Match Me - Carnegie Mellon

Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • New York
  • Highly Competitive Public High School (School outside t50 are called bad)
  • Male, Asian-American
  • Transferred to top boarding school for a year but transferred back due to family problems, did poorly there (b’s b+'s but also harder classes)

Intended Major(s)

  • Business and Math/Applied Math
    GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.72
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.02
  • Class Rank: School doesn’t rank, probably within top 25-30%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1540 Superscore, 1520 One try

Coursework

  • AP Comp (3)
  • AP Environmental (4)
  • AP Calc BC (3)
  • APUSH (3)
  • AP Physics 1 (3)
  • AP Physics C Mech (3)
  • AP Lit
  • AP Chinese
  • AP Bio
  • AP Gov
  • AP Econ Macro and Micro
  • AP Psych
  • Multi-Variable Calc
  • No lunch 4 years

Awards

  • National Honor Society
  • Chinese National Honor Society
  • National Merit Commended

Extracurriculars

  • Cross Country All-County and 3x All-Conference
    • Junior/Senior captain and 4-year varsity
  • Track All-County and All-Conference
    • Junior/Senior Captain 4-year varsity
  • Wrestling All-County and All-Conference
    • Senior Captian 4-year varsity
  • Co-founded Esports Club
  • 200+ Hours of Tutoring Elementary School Kids
  • 100+ Hours of Tutoring High School Kids
  • Chess Club
  • Mathletes
  • Environmental Club
  • Investing Club
  • FBLA
  • Customs Broker Internship
  • Co-Founded Nonprofit raising money for the homeless
    • $20,000+ in two years with 7 chapters

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Strong Essays
  • Fluent in two dialects of Chinese
  • Proficient in Excel
  • Proficient in Python
  • Proficient in computer hardware

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Will not be applying for financial aid

Schools

  • Chance me at CMU Tepper, Northeastern, Tufts, Cornell, Emory, Harvard, NYU, Notre Dame, USC, UVA
    *CMU Tepper ED
    *Northeastern, UVA EA
    • All other schools RD

I meant Chance Me :smiley:

Transfer was during my sophomore year

You definitely have a chance at CMU. My son was valedictorian and got in but 2 at his high school had wayyyy lower stats than you and him and they also got in. One went but dropped out. The other is in Humanities. I believe their EA is binding so make sure you like it before committing to that status.
Their most competitive programs are CS and Musical Theater.
My son chose not to attend as they give full-pay families zero merit aid. He received a large merit scholarship at the school down the road :slight_smile: Expect to pay the $75K a year if you don’t qualify for financial aid.

The schools you list are likely to be Reaches with a 3.72 and outside the top 25% of your class.

be sure to have some safer schools on your list.

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I have a bunch of safetys including Fordham, stony, and bing

I am more concerned you did not have lunch for 4 years.

Where ever you go, take this senior year to prioritize your health and stress levels, so you are ready to excel. Sometimes doing a little less can have better results. Sometimes nourishing your brain with food and sleep help you perform at a higher level.

You may find a very sustainable and successful existence at a place that is not in T20 or T50. It is a myth that anything less than that is “bad” as you stated is the mantra at your school. Some of those colleges might give you more aid and more opportunities along with a place you can eat lunch and thrive.

Haha, lunch isn’t usually a thing we take at my school. Most kids just try to fit in an extra class. I still eat, just during easier classes.

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My oldest 2 never had a lunch, ate during choir, my other kids had a lunch (with science labs taking up half but they still had 1/2 hour) because they switched to block scheduling. It was hard to make a solid schedule with a lunch.

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I think by the #s these are reaches - but you go to a Boarding School and often times top private schools get far more than their share in - i.e. everyone is a top performer. And you offer things such as two dialects of Chinese which may work in your favor if you can show how it would add to campus.

Since you have backups, as long as you are good with them, sounds like you are good to go.

Good luck.

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