So I am currently a junior in high school I am really interested in carnegie mellon, specifically because I know they have a great economics and computer science program. however, after doing some research I found that if you want to do computer science at carnegie, you have to apply directly to that school which has a much lower acceptance rate. Is this true? or can I just pick computer science after I am already in the school?
Hi OP. It is true that at CMU you apply to a college. More precisely, you apply to three colleges and you rank them in terms of preference. So, for example, if you were to apply next year, you might apply and state that your three preferences are (1) SCS (Computer Science), (2) Tepper (Business / Economics), (3) Dietrich (Humanities / Social Sciences. You could be admitted / waitlisted / rejected to any or all. Here’s a real world example. One of my kids applied RD to (1) CIT (Engineering), (2) MCS, (3) Dietrich. They were admitted to MCS and Dietrich and waitlisted for CIT. Hope this helps.
As @kaukauna mentioned, there are separate colleges within the university. For regular admission, you can apply to up to three (ranked by preference). But for early decision, you can apply to only one.
Once admitted to the university you are allowed to take classes in the other colleges (in fact it is encouraged), but students in a particular college get preference when picking courses from their college. Students from other colleges sign up on a space available basis.
Transferring from one of the other colleges into CSC is difficult for several reasons. First, there is a minimum GPA requirement for transferring. Secondly, transferring is contingent on there being space available (which given the demand is unlikely). And lastly, the BS in Computer Science degree has a significant number of required courses, many of which have prerequisite courses, which (because of space availability mentioned above) are next to impossible for someone outside of SCS to get into. For example, in addition to regular programming courses freshmen in SCS are required to take a course in parallel programming which is a prerequisite for sophomore level courses.
SCS is one of the most selective schools in the country with an acceptance rate of about 5% (interestingly CMU’s drama school acceptance rate is even lower at 3%). You should not think that because the rest of the university has a somewhat higher acceptance rate that there is an easier way into SCS. Apply directly to SCS if that is what you want. Many have tried (and failed) to sneak in the side door.
Great answer jrm815.
but if you ED you have to choose one school. Furthermore, to put things into perspective. SCS is around 6%, CIT is around 16%, ISS is around 10%, MCS is around 20%, Tepper is around 18% and not sure about CFA but that is pretty low due to the amount of applicants and the very few number of spots.
An additional caveat, inside the school of Engineering there is a smaller quota for ECE major only so you actually need to specify if you want ECE and not mechanical or materials engineering etc. The admission rate for ECE is somewhat lower than CIT, the 16% apparently. You do not need to list three schools if you are unwilling to attend the third school. We know students who list only one school for RD. It depends on your interests and other college options. Not everyone is willing to let CMU tell them what to major in. Good luck.
It IS possible to double major in ECE and CS at Carnegie Mellon if you are admitted to ECE. There is overlap on the core for ECE and CS. I asked an ECE professor about this, and he said it is done, but not easy in four years. Also the ECE department does not want it to be a “back door” to CS degree. So you should have interest in electrical engineering, if you accept an offer to study ECE.