Race: White
Gender:Male
Do not need any financial aid
EC’S: Fairly decent. Some business oriented EC’s, such as an internship over the summer (at a big company) as well as business clubs in school for all 4 years. Also I have won many Italian awards. I also have numerous leadership positions as well as many other community service experience as well as work experience.
I would be applying from NJ… I would most likely interview and possibly apply ED 2, as I know the ED acceptance rate is higher.
Grades and scores are OK, financial situation irrelevant at CMC, but you don’t make a compelling case why you should be admitted instead of hundreds of others with similar stats.
ED status might be helpful, but it would be much more useful to wow the admissions staff with a brilliant essay, a compelling explanation of why your ECs are important and relevant, and a great interview. I don’t see passion for CMC in what you’ve posted.
@HSAnon1997 How does my UW GPA show in any way that I haven’t challenged myself enough? You could say I haven’t challenged myself enough by not taking enough AP/Honors classes, but I don’t see what UW can really tell you.
Your measurables get you into the game, and ED1 would improve your chances.
Clearly define your more substantial ECs, write great essays, and (hopefully) hand in strong letters of rec, and that might be enough to get in. No guarantees, of course.
I agree that you are in the ballgame. But remember lots of applicants with your numbers (and better) get rejected. You need to stand out and only you (and those guiding you) can make that happen. As for ED, I agree that you have a better chance than with RD; keep in mind that if you strip out the hooks (most athletes and very connected alums) who get in on ED, the acceptance rate if marginally better than RD.
@SternBusiness I don’t think anyone can reliably predict your “chances” at a highly selective school. If you love the school and definitely see yourself there, then you should apply ED (1 or 2). With your stats, you have as good a chance as the next person. And that is saying something. Your SAT scores are exceptional; your GPA a little less so but still great. Your ECs I’m sure will be polished to show your strengths. The only thing you lack is some high school sports. That’s not a negative necessarily, but it is something they like to see, even for those who don’t express a desire to play at the collegiate level. The reason for this is two-fold: it shows competitiveness and desire in a non-educational field; and they know that a small but significant number of those high school athletes who don’t express a desire to play at CMS will eventually get the “bug” and play (and play well). This happened when I was there and certainly continues to this day. CMC takes their athletics seriously. It’s the most proven way to get in with great (but not ridiculous) academic marks. And as I mentioned above, committed athletes really skew the ED acceptance stats. It would be nice if the admissions office took those out of the stats to show the true ED acceptance rate.
CMC is a fantastic school, and I do not want to dissuade anybody from applying.
In the interests of “keeping it real,” however, I feel compelled to point out that just playing a HS sport is unlikely to boost your chances. At our high school, in this past year alone, CMC accepted three applicants…and each one was a RECRUITED athlete; i.e. they were chosen to play a varsity sport AT CMC. Being a high school athlete in itself is not a particular draw for CMC when they already have to use so many athletic slots for their own varsity selections. Find another hook.
These athletes also had impeccable stats, fyi, so I hope this doesn’t start the chorus of how the athletes don’t deserve their spots.
I do agree with @prospect1 to a degree. I’m not saying Stern’s got a “hook” on athletics because he plays varsity and club sports. I’m just stressing that it makes him look better as an overall applicant.
Also, while it’s true that admitted athletes have wonderful stats, it’s also true that most would just be another “face in the crowd” if not for their status as an athlete, and would not have been admitted without that hook. There’s a reason why CMC won’t release any info on the admission stats for admitted athletes and why they won’t give the “real” and “unhooked” number for ED admission. They won’t do it because they perpetuate the fantasy that ED gives the applicant a significantly better shot than RD. In truth it is a benefit for those unhooked applicants who are truly amazing and who just want to go to CMC period. That’s a relatively small group; most of those amazing students wait for RD to weigh their options and scholarship offers.
Again, I don’t want to keep beating the drum, but it would be nice to see a breakout of ED stats so applicants can get a decent idea of what the real chance is. The typical “middle 50%” statistic is completely misleading and just does not tell the applicant enough to know their real chances.
@84stag, more information is always better, yes. It would be helpful for applicants to know the real ED stats so that they can determine if it’s worth their time and effort to apply.
Re: athletes at CMC, remember them at CMC is an absolutely tiny college that fields as many teams as other colleges. If it did not slot spots for athletes, it could have trouble fielding these teams. So it needs to make sure it has an incoming class that can fulfill its athletic needs.