on their respective APs (Chem and Stat)
[</em>]CounselorRec:Very good i believe. Not sure exactly contents too well. But I had a good relationship with my counselor.
[li]Hook(ifany): not sure… but my grades, standarized test scores, and all other achievements had a strong growth rate each year. For weighted gpa out of 100, I got 89 in 8th grade, 92 in 9th, 93 in 10th, 100 in 11th grade. For junior year, I took 4 AP courses, 1 college level course, and 1 honors course. senior year, i took 3 ap courses 2 college level courses. [/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>]StateorCountry: NY
[</em>]SchoolType: small public
[<em>]Ethnicity: asian - chinese 100%
[</em>]Gender: male
[li]Application(ED/RD?): ED</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]OtherFactors:
besides have a strong academic, i played multiple sports, ran multiple clubs, and had lots of extracurriculars.</p>

[dietaryfiber]

<p>Decision: Accepted to MCS</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2350 (800 Writing, 800 Math, 750 CR)
[</em>]SATIIs: Math II 800 Chem 800 (Not submitted: Bio 740, Math I 760, Spanish 790)
[<em>]ACT: -
[</em>]GPA: 4.03 out of 4.3
[<em>]Rank: ~5
[</em>]Competitions/Prizes: National Merit Semifinalist and some school awards
[li]Otherstats: -</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Weren’t great in my opinion; wrote about losing weight
[</em>]Supplement: Wrote about why CMU was a good fit
[<em>]TeacherRecs: One from math (algebra 2 freshman year and BC Calc junior year) and one from chemistry (AP, junior year)
[</em>]CounselorRec: Hopefully good, knew my counselors reasonably well
[li]Hook(ifany): Extracurriculars were Math Team (ranked 7 in county), School Newspaper, tutoring (a LOT of tutoring)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>]StateorCountry: MA, USA
[</em>]SchoolType: Private Catholic
[<em>]Ethnicity: White
[</em>]Gender: Male
[li]Application(ED/RD?): ED1</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]OtherFactors:</p>

<p>Advice/Reflection:
Glad I got in!
GeneralComments:
Doing SHS</p>

[141421356]

<p>ED II Decisions have begun to come out so this should put the thread at the top.</p>

[titanonica]

<p>**Decision: Accepted into CIT **</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2100: 620CR, 710M, 770W
[</em>] SAT IIs: 750 math 1, 740 math 2,770 chemistry
[<em>] ACT: 33: 36E, 32R, 32S, 32W, 33M.
[</em>] GPA: 101.57/100
[<em>] Rank: 6/608
[</em>] Competitions/Prizes: Local award for orchestra, not much else
[li] Other stats: All-country violinist, high scores on level 6 NYSSMA, first chair, violin solo in marching band; NHS VP; Science Contest Club co-president (science bowl, science olympiad); alternate for MSG Varsity’s The Challenge; community service (didn’t keep track of hours); Science club board member (community service club that makes a science museum at our school for little kids); Historian for TRI-M; Music and Arts temp; XC</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: I wrote about how seeing how a little girl being treated by her mother affected me (I was at the doctor’s office). Turns out she was abused, which broke my heart. I went on to write about how I have this innate desire to solve problems and fix everything that isn’t right.
[</em>] CMU Supplement: Everyone who read it loved it. It was unique, starting with an anecdote about how I almost never visited the school and ended with how I could write about all the wonderful things about CMU but the point is that ever since I first stepped foot on campus I felt at home.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: One which I’m sure was amazing was from my 4 year orchestra teacher and the other was from my 9th grade bio teacher who runs NHS so I still talk to her a lot.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: It was written by a counselor who is subbing for my normal one (she got preggos)
[<em>] Hook (if any): N/A
[/ul]
Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: NY, USA
[<em>] School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: white
[<em>] Gender: female
[</em>] Application (ED/RD?): EDII</p>

