<p>So, does it?</p>
<p>Yes,</p>
<p>In 2008 two post-graduate students studying at Carnegie Mellon were able to define an algorithm to follow points within a physical boundary. While this project of theirs started at a small level (a table), they were able to expand the physical limits of the boundary to encompass entire city blocks.
As such, Carnegie Mellon now uses a tracker for every individual on campus. Bracelets are handed out to visitors at the University Center, and entering the campus without one is impossible. The bracelets are necessary shields against the electromagnetic force field that surrounds Carnegie Mellon campus (this frees the school from high security fees, now that campus police is now obsolete). The bracelets are also tracking devices, a result of the research done by the graduate students I mentioned earlier.
In addition, leaving campus with these bracelets on leaves the wearers subject to the inverse effect of the electromagnetic campus-wide force field. The bracelets will send an initially weak electrical shock, which then grows in strength in 5-second intervals, to remind the wearer that the bracelet ought to be returned to the University Center and not removed from campus.</p>
<p>So yes, CMU tracks visitors.</p>
<p>I agree completely.
It’s told to visitors that the bracelets are just for labeling purposes but it’s so much more than that. Then again, this is what makes CMU so great! It’s always a disappointment to the students on campus that outsiders don’t know about all the little things that make us love CMU even more.</p>
<p>What the ■■■■■ accounts won’t tell you is that after 5 minutes they release the hounds.</p>
<p>Hah, I actually got a chuckle from the posts. And I love your username cmuonmyface =p.</p>
<p>I was wondering CMU track outside visitors because it would be more of an incentive to visit the college if so, to show greater interest. I didn’t mean it in the sense you interpreted lol.</p>
<p>In all seriousness - yes, they do track visits and campus tour attendance. It isn’t going to majorly affect your admissions decision, but it will not hurt to go to campus and take a tour or sign in at the admissions office. They were discussing having a card-based system this year that would actually give everyone a personal ID number to be used as their “demonstrated interest ID,” but I think they ditched that since I haven’t heard anything about it.</p>
<p>First time I enjoyed the smell of ■■■■■■!</p>
<p>Wonderfully entertaining-- are you writing majors? Awesome.</p>
<p>As Kate said in seriousness-- there’s some line somewhere on the website about “demonstrated interest”. What that may boil down although I seriously doubt it-- the pile of 7000 potential accepts - -but only 6500 can be accepted (yield too high)–umm let’s delete 100 who never emailed, phoned or considered visit. Nah-- not even possible, b/c no can second guest an applicant who is more than a one day car ride for the reason they couldn’t visit.
Multiple visits however would certainly be a positive – showing great interest in the school.
For what it’s worth, and totally an anecdote…my D attended a home town presentation in Fall of Junior year (why not, it was here-- at that point CMU was one of a few dozen schools she was just considering-- and it made it to her # 2 spot), Junior visiting day in Spring and then Sleeping Bag weekend in January of the senior year. (CMU then became her first choice).
Did all the visits help-- I doubt it-- they weren’t even tracking at that point – 2006-2008.</p>
<p>Some schools make a point of saying they have a hard copy folder and save everything an applicant sends down to the thank you notes and other schools say they through the stuff right in the garbage. There was some NY Times article on this last spring-- so entertaining. Princeton saved stuff and tracked extensively-- but most schools didn’t fall for the “games” applicants play with sending TYs, cards, cookies, etc.</p>
<p>Didn’t someone have a thread last year here about sending admissions a well made paper mache of a Melon (Mellon is not Melon!!)…and poster was accepted.</p>
<p>I digress…</p>
<p>Happy Holidays</p>
<p>Haha, the first reply to the question so accurately answered it that I thought my first interpretation might have been wrong. 
</p>
<p>Anyway, YES they do track visits/student interest. If you attend a hometown interest session (make sure you actually sign in at the event) they send you a follow-up a postcard with a code number on it. Then you go to the CMU site and use that number to access some sort of web form. (I think it had a short survey too, not sure.) The code number is only for the interest sessions AFAIK - it’s not something that becomes a permanent identifier or anything.</p>
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</p>
<p>He wasn’t accepted, he ended up attending USC and never posted on the CMU board again. </p>
<p>The “melon” thing annoyed me. It’s the same as sending Cornell an ear of corn or Oberlin a cake in the shape of Berlin. It just demonstrates idiocy and a lack of knowledge or respect for school history. I was kind of happy he didn’t get in. Showing interest by visiting, if you can, seems more legitimate and less childish.</p>
<p>Had he made a plaid “mellon” it might have been better. Was he an art major? I cannot even remember-- though thought he was accepted. Good memory Kate.<br>
The Melon/Mellon thing is an interesting confusion- as the Ellen show had several Tartans buying Mellons last year when she tweeted there were prizes. (D made us watch that one…she wasn’t fast enough)</p>
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</p>
<p>Or rice to Rice. Not that I did that… Although something just as idiotic wasn’t enough to get me rejected there :)</p>
<p>I would like to see an applicant send something in on par with the giant Andrew Carnegie head that was floating in the river for the art festival this summer… otherwise lay off of the gimmicks</p>
<p>Yeah, a plaid mellon or giant Carnegie would have made sense - or even, you know, a papier mache effigy of the REAL Andrew Mellon or something. But he wasn’t even a art major - he was some random major like business or math or something - and it just didn’t make sense on like four different levels. :/</p>
<p>I was told a funny story that a kid sent in an electric circuit that would blink in red letters “I love CMU” in a package. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, CMU admissions only saw wires, a circuit board and blinking red lights…</p>
<p>So, after the bomb squad got everything cleared up, the student was admitted :)</p>