CMU ED Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics

US citizen (Domestic)
Private High School
Female/Asian

Intended Major(s)

Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted GPA → 4.00
Weighted GPA ->4.57
(A+ is worth a 4.5 in non-AP/AT courses, A is worth a 4.0 in non-AP/AT courses, AP Courses give a boost of 0.5 to any grade (A+'s become 5.0s and A’s become 4.5s)
SAT - 1560 (780, 780)

Coursework
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics C
AP Computer Science A
AP Microeconomics AP Macroeconomics
AP Statistics
Multivariable Calculus
Linear Algebra
AP Spanish

Awards

2x AIME Qualifier
2x World Mathematics Championships Qualifier, Medalist at preliminary qualifier, part of winning team
AIME Score of 6 (Top 4.6% of all 33,000 participants in AMC Series)
Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society, 10, 11, 12)
Computer Science Honor Society (10, 11, 12)
Taekwondo Dan 1 Belt (6 years)
World Qualifier for Robotics competition
Distinction in AMC 10
Robotics Competition Regional Third Place Winner
Second Place Team at regional Debate 2020 Competition
Second Place Team at regional Debate Tournament

Extracurriculars

Architect and Founder (9, 10, 11, 12 long term at a firm, worked on one main project)

Programming Intern (11)

Programming Intern at a Clean Energy Company (10)

President and Founder of Entrepreneurship Club at School

Math Team (9, 10, 11, 12, participated in various international and regional competition, including the AMC → Varsity in 11th grade)

Varsity Debate Team (11), participated in Debate all throughout high school (9, 10, 11, 12), Debate officer

Robotics (9, 10, 11, 12) → Machine Learning/Algorithms Developer, different leadership positions over the years

Founder of state chapter of coding organization to promote code literacy among students (11, 12)

Volunteer at club that teaches and provides opportunities to disadvantaged students in Phillipines

Math and Computer Science Tutor

Volunteer for patient-centric app development project

Essays/LORs/Other
2 from school (Math and English Teachers), 1 from CEO of internship at above mentioned firm

Cost Constraints / Budget

Not looking for aid

Schools

  • Safety/Likely

University of Washington

Swarthmore University

Rutgers

UC Merced

  • Match

Georgia Tech

UT Austin

University of Michigan

University of Maryland

  • Reach

CMU (ED)

Stanford

UIUC

UC Berkeley

Please let me know what my chances are, and whether my reach/match/safety estimates are accurate. Also, should I retake the SAT for the math section, since to apply to CMU SCS, the 25th percentile to 75th percentile scores are 800?

2

You have a good shot at CMU because they are trying to balance out their male/female ratio to 50/50.

Washington is probably not a safety for computer science. It is very competitive, even for a resume as strong as yours, and I don’t believe they have the gender balance issue that CMU has.

Why did you pick UC Merced instead of Irvine or Santa Barbara?

2 Likes
3

Wow. Congrats to you. I love your list but your labeling is wrong. You are very accomplished. But you are going against thousands of others just like you.

If CMU is your definite #1 ED is great. Did you take an ACT / SAT ? I don’t see it.

The Honors Societies don’t matter unless you have activity in them.

What state are you from ? UW not a safety. Add WSU. If in state

Swarthmore is beyond a reach for anyone so it’s not a likely. UCM and Rutgers I agree are safety although let’s call Rutgers as a match as you are OOS.

Your list is very diverse. Why Merced ? Are you from CA ? There are other Ca schools I’d apply to and add Cal Poly SLO.

Your matches are all reaches except maybe Maryland. Ga Tech, Michigan, and UT OOS are all reaches. Maryland likely but not easy.

I like the CMU ED because you are female.

I would look at Purdue, WPI, RPI, and Wisconsin as safety / targets (Purdue a slight reach). Why Swarthmore which is an LAC? Add in Vassar, Oberlin, Grinnell, and Dennison if you want an LAC. The last three are match and safety. You can sub in ASU, AZ, and or Utah for Merced. You’ll get big money.

Good luck.

4

I have a 1560 (780,780) on the SAT, I think it is buried up there. I was thinking of retaking the SAT because of my math score. I ended up making a few silly mistakes and I don’t think it’s representative. I even looked at CMU’s school of computer science statistics and the 25th percentile to 75th percentile score for math is 800. Should I retake it?

