@binky66 May 15th.
i got in from the waitlist. Idk if I am going. Will do research then decide.
1470 past 34 ACT 3.9 GPA.
Has anyone heard anything else?
I havenāt heard anything back from SAMS, not even an email shows Iām in waitlist.
Just got accepted off the waitlist today
@Shivspy
Did you find out through email?
Trying to see the pros and cons of the SAMS program.
Need advice from someone who attended this program in the past or someone who knows about the followingā¦
As per the curriculum of the program, it says apart from STEM program they also help in SAT prep and also give Career advice
1)How rigorous is their SAT prep? Does it really help in getting top score?
2)What kind of career advice they give? Does it help in preparing for college admission?
3)Which science courses are offered?
4)Which computer programming or computer science topics are taught in the program?
5)This is a STEM program. If I decide to apply to other major say business, will I get benefit from this program?
6)Does this program help in admission to ivy universities or at least to Carnegie Mellon when I apply to colleges?
Hello, I was actually accepted this year. I donāt know everything about the program yet, but I can answers your questions as best as I can.
- Based off of statistics I received from Carnegie Mellon, their standardized test prep (which helps with both the ACT and SAT) on average raises your score about 120 points on the SAT and 4 - 6 points on the ACT. The reason is not because the prep is bad, it's because, based on the schedule I was sent, we are only going to have 12 standardized test sessions, two sessions per week, each one being an hour and 45 minutes long. However, considering that most of the students accepted already have scores in the 1250+ and 28+ ranges, those points are likely all they need and more. Since it is an average, your score, however, would depend on how much you soak in from the sessions. So your score increase could be higher, or lower, than the average score.
- I believe we're going to have a lot of opportunities to get college and career advising. They've made it really clear that we are technically CMU students for the time being and that most of their services are open to us. Based off of my schedule, we're going to be having two opportunities (Assembly and Group Advising) through the program each week to get help and advising. I would not be able to answer the second part of your question, but I would imagine it'll definitely be a great help as they are among one of the top engineering and performing arts colleges in the country. We have the opportunity to meet their professors and get advice from them, get advice from our resident dorm advisors, and likely lots of other places on campus.
- They have not told us exactly what will be offered other than Physics will definitely be offered. Other science classes such as Chemistry, Biology, and even Biochemistry will be offered if enough people want to take it. But based off of the SAMS group chat I'm in, a lot of us are taking Physics.
- I'm pretty sure it's going to be about Java, but it's just speculation at this point. If it is about Java, then it may be similar to AP Computer Science A.
- It could help, programming especially, but it really depends on how much of science you can stand. AP/EA is similar to SAMS, also through Carnegie Mellon, and would allow you to do more business-classes, if accepted. AP/EA, however, costs more to go to if you don't apply with the diversity application. If you do and get accepted, you'll likely receive a scholarship to attend.
- Based on what I heard from a SAMS alumni who is now at Carnegie Mellon, it shows demonstrated interest in Carnegie Mellon. Based off of a 2009 statistics, 83 of 800 students who went to SAMS several years prior got into Carnegie Mellon. 2 of them got into MIT. Some say it helps, more than others.
Hopeā this helps!
I think the article said it was 9 MIT and 9 Cornell, not 2 MIT
Those were the two most common Ivy League/Top 10 schools. And the article said that 9 SAMS alumni matriculated. So Iām assuming closer to 15-20 SAMS alumni actually got accepted. And we donāt know how many applied, do the accepted percentage could be as high as 20% or as low as 10% realistically.
@daffyduck414 Yeah, through email
Hello! Iām actually the guy that teaches the SAT/ACT prep course for SAMS. Iāve been teaching the course in one form or another since 2008, and Iāve been teaching test prep for almost 20 years.
What ak2018 said is mostly accurate. The test prep we do is geared toward high-performing students who are looking to maximize their scores. While we do some content-oriented triage at the beginning, the focus is on test strategy and knowing yourself as a test-taker. Although weāve had score jumps as high as 200 points, using average score increases as a measure of our success is problematic because, as ak2018 pointed out, many students are coming in with good scores already, so their score increases tend to look less impressive.
Thank you so much for your detailed reply.
Do you know how many students got accepted or know anyone who got accepted into CMU after doing SAMās program?
Sorry ak2018. I see that you already replied about statistics of acceptance of SAMās students.
@nasphome Youāre welcome.
@ak2018 I will be attending the program as well, can I be added to the GroupMe still?
Hey, this might be a stupid question, but how do we log out of our account? I donāt see any option 
My son was admitted to SAMS for the summer of 2018 and I was wondering how many of you that attended in 2017 applied that fall of 2017 for admission in 2018 and were accepted. Those of you that were accepted, did you apply Early Decision or Regular Decision?
(My son has been admitted to SAMS for the summer of 2018 and I am wondering what kind of an impact it will have on his regular admission chances)