<p>[/ul]Other Factors:
I’m taking 3 AP sciences this year, one independently (let’s hope this work out).
Last summer I attended a 2-week summer camp for physics at WPI, but I didn’t include this in the application.
Visited 3 times. SBW too
Advice/Reflection:
For anyone who applied regular and is reading this, CMU doesn’t really care about AP scores. they care more about your class grades. (source: CMU admissions officer). Anywho, I read the letter and I cried. That’s about all the reflection I got for ya. Oh, and PROOFREAD YOUR ESSAY. I submitted an essay with a blatant grammatical error (a word wasn’t plural when it should have been) which probably had little to no effect BUT STILL. It killed me inside.
**General Comments: **
Me right now: <a href=“http://d37nnnqwv9amwr.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/entries/icons/original/000/001/987/fyeah.jpg[/url]”>http://d37nnnqwv9amwr.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/entries/icons/original/000/001/987/fyeah.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[meadow1234]

<p>titanonica,</p>

<p>when did you do the sleeping bag weekend? After you applied? Do they do this in the summer? Did you interview at the same time as sbw? Also, you mentioned you visited three times…do you recommend that many times? Was it in a short space of time? Anything else you recommend to increase chances?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[mjaffe94]

<p>Decision: Accepted to H&SS</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2090 (770 W, 690 R, 630 M)
[</em>]SATIIs: 690 USH, 680 LIT, 620 M
[<em>]ACT: 28
[</em>]GPA: 3.79
[<em>]Rank: 34/294
[</em>]Competitions/Prizes: 2nd in county history fair, etc
[li]Otherstats:</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Common App was a little quip about how my family has moved a lot within the same municipality. I talked about how I can find good in different situations.
[</em>]Supplement: Easiest essay to write. This was where I wanted to be, so explaining why was not a challenge.
[<em>]TeacherRecs: On the whole, pretty good. One was excellent and very personal.
[</em>]CounselorRec: Pretty good. She plugged in a lot of items from my resume, but it is a counselor rec.
[li]Hook(ifany): Have been creating a personal documentary for almost a year? Founding president of NEHS? (The latter isn’t too interesting, but I put a lot into it.) I don’t know what they would consider a hook. Those were just my favorite things from my application. [/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>]StateorCountry: Florida
[</em>]SchoolType: Public magnet
[<em>]Ethnicity: White
[</em>]Gender: Female
[li]Application(ED/RD?): ED II</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]OtherFactors: National Honor Society Treasurer and Tutoring Coordinator, English Honor Society founding president, Key Club Senior Director, Volunteer at Marinelife Center, Communications Honor Society member, summer program at a college (not CMU), debate team member, 2nd place in history fair, creating a documentary about juvenile diabetes, high school is competitive, I play piano, I take a fair amount of APs, and I had an interview at CMU…but I think my supplemental essay was my strongest selling point. </p>

<p>Advice/Reflection: Do what you enjoy and show passion about it. Also, take advantage of the essay. It’s a great place for them to really get to see a part of who you are.</p>

<p>GeneralComments: I wasn’t sure I was going to be accepted. The reality of going so far away a little scary, but I know I’ll get used to it because it’s where I want to go. Best of luck to everyone.</p>

[Aznremix]

<p>ACCEPTED CIT</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT: 2230, 769 m 710 r 760 w
[ *] SAT IIs: math2 750, phy 740, chinese 780, bio 730
[ *] ACT: none
[ *] GPA: 90.5 w/ freshmen yr, 91.46 w/o
[ *] Rank:n/a
[ *] Competitions/Prizes: national merit commended
[ *] Other stats:</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: good common app
[ *] CMU Supplement: meh, maybe 60% effor
[ *] Teacher Recs: eng(good) and phy (not sure)
[ *] Counselor Rec: good
[ *] Hook (if any):first gen college
[ /list]
[ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: NY
[ *] School Type:public, but well known
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender:Male
[ *] Application (ED/RD?): ED</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]
[ b]Advice/Reflection:[ /b]
[ b]General Comments:[ /b]</p>

[77Foop]

