<p>so I'm a rising senior looking to apply to Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts in communications design as my first chance. I am an African American female with these stats:</p>
<p>SAT I: 1860 (590 CR 630 M 640)
I am planning to take it again this fall.</p>
<p>SAT II: 620 US History & taking Math II this fall (idk If I should submit my SAT II scores since there are not required for CFA)</p>
<p>ACT: 31 (33 R 31 E 30 M 28 S 29 W) Although I did pretty well I'm taking them again this fall to see if I can do better.</p>
<p>I attend a prestigious private school and we do not have ranking or GPA. But I am an A/B+ student.</p>
<p>AP Courses: Calculus AB, Calculus BC, US History, Physics, Studio Art</p>
<p>ECs:
took college credit graphic design and art foundations courses at Pratt Institute in NYC
took pre-college architecture classes at my local state college, won an award for one of my designs)
internship at an architecture firm
4 yrs of Varsity Track
3 yrs of Fencing
4 yrs of Spanish Club, President for 1 yr
3 yrs of Art Club
2 yrs of Black Cultural Association, 1 yr of Black Achievers Investment Club
counseling freshman students at my school (kind of like sex ed taught by seniors but we talk about broader issues such as peer pressure, drinking, drugs, school, etc.)</p>
<p>With a combination of my portfolio (which I am currently working on) and my stats I think I have a pretty good shot at being accepted. I did hear that CFA is more focused on a strong portfolio rather than stellar SAT scores.what do you think are my chances? and would I be better off applying early decision or regular decision?</p>
<p>If you can get everything together ED will nearly always give you better chances. Don’t apply ED however if you need to compare financial offers. CMU is not known for their generosity, and will often have a lot of loans.</p>
<p>I don’t do chances, especially since for CFA, since the portfolio is so important, but I think you have a decent shot. Your scores are in the middle 50%, you have good grades and have taken a reasonably demanding schedule. Your chances are zero if you don’t apply.</p>
<p>@ mathmom: wait, what was your son’s/daughter’s finaid package?</p>
<p>We didn’t need financial aid, I’m just telling you what I hear from other parents. CMU did not offer my son Merit Aid, WPI and RPI did.</p>
<p>Ditto Mathmom. SImilar situation for our S in CFA…lots of merit aid elsewhere but if you don’t qualify for a lot of FA don’t count on much help at CMU. Their attitude is that all the students deserve merit aid so they save what they have to help a few extraordinary students and the large mass of students who can’t afford the full ride. Fair enough but make sure you have some financial safeties in your quiver of applications. I don’t think medium grades and scores will eliminate a student with a great portfolio but they will have concerns about your ability to handle the coursework outside of CFA. If you were my kid, I would advise you to seek a letter of recommendation from an English or ss teacher, if possible, since your reading/writing scores are low but you are taking one AP in history. Also, take care with your essay. This will help demo whether you can write/express yourself well which is going to be important for any student in CFA even those with a dynamite portfolio. I also find the whole admission thing a bit of a mystery and based on a lot of luck but try to imagine what I would look for for a kid to be successful at CMU in CFA…portfolio (#1), well rounded and rigourous curriculum (2), articulate a clear desire for why they want to go to CFA (3), Test scores a distant fourth.</p>
<p>Adding to what others have said, your app is strong for CFA, but ultimately the vast bulk of CFA admissions is in your portfolio or audition. If you can do a live portfolio presentation on campus, do it; they very much recommend that you present a live portfolio. Make sure you have extensive traditional, digital, papercraft and 3-d work if you have it - web or print is good too. If you have done work for official clients, I’ve often seen that showcased in portfolios as well.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input :)</p>
<p>are AP scores a neccesity?</p>
<p>They’re not required, if that’s what you mean, but 95% of your peer applicants will have at least a couple APs on their record, or else some kind of highly privatized class system (like IB or a private school advanced class method) that is similar to AP.</p>
<p>You are an URM which already gets you ahead. If you apply ED, you are pretty much set.</p>
<p>any other opinions??</p>
<p>Well the URM status remark always irks me but I will try to keep this civil and help the OP. THere are a lot of myths and misconceptions about how race or other “hooks” feed into admissions. I don’t know how they help, but I think it is safe to say you will not be admitted, even if you are blue from outerspace, if </p>
<p>I’m with Fineartsmom…I am also particularly irked and more than miffed by any number of comments directed at URM status and the misguided belief that unqualified URMs receive a guarantee ticket into CMU’s door. Nope–it’s simply not so and for the last time, CMU does NOT ADMIT EVERY URM nor does it admit every female SCS or CIT applicant. </p>
<p>CMU is very open about its very active approach to building a well diversified and well qualified class from each applicant pool. No one who is deemed unqualified and unable to succeed at CMU is ever admitted-- period. CMU’s approach however to financial aid and merit is very specific-- their strategy is to build a diverse pool-- and as such, if admitted, URMs as well as any applicant with something “unique” (very broadly defined) will receive the lion’s share of financial and merit based need. CMU makes no promise to meet unmet need for anyone-- and they make no attempts to deceive or cover that approach either. That said, if deemed qualified, a URM or female in SCS or CIT can expect to have their unmet need met, and those of exceptional quality can expect to receive merit based scholarships.</p>
<p>For those misguided sore-heads who continue to grunt over Affirmative Action-- there are several threads on CC from both sides of the coin to share your pleasure or displeasure with how you might perceive URMs are handled. But be certain, CMU does not admit unqualified applicants. The URMs and females at CMU are exceptional students and deserving of their admission status. I’ve had numerous conversations with the Director of Admissions and an Adcom who focuses on Diversity Recruitment at CMU - I sincerely tell you that no one is admitted who cannot meet CMU’s very high standards.</p>
<p>A bit off topic…my apologies.</p>
<p>To the OP-- you stand a good but not a shoe-in chance to CFA. Much of this will boil down to your portfolio review. If you can, attend a Diversity sleeping bag weekend and do have an interview - that is very very very helpful to expressing why you think CMU is a good fit for you and vice versa. Best of Luck</p>