Hey, this is my very first post here and I hope I don’t get anything wrong, but this issue has seriously stressing me out. I wanted to make this post to see if there is anything else I can learn about CMU’s School of Art, specifically for Design and Art. I feel like looking online usually leads me to either general CMU discussion threads for its engineering/compsci programs, or its school website which I’ve already looked at way too much, probably.
If anyone can answer the following questions or even just give their take on it, it’d be much appreciated!
-Do they generally care more about the student’s portfolio, or their stats?
-Do they favor more pieces to have more quality technical-wise, or would they prefer to see originality/practicality/creativity?
-How is the competitiveness of the program compared to other art schools like RISD/MICA/Parsons? The acceptance rate seems significantly lower, but so does the total applicant pool.
I think I had somewhat decent pieces, but stats-wise I know the fact I’m a pretty inconsistent as a student could hurt me significantly. My super-scored SAT is 1490 (780 RW, 710 M), but there isn’t an upward-going trend, and it actually dropped down to 1360 once. I wasn’t feeling well at the time, and adding that on top of my already inconsistent test-taking tendencies ultimately lead to this disaster of a test.
I’m also not doing great academically in the sense I’m doing really poorly in one of my core classes (like, definite outlier type of poor.) My GPA is currently a 3.72 weighted by 0.5 (taking full IB courses/diploma in a private international school). Overall, my student profile looks really bleak, but I do think I have a few positives as well; my essays, (at least, in my opinion) were well-thought out and relatively original if my counselor is to be trusted. My TOEFL scores are fine (119), and I plan on doing the IntialView interview in a few days. I’m never really one to get nervous about interviews/speaking about myself, so I’m not too worried about that going wrong, either.
I also have decent letters of recommendation, in particular one from a professor I worked for outside of school. My activities aren’t anything special, but the vast majority of them are creative and demonstrate leadership abilities, as well as engagement with the community around me.
The reason I’m even applying to CMU at all is because I genuinely want to experience and learn art in an environment that makes it a point to foster the connection between art and STEM. Many of the works in my portfolio demonstrate a good degree of awareness in current events, ethics, philosophy, as well as imaginative thinking. Talking about my ideas and my works have always been my strongest point. I also believe I’m fairly strong (though not God-tier) technical-wise. I attended a well known precollege program (not CMU’s) in the summer of my sophomore year, and received all A’s.
It’s honestly pretty scary seeing other ‘chance me’ posts on this forum with students who have stats so much higher than I do (of course, it’s also a self-selecting group), but it didn’t stop me from applying, so it’s not going to stop me from making this post either. If anyone has any advice, or simply want to talk about CMU school of art, please let me know!
Also, if you want to see some of the pieces in my portfolio/are willing to show me some of yours, just send me a message! 
