<p>a little background: chinese. I immigrated here when I was 10, no exposure to English before that. so keeping that in mind......</p>
<p>stats:</p>
<p>sat- 620 (v) 680 (m) 610 (w) (10/12 essay)
act- 30 (29 english, 33 math 27 reading -_-'' 32 science 10 essay)
sat ii- took us history 620 ( i didn't really enjoy that topic). will take math ii and chem in oct. expected to be 700+
gpa: 3.8 ish
school rank: the high school got rid of this thing. good/bad?</p>
<p>AP's:
ap euro(4) apush (3) ap stats (4)
i will take ap calc, ap physics, and ap chem.</p>
<p>ec:
piano~12 years- i passed all the piano exams (given by the state) up to level 10 (11 levels total) with perfect scores. i passed 4 levels of music theory exams (also given by the state) with strong schores (6 levels total). won 4th place in jr. young artists(all the kids from grades 8-9 in the state)state competition in 2003.
flute~5-6 years. principal flute player in the highest ranking band in my high school.
clubs: link leader.math team.business professional of america.yes (volunteer service club).asian culture club.
jobs: currently employed at Chin's Asia Fresh as a cashier. </p>
<p>i want to apply ED for Carnegie Mellon (either Institute of Tech. or Tepper school of business) is it a real big stretch??</p>
<p>others on my list:</p>
<p>u of minnesota ( most likely Carlson School of Management ) - in state
Carleton College
u of wis madison</p>
<p>open to other suggestions.</p>
<p>AND ALSO, WOULD ANY OF THESE COLLEGES MAKE ME TAKE TOEFL???!!!!</p>
<p>any appropriate input is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>CMU will probably require the TOEFL. Do you think you can redo those SAT's and oh.... get an 800 on the math sections (it's actually easier to get an 800 on the SAT2 Math Level II test than the SAT1 math section)? Your english scores are quite good. Maybe CMU will take a 620 instead of making you take the TOEFL...</p>
<p>Of course you don't really need the 800's, but they would help your chances significantly. If you impove your SAT scores by 30-40 points per section and keep your GPA at a 3.8, I would give you a 70% - 85% chance at CIT. I don't know about Tepper....</p>
<p>It seems like you have been in the us for at least 8 years unless you skipped multiple grades. Therefore, you probably don't have to take TOEFL. No offense, but I know kids that came to the US later and have better scores. I think you may have difficulty getting into CIT/Tepper.</p>
<p>i know my sat's are low. especially math. i screwed up by not flipping a page during a section.... so i know i can do a lot better, but the problem is i won't have time to retake the sat i again if i want to do ED. bc i must take sat ii's. </p>
<p>can i just sent in my act scores? or does sat i and sati ii come together?</p>
<p>I think you can take SATII in October and SATI in November and still make the ED deadline, though you won't know your scores before you send them.</p>
<p>i got into regular decision chemE @ CIT w/ 620 verbal, 790 math, 780 math 2c, and 750 chemistry.. i'm an immigrant also.. the admission lady told me that CMU wants you to take toefl IF your verbal is below 600.</p>
<p>Ephemeral, I think you have a very good chance at getting into CIT if you raise your math scores. Tepper has less than 20% acceptance rate so will be much harder and you would probably need an all-around improvement. Nonetheless you can apply to both and will be considered independently for both.</p>
<p>Also I am almost positive you cannot have a school receive the November SATs in time for an early decision.</p>
<p>"You may apply early decision without having taken the required SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with Writing or SAT Subject Tests at the time of submitting your application; however, you should request that the test results be sent directly to Carnegie Mellon as soon as they are completed, but no later than December."</p>
<p>So I think you're fine with November test dates, as long as you have the results sent directly to CMU.</p>
<p>i think ill retake the SATi again in nov. even if it's for the sake of other schools ill be applying through reg. decision. </p>
<p>other questions:
-suggestions on good safety schools/alternatives.
-does CMU (and other colleges) cherry-pick sat scores? bc i can not promise a better score on cr or writing.................</p>
<p>You will probably have an easier time as an ED student. As a regular applicant to either CIT or Tepper, I think it will be hard for you. A good alternative for Engineering would be a school like RPI or Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>Ephemeral, I see that you mentioned the University of Minnesota above. I think that would be a good safety school for you. </p>
<p>RPI is slightly less selective than CMU, but I wouldn't classify it as a safety. Your stats are probably about even with their average stats.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd would definitely not be a safety. It may not be well-known on a national level, but it is a very selective school. I think as a prospective engineer, Harvey Mudd, if anything, would be harder to get into than CMU. Unless you apply early to Harvey Mudd, I think it would have to be considered a reach school. (The average SAT there is about 1450.)</p>
<p>Best of luck and feel free to ask any more questions you might have.</p>
<p>i recently scheduled a campus visit and an interview with CMU (i hear this might help a little as well...)</p>
<p>and since i've never attended these interviews before, i was wondering if someone could give me an idea of what it's going to be like, what kind of questions are they going to ask, what would they ask parents (bc they don't speak english that well..) and... what to..wear? ^^</p>
<p>Technically CMU says you don't need to dress up for interviews (I think), but I'd suggest not wearing holey jeans and whatnot. If you're male, a pair of khakis and a polo shirt would be appropriate, or a pair of slacks and a button down shirt if you want to be a bit nicer, and if you're female try a pair of black pants or a cute knee-length skirt and a nice-ish shirt.</p>
<p>I think that CMU asks general questions about your life, like the extracurriculars that you participate in and what you do in your free time. They will ask if you have any questions about CMU, and I suggest that you have a few in mind.</p>
<p>Most of all, just relax and try to be yourself!</p>
<p>Also, as far as other schools to apply to- what are you looking for in a school? Size, location, campus culture... any preferences?</p>
<p>thanks krazykow!
i like medium to small size schools in a suburban location. no rural and no big city for me. and for all out of the state schools, i look at mostly private schools. lately i've also developed an interest for wellesley college, can anyone tell me more about what they are known for? and if it is also far far reach for me..?</p>
<p>I think you should post a bit about your interests, attributes you want in a school, and some of your stats on the parents board and see what they suggest.</p>