<p>I want to go for either Computer Science or Astrophysics.</p>
<p>Ok, I am 16 and a entering Junior in HS, so I am going to try really hard to land a 4.0 my last 2 years.....since I ****ed up my freshmen year with a D in Spanish and my Sophomore year was meh with 2 As and mostly Bs.</p>
<p>Next Year I am taking AP History(only AP Course available) and Honors everything else except English(I SUCK at writing,but am EXTREMELY well read) and either Web Design(the only computer class my school offers)</p>
<p>My Senior Year I am aiming for AP Biology, AP Chemistry,Physics and AP Calculus if I can....But I may need to drop History(REALLY EASY) and Spanish(Leaving me with only 2 years or up to Spanish 3 which most schools REQUIRE) But I MAY need to drop one science.</p>
<p>Band while important presents a new problem...The teacher doesn't give As...I get Bs...
On the Sophomore PSATs, I scored 65s across the board for a score of 195.</p>
<p>I have taught myself in C++ and Java. I also educate myself on Physics and Astronomy
I love science and I get excited a science and technology...It think my personality is perfect since I simply love to learn.</p>
<p>Please I am willing to do almost anything to get in....
CMU is one of my dream schools, though I am not to fond of northeast weather since I am from RI and I know how it is.</p>
<p>CMU computer science is a very tough school for entry. There are kids with perfect math SATs there, many of them. Unless you have an excellent record in terms of advanced math courses and top test scores, you are going to find it rough going. My suggestion to you is to apply to other schools of CMU as well, such as Humanities and Social Sciences, or the business school, Tepper. You can apply to as many as you wish. You can then use your electives to take the same courses as comp scie majors. If you do well in those courses, you would have a good chance at transferring to that major. They are difficult courses, and many kids do not do well in them.</p>
<p>You can also apply ED which is binding early decision to CMU comp sci and regular to the other schools within CMU. Talk to the admissions director at CMU and let him know how you feel. But comp sci and information systems are both difficult schools there for admissions.</p>
<p>So I would apply to to the Computer Science school?
You are telling to apply to Tepper, but that is in the top 5 buissness schools in the country.
How would I get in touch with the admission director</p>
<p>Rice is nice, but it is one of the toughest schools to get into in the country, even harder then CMU.</p>
<p>Also, I am slight less picky about the Astrophysics programs because it is simply one of those majors that requires graduate school because they only you find are with NASA,a NASA contractor or a University.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Early Decison has been known to give you a small edge in admissions to schools such as Carnegie Mellon. Use it if you can afford it.</p></li>
<li><p>What school are you applying to? I suggest MCS from the looks of it, which would be a bit easier than Rice. SCS and Tepper are both harder than Rice, however. </p></li>
<li><p>Apply to MCS/HSS for your best shot. If you get rejected from MCS, you can still attend HSS and try to transfer to MCS later on (or SCS which is harder)</p></li>
<li><p>Tepper is arguably the most selective school at CMU at the moment. You are not studying business, so don't bother to apply there. If you can get in there, you can get into MCS (if you can dodge a car, you can dodge a ball!)</p></li>
<li><p>From your record it would seem SCS would be a stretch and MCS is iffy, but you do have a chance for MCS/HSS. Can you give more information on your rank, gpa unweighted/weighted, real SAT score, etc?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>With all that said here are 2 routes to go </p>
<p>Safe route: Your GPA seems average from what you described so the safe route would be to ED MCS as your first choice or put MCS as your first choice and enter through there while putting HSS as your 2nd choice.</p>
<p>Riskier route: ED and put SCS as your first choice with MCS 2nd and HSS 3rd. You can choose not to ED but SCS would be quite a reach. Having mostly B's sophomore year makes you dependent on your junior GPA. Your senior GPA helps but only half of it is seen and it is not as important as your soph/junior years. If you get even Half A's and Half B's for junior year, I would forget about this riskier route and go with the safe one. If you pull a 4.0 or close to it, then you can go for this route. Again, it also depends on your real SAT scores so please see below for advice.</p>
<p>Conclusion: Iffy at the moment. Post again with updated stats after your junior year. If you have more questions feel free to ask. Make sure you knock out junior year and get a good SAT score. Good luck!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What do you mean afford it? Does it cost more?</p></li>
<li><p>Either SCS or MSC....Does MSC cover physics or electrical engineering? </p></li>
<li><p>I really don't want to do HSS..If I request a transfer they will be like ***</p></li>
<li><p>I don't plan on it. I was responding to cpt</p></li>
<li><p>Sadly I can't. We don't get our GPA or estimated rank until end of junior year.. My GPA for this year is roughly 3.2-3.3 Unweighted or 3.5-3.6 weighted.Which do they normally ask for?Note that is from doing the going down my report giving As 4.0s and Bs 3.0s.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I should be in the top 25 if I can bring my grades up out of a class of roughly 175. </p>
<p>I have not taken the SATs yet....That is a lie. I actually took them in officially in 7th grade I believe.. That was for a John Hopkins thing, not for college.</p>
<p>Also if I did ED, I would have to apply in November giving me 1 term of grades for my senior year.</p>
<p>I am taking the SATS in both junior year and senior year if that matters</p>
<p>Also when I apply to say MCS and SCS for ED, do I pay to apply for both?</p>
<p>Ok I am REALLY worried about spanish, I suck at foreign language?