<p>Decision: Accepted to IS</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: None
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math II:800 US History:660
[<em>] ACT:35
[</em>] GPA:3.47/4
[<em>] Rank: NA
[</em>] Competitions/Prizes: 3rd place in state Mathematics Tournament
[li] Other stats: AP US History - 5, AP Calc BC - 5, AP Psych - 5, AP Stats - 5</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Good
[</em>] CMU Supplement: Good
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Math and Chinese (both good)
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Good
[<em>] Hook (if any): Captain of Math Team, Founder and Captain of Bridge Engineering Team, President of Volunteer Organization, Took Calc BC as a sophomore, being the sole reason an AP Comp Sci class is running in my high school.
[/ul]
Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Illinois
[<em>] School Type: Renowned Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Application (ED/RD?): ED II</p>

<p>[/ul]Other Factors:
Advice/Reflection: Had about a 50/50 shot I thought. I think I’m lucky
General Comments: I was not so strong in english (C’s) and History (B-'s) but I got straight A’s in math and took very advanced classes for my age (I’m doing linear algebra in high school)</p>

[myzumba44]

<p>It’s good to meet someone else that applied to CFA!</p>

[goalstop]

<p>Decision: Accepted to Tepper and HSS</p>

<p>Stats:

• SAT:2280 (740 Math, 760 English, 780 Writing)
• SAT IIs: Literature: 740, Chemistry: 760, Math I: 780
• ACT: 34
• GPA: 4.904/4.000 weighted, 3.95/4.00 unweighted
• Rank: 6/425
• Competitions/Prizes: National Merit Finalist, National Honors Society, High School Science Team (3 hrs/week), #1 Nationally Ranked High School Soccer Team and #5 Nationally Ranked Club Soccer Team (15 hrs/week, 10 months/year)
• Other stats:</p>

<p>Subjective:

• Essays: Strong, but not incredible, though the grammar was perfect and I consider myself fairly articulate. I wrote on morals in today’s society and my strong conscience.
• CMU Supplement: Pretty generic; I wrote a simple essay on why I wanted to go into business and how CM would help me with this. It was pretty much a cut-and-paste from an essay I had written for all of the schools to which I applied, but it was strong and well-written.
• Teacher Recs: One was phenomenal, from my 10th grade business teacher who had me for two classes that year. The other–I have no idea. I have reason to suspect that it was either a very lackadaisical “eh” essay or one that could have hurt me in admissions.
• Counselor Rec: Very good, but not sure how much weight this carries.
• Hook (if any): From the South, also tons of support from the soccer coach at CM. I think that this was the main thing that pushed me through. I would have liked to post this earlier, but was told not to say anything until admissions officially came out.</p>

<p>Location/Person:

• State or Country: SC
• School Type: Large Public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Male
• Application (ED/RD?): RD</p>

<p>Other Factors: Never visited campus, did an interview, showed much interest to the admissions department, but was still accepted. I would recommend doing all of this, though, because the school does take these things into great consideration when making decisions.</p>

[Saob12]

<p>^Did you hear back in the mail? Are you close to the Pitt area?</p>

[goalstop]

<p>No, no official letter yet, but I got a call from the athletics department notifying me of my application status a few weeks ago.</p>

[MotherNerd]

<p>I also was notified by an athletic coach about my acceptance a few weeks ago.</p>

<p>**Decision:**Accepted H&SS</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2320, 800W/800R/720M
[</em>]SATIIs: 760 Math2, 770 USHistory
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: 3.95 UW
[<em>]Rank: 13/200ish
[</em>]Competitions/Prizes: National Merit Finalist, some AP scholar thing. Nothing super extraordinary
[li]Extracurriculars:[/li]Cross Country, went to state three years with the team, captain my senior year. Pretty good but not really recruitable. Definitely going to keep running, though.</p>

<p>Band, I’ve done pretty much every band thing available. Jazz, concert, pep, marching. First trumpet, drum major. All-state for three years.</p>