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For CMU, you are basically in. Stanford, hard to say, it’s hard for anybody.

6

You got a 780 and you’d take it again? hmmmm - heck no. You are right - i see it up there now.

CMU ED is smart if:

  1. you can afford it - or want to afford it.

  2. and you love the school

Congrats on your record.

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7

Is Caltech test blind… do I stand a chance there. I am OOS for California…

8

She also has a good shot because her qualifications are similar to the few kids (all males) who got into CMU SCS from our school last year.

No. CMU will recognize your math talent based upon your AIME score and other math competitions. They know that SAT math is trivial by comparison. If you didn’t have that, then I would have recommended a retake.

A quick note about CMU culture: Dig into the CMU SCS culture and make sure it is right for you. While it is, IMO, the best CS program in the nation, the culture is not right for everyone.

Are you also applying EA to Michigan and Ga Tech?

Yes you do. A much better chance there than at Stanford. This is anecdotal, but demonstrated interest seems to matter to CalTech. Our high school admits a student to CalTech every few years, and for the most recent one a couple of years ago, CalTech chose the student who visited over stronger students that did not.

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9

I don’t think visits will matter. What Caltech cares is that the student demonstrates her/his intense passion in a subject area s/he intends to pursue and why Caltech is the right place for that pursuit. It also values more the student’s academic fitness and readiness in aggregate than some singular achievement.

10

That’s a fair point; a visit is not necessary for those living far away. But it should be clear why CalTech over say MIT or Stanford.

11

Cal tech is private. Not public. So OOS brings you diversity. It does not have a public mission.

It is test optional. You have a 1560. You submit your test everywhere. You needn’t take again.

12

Caltech is test blind for this year. It won’t look at your test scores even if you submit them.

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I just looked at their website. Thx for correcting. On a previous search I saw optional.

14

Just a few more questions. Thank you so much for your help, it’s already making me feel less confused.

How much does financial aid affect my chances of getting into CMU ED? It would help to get some aid if possible, but I’m not sure how much it would affect my chances.

I know CMU cares about Math Competitions as you pointed out. I was wondering about how much they care about the AMC vs the AIME. Math has been quite an important extracurricular for me personally, but I’m not sure if my scores reflect that - I was happy with my AIME score though, since I did make some silly mistakes (of course I did) on the AMC 12 which made my score sub 100.

AMC 12 A 2021 - 96
AMC 12 B 2021 - 99
AMC 10 A 2020 - 109.5
And my AIME score was above, 6

Once again, thanks so much for the help!

15

You’re a highly qualified candidate,and Cmu ED is decent bet. Their focus on gender balance should work in your favor. These test scores are all in the past, so no point with the hand wringing. Move forward with working on your app and essays.

You said before that money is not a constraint but now you want to know about financial aid.Run their NPc’s to find out. They only award need based aid, I believe.

16

Okay thank you

17

You will be competitive at any school. CMU SCS ED sounds like a good move for you. Yes, CMU is intense, but when I read your stats you sound like a student that would manage that intensity well.

BTW, many schools are looking to balance their class on gender especially in engineering. But, your stats are great- period!

18

I would disagree with the “you are in” thoughts for CMU SCS, with its 7% admit rate and ~1570-1580 SAT average.

My D22’s profile is very similar, though with a 1580 SAT, 12 APs, 3x AIME, and a 4th dan TKD black belt (10 years of study).

She also has two parents and a grandparent with 4 combined CMU degrees, is non-Asian (which I suspect will help), and has been part of the CMU-based competitive math team for 4 years (she could probably get a tip from the US IMO team head coach).

With all of that, I’d say she had a fair but not great chance. I’d put OP in a similar position. SCS is not a sure thing short of IMO medals and similar. Maybe.

Yes, the profile matches students who are admitted. But it also matches the profile of many students who are not admitted. Meeting the average/profile does not mean you are good to go.

19

Yikes. We send 3-4 kids to Purdue every year from our OOS high school with ACT ranges from 30-34. She has an insane resume. I would think a definite in with Purdue.

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Purdue is getting quite competitive in CS, so I wouldn’t classify it as a safety, but I’d say admission is extremely likely.

My D will apply to Penn State as a safety safety, but is pretty confident that Purdue is the backup to the MIT/CMU/Caltech/Stanford reaches.