<p>hey guys, i was looking around the CMU website and noticed that they do offer a few merit scholarships, but there were a few things that i could not find:</p>
<p>1) Hard requirements to be eligible for the scholarships. At harvey mudd, for example, they list required class rank, SAT scores, etc. that you need to be eligible.
2) How many scholarships are actually granted. I remember reading in April that CMU was a bit fickle with financial aid, but is that just need-based or also merit aid as well?</p>
<p>Really what i am looking for is an idea of whether or not i stand a shot at getting ANY merit aid aside from my what, $2k national merit award? If somebody actually HAS received $$ after being accepted to SCS/CIT i would really appreciate if you could post your stats or state what you think got you the cash (like if you are a URM). CMU looks like a great school, and my parents are willing to cover the full tab, but i sure would like to make that as small as possible.</p>
<p>I got a $2000 per semester award from my department (Materials Science & Engineering) after I pestered the admissions office about me wanting to come in as a MSE major and not undeclared engineering (which I wasn't aware all of my friends were).</p>
<p>I don't know if they'd still do something like that since the department has had such fantastic growth over the past few years and they're no long struggling to have 10 people join a year. They're actually toying with the idea of restricting admission into the class!</p>
<p>Well, I'm going to be a Freshman next year, and I got the Judith Resnik Challenger Scholarship. I'm not quite sure why, but here's what the website says about the requirements for it:
* Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
* Exhibit excellence in academic achievement
* Receive exemplary recommendations from teachers and counselors
* Enhance your school or community through personal involvement
* Demonstrate a strong sense of personal integrity
* Apply for undergraduate study to Carnegie Institute of Technology, Information Systems, Mellon College of Science or the School of Computer Science
* Not be a son/daughter of a Carnegie Mellon employee who is eligible for tuition remission </p>
<p>Apparently I fit all of those.</p>
<p>Some stats:
SATs: 760 math / 710 reading / 700 writing (not the best, but pretty good, I think)
SAT II: 780 Chem / 800 Math II
GPA: about 98/100
I did some summer programs, took some college classes.
As for clubs, I was really involved in Yearbook and I went to Science Fairs and such (won some first places =) ). Also was in Chemistry League, Multicultural Club, Girl Scouts (Gold Award! - "enhance community"?), etc.
I probably had good teacher recs, as well. Of course I'm not sure, since I never got to look at them.
Also...I was born in Ukraine (not a minority) and I'm a girl applying to/enrolling at SCS (<-- not as common as guys, I gather).</p>
<p>As it says on the website, this scholarship is half of the tuition, every year.
Actually, I was really surprised when I got the award - I wasn't expecting anything like that at all! I have no idea which part of my application they liked...</p>
<p>I wish you luck in your application process! I'd recommend applying anyway. Who knows why they might decide to give you a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Also I just remembered: On the scholarship letter, it said, "This year we received over 21,900 applications for admission and you can feel proud to be among the top one percent of this highly qualified applicant pool."</p>
<p>21,900 sounds suspiciously like the number of applicants for the entire university.</p>
<p>You need to dig deeper into the site for financial aid. CMU engages in a very intelligent game of Enrollment Management. </p>
<p>Yes, they do give merit aid. They are generous when they need to, and stingy when they don't need to. We found them to quite generous with an EFC=100%, 1/400 class, perfect grades, high level courses. Technology experience, vg recommendations. CMU was however, not as generous as other schools.</p>
<p>I got the Judith Resnik Challenger Scholarship. It is initially half tuition, but CMU will sometimes match scholarship offers from other schools (they raised my scholarship from like 19.5K/yr to 27.5K/yr).</p>
<p>Stats:
-School: CIT
-SAT: 800M 770CR 720W
-SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Math I, 800 Physics, 770 US History
-GPA: 4.27W 4.0UW</p>
<p>thanks for the input guys! I have fairly similar stats, though i am an Eagle Scout as opposed to a Gold Award Girl Scout ;). Basically the difference there i think is that i sold popcorn and you sold cookies lol. Anyways its definitely good to hear that you don't necessarily need PERFECT scores to get in... 670 Wr may drag me down, but i'm pretty happy with 2200 overall. Do you guys know if those awards tend to go out to minorities? I'm a white male so that may be my downfall =/. Also, did either of you receive that scholarship after getting accepted ED, or did you both get accepted RD? I'm still not clear on if its actually POSSIBLE to get merit aid when applying ED.</p>
<p>I got a 510 on my SAT II Writing section, and I was still able to get a bunch of money from CMU (in addition to the $2k departmental amount I mentioned earlier). :)</p>