<p>A few others, not super important though</p>

<p>[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>]Essays: my common app was really neat. I wrote about all the different things I can see myself doing in the future. The smaller ec one was about finding excellence, in xc and band
[</em>]Supplement: Kind of rambly, all of the place. Mentioned Daniel Wilson, who first got me really interested in CMU.
[<em>]TeacherRecs: Good, I’d assume.
[</em>]CounselorRec: cookie-cutter
[li]Hook(ifany): rural? I wrote the additional circumstance essay on the common app about growing up in a town of 15,000 that hosts the second largest rodeo in the west[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>]StateorCountry: Washington state
[</em>]SchoolType: public, rural
[<em>]Ethnicity: white
[</em>]Gender: male
[li]Application(ED/RD?): RD</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]OtherFactors: XC probably helped as an extracurricular, but not as recruitment. Interview went really well, had a very nice interviewer who took full advantage of all CMU had to offer (travel abroad, double major across colleges, etc etc)</p>

<p>Advice/Reflection: I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it, as I’m not sure what I want to do for a career/major, and kinda randomly picked professional writing as my intended major when the application asked me. Then I got my first B (oh noes! lol) in english last semester… But hey, it all worked out. Hakuna Matata, don’t worry be happy, and all that jazz.</p>

<p>GeneralComments: Pretty excited to get in. Still waiting to hear from Pomona and Brown, and if I get into one (heaven forbid both) of them then I’ll have a tough choice…</p>

[cornellite95]

<p>ACCEPTED MCS!
sat : 2270. CR:720. W:790. M:760
SAT 2’s : M2 : 760. Hist :750. Chem : 660.
GPa : 3.8/4
rank - school does not provide.
EC’s : theatre, track, choir, tutoring, Stop (vicepresident), FHS ( co chair committtes),
HAWKS, NHS, THespian honor society
rec’ : i never saw them, i think pretty good
essays : MY SUPPLEMENT ESSAY WAS AMAZING !. lol
AP’s : 11th grade : AP lang (5), APUSH (5)
12th grade schdeule : Ap stats, AP euro, physics (h), Ap lit, Ap french, calc,
GODD LUCK EVERYBODY . OMG SUPER EXCIITED! I"VE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT THIS SCHOOL SINCE 10th GRADE!</p>

[goldendomer11]

<p>**Decision: Waitlisted MCS (Priority) **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not send
ACT: 33
SAT II (if submitted): 750 Math 730 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.8ish
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10% (56/565)
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chem - 4, AP Calc AB - 4, AP Physics - 3
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP Latin Vergil, Honors Biochem</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Latin Club – 9, 10, 11, 12 (Scriba 12)
Key Club – 10, 11, 12
NHS – 11, 12
NLHS – 11, 12
Rugby Club – 9
School Soccer – 9
THON - 9,10,11,12 (Committee member 11, Technology Chair 12 - We raised $116,000 this year)
Junior Class Vice President
Senior Class Treasurer
Attended Rotary Youth Leadership Conference
Job/Work Experience:
Wegmans Food Company – 11 (15 hours per weekend stocking shelves)
Universal Protective Packaging – 11, 12 (10 hours per week unloading trucks)
Volunteer/Community service:
Bethany Village Retirement Home: 250+ Volunteer Hours by graduation
Senior summer - Research at Columbia University Medical Center for 8 weeks on Kidney cells.
Sophomore summer - worked in the office of the speaker of the house for my state for 9 weeks
Essays: Common app essay is pretty good, it ties in my research and my volunteer work
Teacher Recommendation: Math + science teachers, had them for 2-3 years each, they like me so I assume they were good
Counselor Rec: Very good. She chose me and one other student for a leadership conference payed for by the school.
Additional Rec: Letter from the doctor I worked under at Columbia University Medical Center</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemistry or Biology
State (if domestic applicant): PA
School Type: Large competitive public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Research internship at Columbia University Medical Center</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Leadership + volunteer experience, ACT score
Weaknesses: Gpa / rank
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Class rank
General Comments: Congrats to those who were accepted!</p>

[Denebel]

<p>Decision: Rejected
(Applied for CIT, EE)</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 1950 (620 CR, 660 M, 670 W)
[</em>]SATIIs: 690 Math II, 550 Physics
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: 3.7 W, 3.6 UW
[<em>]Rank: Top 10% of class
[</em>]Competitions/Prizes: Robotics Regional Champions ('11)
[li]Other stats: Peer mentorship program (Gr. 11, 12), National Honor Society (Gr. 12), Robotics (Gr. 10, 11, 12)</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>]Essays: (Common App) Really honest and sincere, wrote about how the people I was supposed to help, helped me instead.
(Supplement) Wrote about why I wanted to go to CMU, what made me want to go into engineering, why engineering at CMU.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Didn’t see them.
[<em>]CounselorRec: Didn’t see.
[</em>]Hook (if any):
[/ul]</p>