I notice many schools want 2 years, recommend 3.
Would it be best to stop at 2 if it will hurt my grades?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No, it doesn't cost more but Early Decision is binding which means you have to go. Therefore you can't really compare financial aid from other institutions.</p></li>
<li><p>MCS covers sciences such as biology, chemistry, and Physics!</p></li>
<li><p>Don't apply, just check the SCS and MCS boxes.</p></li>
<li><p>I know, just clearing it up.</p></li>
<li><p>CMU like most schools look at both unweighted/weighted. Currently you are a bit at the lower end.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You don't have to pay twice for applying to more than one school. You simply check the boxes and let the adcoms know which school is your first choice and which is your second. </p>
<p>I think CMU requires 3 years of language so you may be stuck there and it recommends 4. I don't know if this has changed but I would post on the message board or check the site. I might do it for you but I'm off to work right now. If it does indeed require 3, you must take another. If it only recommends 3, you can skip it but I would still try to do everything CMU recommends since your GPA is currently quite low (even for MCS). </p>
<p>Again, I would say to wait until you get more information and then come back and update us with your hopefully improved GPA, SAT, rank, etc. Currently, MCS would be a reach with a 3.2-3.3 UW and 3.5-3.6 Weighted. The average rank for MCS was 5%, might be lower this year and even lower when you apply.</p>
<p>If you apply ED, you can only apply to one school. And they probably give you a crappy financial aid package, because you're obligated to accept it.</p>
<p>I don't think CMU requires 3 years of foreign language, it's probably 2 years at the most. I took 3 years of Spanish. I was considering only taking two, but my counselor talked me out of it.</p>
<p>You can apply ED (there's two, Nov 1 and Dec 1), and then fall through to RD if you don't get accepted (automatically? Don't know. Talk to an admissions person). On your RD, you could apply to MCS, CIT (engineering school), and SCS. You actually have to talk about why you want the major you want in your supplement essay, so applying to MCS without talking about sciences wouldn't work.</p>
<p>If you write a really good essay, and have really good recommendations, and good SAT scores (SAT II too of course!), you have a decent chance of getting into MCS or CIT (SCS if you're lucky).</p>
<p>I've never been clear on the "X years of foreign language" if they mean high-school level or not. Like so many other school districts out there, mine started with language in eighth grade. I took German then, ninth, and tenth grade, and stopped there because I was so abysmal at it. Didn't have a problem getting into any of the schools I applied to.</p>
<p>Awvvu: Untrue, common myth though it would make logical sense. ED applicants tend to get just as good if not better financial aid than the rest. Waitlistees usually get the worst. It is all relative on how strong a student is. CMU is generous when it has to be and stingy when it doesn't have to be. Plenty of ED students had their needs met and exceeded if CMU wants them. I was one of them.</p>
<p>scs is tough...like really effing tough. You see those kids that everyone holds to be geniuses of the school/most technically proficient people you have ever met start failing assignments in the more advanced programming classes. It's a sad and scary sight to see. And you better be pulling close to perfect SATs and definitely have a lot of programming experience as well as some sweet internships to get in with a poor gpa into scs.</p>
<p>I would love to go to CalTech for graduate school....What was your final GPA and honors..etc.?
I I go the Physic route, I'd LOVE to go to Caltech to work at the JPL
You do any work at the JPL?</p>
<p>I'm a grad student in Materials Science. I don't know how many grad students work at JPL, though my girlfriend did interview there earlier this year for a job. She said most people there have a Masters degree, and there weren't as many PhDs as she thought there would be.</p>
<p>I finished CMU with around a 3.6-3.7 and a semester early. Summer of freshman year I worked in a local company's R&D labs, sophomore summer I worked for a professor at CMU, and junior summer I got an REU at UC Irvine. I know all of my recommendations were pretty top-notch since I did really good work for all three people that wrote me recommendations. I got a 620 Verbal, 730 Math, and 5.5 on Writing for the GREs. I don't think I would have gotten into the physics graduate program here, because that one is considerably more competitive (nor would I have wanted to, since I like MSE and not physics!).</p>
<p>I think JPL does a lot more applied research than most groups here at Caltech seem to do, as they're actually building satellites and doing stuff, while most other groups here seem to be very involved in theoretical work.</p>