Once upon a Chance...

Colleges & Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>**Special Circumstances: In my junior year of high school, things were pretty rough at home and I ended up living on my own (paying rent, working, and taking 4 APs) in order to be able to stay in my school and escape the turmoil. </p>

<p>First Generation College Student
Gender: F
Location: Florida
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.75
GPA - Weighted: 4.20
Class Rank: top 25% (My school doesn't weight class rank, if they did I would be in the top 10 percent. It is also an Academic School of Choice, not just a public school).
Class Size: 120</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 620
SAT I Critical Reading: 700
SAT I Writing: 710 (with a score of 12 on the essay)
SAT II Literature: 650
SAT II U.S. History: 730</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Drama (All 4 years)
Thespian Honor Society
Academic Competition Team (senior year)
National Honor Society (2 years)
National Art Honor Society (1 year)</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
AP Scholar with Distinction
Academic Scholar Letterman
Brevard County Medal for Academic Excellence
Thespian Superior Performance Ribbons</p>

<p>Community Service:
Tutoring A LOT</p>

<p>AP:
APUSH (10th): 5
APEuro (11th): 5
APLang (11th): 5
APgov (11th): 4
APmicro (11th): 3</p>

<p>Current Load (most rigorous):
APCalcBC
APLit
APHumanGeo
APCompSci A
AP Psych</p>

<p>I'm undecided on my common app essay, but I excel at writing so it will be good. </p>

<p>Recs: A teacher that I've had many times is a graduate of Caltech with a PHd from Upenn, and he is a former professor at Upenn, the Wharton MBA program, and Emory. He wrote an amazing rec for me, and I happen to be one of his favorite students. Other than that, another of my teacher is a Carnegie Alumni and said that she would be happy to write me a rec (she suggested it to me in the first place).</p>

<p>I'm applying to the College of Arts and Sciences, where I want to major in Culture/Politicsish stuff and go on to become an international lawyer.</p>

2

<p>Sorry, made a booboo. I’m applying to H&SS…heh.</p>

3

<p>erm…bump :)</p>

4

<p>youre a reach my friend…</p>

5

<p>For CMU I don’t think you’re a reach. Mention your special circumstances…did it affect you? I think it might have.</p>

6

<p>Um, I fail to see how basically raising yourself while taking very difficult coursework and maintaining high grades and somewhat high tests scores makes you a reach. For SCS, I’d say you’d be a low reach-- but H&SS seems like a definite fit for you! That’s amazing that you paid the rent and got good grades at the age of sixteen/seventeen. :)</p>

7

<p>For H&SS the middle 50% for the admissions statistics are:
610-710CR 640-730M 610-700W 11%rank 3.50GPA
[Admission</a> Statistics](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>

<p>So you are on high end for CR, a little low in Math, top 25% in writing. Your rank is fine, especially if your GC mentions that there’s no weighting and the school is selective. Your GPA is above average. You’ve taken a demanding course load, and I assume someone (if not you) will talk about your hardships. All in all you look like a good match to me. Admissions for H&SS is about 30%, so you aren’t a sure bet, but you’ve got a good chance. Better than 30% I think.</p>

8

<p>^ Concerning that data:</p>

<p>The GPA should not be looked at as much as the rank. Basically the middle rank is 11% and the op is at 25%, of course if the HS is top notch then this may not necessarily be a bad thing. They will probably take out stuff like Gym and whatnot and look at the core classes only. </p>

<p>Also, you may want to look at the 2008-2009 class, as the most recent one had even more selective data and applicants. I would agree with mathmom that your chances are around 40-50%, perhaps a coin toss.</p>

9

<p>Wow guys, you really gave me some great insight on my chances…I appreciate it very much.</p>

<p>I’ve decided that my essay will be about the day I moved out, and how powerful my feelings were as I transitioned from waking up in the hostile, constraining environment that I was in and going to sleep in a free and ‘chill’ environment. Basically, it will focus on that one day, and my conclusion will sum up the events that followed. On the whole, it should be very powerful both philosophically and emotionally. </p>

<p>Will the rec from the alumni have a pretty strong impact on my application…or does it not matter too much?</p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

10

<p>Maybe your stats are a little low for CMU, but not by much, esp for H&SS. I do think, however, your compelling real-life circumstances make you a different kind of applicant. One with an atypical, probably mature, perspective on life. Write a good essay and I think you’d match up well. Your idea sounds great…they won’t get many like that. Good luck.</p>