<p>Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>]State or Country: HI
[</em>]SchoolType: Large public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>]Gender: Female
[li]Application (ED/RD?): RD </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other Factors: Grades dropped in junior year (from 3.8 in sophomore to barely 3.5) due to family problems, but I decided not to talk about it in the application. Counselor knew though, but I have no idea whether she mentioned anything about it on the recommendation.</p>

<p>Advice/Reflection: I tried my best and spent on a lot of time on my essays as I knew my grades and test scores were weak. Took the Physics SAT II because I thought I should since I wanted to go into engineering, but bombed it. Mediocre grades in the subject math (B’s and C’s)…</p>

<p>General Comments: Congratulations to all who got in! You guys deserve it!! :)</p>

<p>From my interview with a representative in October, this year was extremely selective because they had too big of a class last year and wanted to down size it for the CMU Class of 2016. CMU is my dream school, so this won’t be the last time the committee will hear from me ;)</p>

[chriswt]

<p>Decision: Accepted H&SS</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2180 (780CR, 720M, 680W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 780 (Math I), 760 (Lit)
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] GPA: 3.47
[<em>] Rank: 372 / 410
[</em>] Competitions/Prizes: None
[li] Other stats: Some involvement in community work, arts and music. Work experience in law firm, etc.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Fairly decent, wrote about my experiences and how they’ve affected me as a person. Pretty straight up essay, nothing too quirky.
[</em>] CMU Supplement: Conveyed my interests across the disciplines, wrote about a few books I’d read and wanting to seek out a cultural experience overseas.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Two ‘good’ (I would assume) recommendations from my teachers and an excellent one from my former employer
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Didn’t know me well, but I’d assume (and hope) that it wasn’t too bad.
[<em>] Hook (if any):
[/ul]
Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Singapore
[<em>] School Type: Renowned Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Application (ED/RD?): RD</p>

<p>[/ul]Other Factors:
Advice/Reflection: I applied to a fair few schools and CMU was considered one of my reaches. I was rejected from a bunch of schools that I thought I’d have been better qualified for (NYU, USC, etc) but I’m happy with the decision.
General Comments: Haven’t seen many others come out and announce their H&SS acceptances (granted it’s a really small school)!</p>

[LFCYNWA]

<p>@ denebel
Nice to see you take the news so positively. Hope you are successful as a transfer. Since you are sincerely keen to go to CMU, only your grades and scores are keeping you from getting in. I’m sure you’ll have a better shot if you decide to transfer. Or if not good luck at any school you go to :)</p>

[uncojwu]

<p>Decision: Accepted CFA - School of Music
Decision: Rejected MCS and CIT</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2170 (Math: 780, Reading: 680, Writing 710, Essay: 8)
[</em>] ACT: 33 (Math: 34, Crit. Reading: 33, Science: 35,
[<em>] SAT II: Math I: 750, Chem: 660
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 44/312 (14%)
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Microeconomics (4), US Comp. Gov. (4), (unreported: US History (2))
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, Music Theory, Chamber Orchestra, Literature Seminar (Sci-Fi)
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Many solo violin awards, including District and State 1st and NW division competitor. None in particular for academics except for National Honor Society and National Merit Scholarship commendation.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Portland Youth Philharmonic (local youth orchestra). Varsity Swimming. Brief forays into Speech and Debate and Science Bowl.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard (summer and school year 2010), paid internship at Intel Headquarters in Hillsboro (summer and school year 2011).
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation, 60 hours. I did a two week Red Cross Volunteer camp in Taiwan last summer, also for 60 hours.
[</em>] Summer Activities: Went to Taiwan (parent’s home country) last summer for 7 weeks to visit family, participate in the Red Cross camp, and tour with an orchestra for 3 weeks in China and Taiwan. The summer after freshman year I interned at the local research lab and hospital (OHSU).
[<em>] Essays: Talked about my Red Cross camp and trip to Taiwan and how I “discovered myself.” Common App essay talked about how racism has affected me. BXA essay talked about how I love both technology and music and how I was excited to discover that Carnegie had a program that would allow me to study both. I thought they were pretty strong at the time, but I don’t really think so now. More on that later.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: AP Calc AP teacher and Junior Honors English teacher. Average/weak.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Knew my counselor pretty well, but I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m really lazy. My family went in a few times to discuss my academics with him (my parents think I do really poorly in school). Insightful but average/weak.
[</em>] Additional Rec: My dad’s boss, who oversaw my internship at the research hospital freshman year and has been good friends with me and my family for a very long time. Strong, but not in the way it needed to be.
[li] Interview: None. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State: Oregon
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: < $60,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation American</p>

<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Music. My competitions were good, but not fantastic. They admitted me without a live audition, which was very surprising to me.
[</em>] Weaknesses: Almost everything else. I think I was incredibly lucky to get admitted to Carnegie at all; see the list of colleges that rejected me at the end.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: The music application definitely solidified my admission to the music department, but my poor grades, extracurriculars, and test scores made admission to CIT and MCS impossible.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Admitted: University of Washington, Oregon State University, Texas A&M University. Rejected: Stanford, MIT, Rice, Brown, Princeton, University of North Carolina, Duke.</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: I knew that my grades, test scores, and extracurriculars weren’t great, so when I applied I attempted to tell the college how unique I am (How I’m not the typical Asian who’s parents forced him to study all the time) and how I’m better off for it. Apparently, this line of attack is not as effective as I had hoped, as I got rejected from 7 of the 11 colleges I applied to. I’m very certain the college admissions departments really only look at test scores, grades, and extracurriculars; the essays, recommendations, and music supplement (music supplement most of all) are only used for swaying a decision if the department isn’t sure. TO ANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO HAVE YET TO APPLY TO COLLEGE WHO READ THIS: Do NOT expect a phenomenal summer trip or a great music supplement to carry your application through for the most competitive colleges. I did and I was rejected to nearly all of them. </p>

<p>If anyone would like to comment and give their view or opinions on why I got accepted/rejected from where I did, please reply and let me know; it would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>I am planning on attending Carnegie and attempting to internal transfer into the BSA or BSAMT (Bachelors of Science and Music Technology) program after freshman year. I love music but it’s not what I really want to pursue in college.</p>

[vpnviper]

<p>Decision: Accepted H&SS - Statistics/Information Systems</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I: 2280 (Math: 740, Reading: 760, Writing 800, Essay: 12)
ACT: 35 (Math: 36, Crit. Reading: 34, Science: 36,
SAT II: Math I: 760, Biology: 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6 (4.0 for first two years, then family troubles dropped me to 3.4 and then 3.2 then 2.9 – I’m serious! I still end up with a 3.6 overall, I really kept plugging through as best as I could. Luckily, my school’s average GPA is a 3.4, so I was still relatively successful).
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
Senior Year Course Load: IB Physics, IB Math HL2, IB Literature, IB Biology, IB Economics, IB Theory of Knowledge, IB History, IB French B
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Numerous piano awards, including first in the state two times in two divisions and first place at regional competitions. FIRST Robotics for two years with the team getting 2nd in the world championships. Science Olympiad, placed consistently in the top 3 for Ornithology, Sounds of Music, and Experimental Design. Magna Cum Laude and National Merit Finalist. Can’t really think of anything else. Does early high school career top 50 in the ranked ladder for StarCraft Brood War count? :3</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Summer Science Program 2011, FIRST Robotics, Science Olympiad, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, French Honor Society
Volunteer/Community service: Special Olympics 2007 and World Expo 2010 international volunteer, also did regular piano recitals for a local senior community
Summer Activities: This is so repetitive. Special Olympics 2007, National Youth Leadership Council 2009, World Expo 2010, SSP 2011, having more typical fun 2012
Essays: I wrote about discovery, dealing with unexpected situations, and my love for ideas and innovation in an essay that mixed together baking cupcakes with how much I love birds.
Teacher Recommendation: IB Math HL2 teacher & IB Physics teacher. Strong, insightful. I wrestle with math but I love physics, so I felt like combining these two recs would be REALLY interesting.
Counselor Rec: Knew my counselor very well, we often talked about college and family life (I had a really, really tough family life that often threw me on the verge of depression, but I made through it with my own optimism and my counselor’s help). Strong and in-depth rec.
Additional Rec: Nothing.
Interview: None. </p>

<p>Other
State: Michigan
School Type: Public (Magnet School)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $100,000 - $150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation American. And I’m sure my 3.6 GPA was a great hook along with the 4.0 to 2.9 in one semester (wondering if the GPA hook worked on you, too, so you would read this). Haha, I would definitely not recommend trying for this kind of hook at all. But if you happen to have a relatively low GPA, don’t give up, because people like me should remind you that anything is possible.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Music, science (biology & physics), economics, graphics/web/print media design, writing. I’m very balanced in both art and science and I happen to really love birds and robots and am very strong in piano studies.
Weaknesses: Uh, I’m a waste of space in my math class. I’m also horrible with computer science and there doesn’t seem to be any indication why Carnegie Mellon accepted me into Statistics/IS when it seems I have no evidence for it. I like statistics but have nothing to show for it in my high school profile. Dude, just look at the schools that I got accepted into/rejected from later on here.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My strength in music is a plus, but how is that related to the statistics department? I’m sure that my strength in science and my varied talents were a strong indication that I was a very capable, versatile, and high-achieving student despite my GPA plummet (which I’m sure my counselor talked about in her rec letter).
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Admitted: Michigan State University (Honors College), University of Texas at Dallas (Full – read ~$47,000 - scholarship), Oberlin College & Conservatory (~$17,000 scholarship), Rochester Institute of Technology (~$15,000 scholarship), New York University (~$10,000 scholarship), University of Michigan, Purdue University. Rejected: MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Harvard, every other top-tier Ivy League you can think of (besides Carnegie Mellon) and Swarthmore, because my parents made me apply to 20+ schools. If anything, my work ethic in writing multiple essays for all those schools shows what potential I have and must have had when I got a 4.0 for two years.
General Comments: My grades were definitely stellar for the school that I go to (International Academy, you can look us up to see how prestigious we are), but the sudden drop in grades in perfect conjunction with late junior/early senior did not paint a positive case or give me a chance to rebound. I’m sure my acceptance into SSP 2011 was a great factor in getting this lucky break at Carnegie Mellon (you can look THAT up to see how prestigious it is). I had pretty unique points about myself and definitely passed off that I wasn’t the most typical kid – but everybody does that nowadays, so you have to do something crazy like write about how sushi-lovers will be a moving force in the world (a girl did that for Oberlin one year).</p>

<p>I don’t mind not getting into the top schools that I knew, and everyone else knew, I had a fantastic shot if I had kept up my grades and been a happy kid for all of high school. But life happens and I seem to be the only one with any optimism; my family thinks it’s like the end of the world that I didn’t get into MIT/Harvard because it’s literally the only two schools they seem to recognize without a grain of salt.</p>

<p>I’m lucky to get such a cut at Carnegie Mellon and I plan to make the most of it. Never letting anyone put a damper on me again after what happened with college admissions. I mean, look kids, if you believe in yourself and you do your college applications like you have a chance at every school you apply to, even if you don’t think you do, you might end up with an awesome opportunity like I did. If you have questions, advice, or are looking for advice, or want to tell me why I got rejected or something at other schools, feel free to email me at: <a href=“mailto:kangling@andrew.cmu.edu”>kangling@andrew.cmu.edu</a>. I’m on all the time, so I’d love to talk to you. I review and revise essays as well and give my personal share of experience a lot and well, I guess my only claim to fame is that I helped two kids get into SSP 2012 this time. I haven’t been advertising myself but this is just to make you at ease that I’m pretty reliable and straightforward talker.</p>