<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Here is some information about me:</p>
<p>Graduation Year: 2010
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
State: Oregon</p>
<p>School: Small international school
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)
Class rank: 1 out of 20
SAT: 2400, 12 essay
ACT: 35 composite, 8 essay (I think most schools will disregard this in favor of the SAT score?)
SAT Subject Tests: Math 2, Chemistry, Biology (I plan to take these soon)
Courses: IB diploma candidate</p>
<ul>
<li>IB English HL</li>
<li>IB History HL</li>
<li>IB Biology HL</li>
<li>IB Math HL</li>
<li>IB Chemistry SL</li>
<li>IB Mandarin SL (I've heard that this makes my application unique... does it?)</li>
<li>(IB) Theory of Knowledge</li>
</ul>
<p>Recommendations: At least good, probably pretty good.</p>
<p>Extracurricular activities:</p>
<ul>
<li>Model United Nations - 4 years - Founder, President/Ambassador all four years</li>
<li>Student Government - 3 years - Founder, Public Relations Officer</li>
<li>Boy Scouts - 7 years - Eagle Scout</li>
<li>Jazz Band - 3 years</li>
<li>School Newspaper - 2 years - Founder, Editor-in-Chief</li>
<li>Interact Club - 1 year - Founder, President</li>
</ul>
<p>Awards:</p>
<ul>
<li>National Honor Society</li>
<li>Eagle Scout</li>
<li>AMC 10/12 school winner - 3 years running</li>
<li>National Merit Semifinalist (projected - PSAT 223)</li>
</ul>
<p>This summer, I will be working at a renewable energy company. I will also be working as an intern at Portland State University, researching solar energy.</p>
<p>Please give me your honest appraisal for my chances for admission at CMU. Thank you!</p>
<p>After you get past a certain score level/GPA, I think it all comes down to whether they think you are a good fit for their school. </p>
<p>Chance? Yes. Shoe-In? I dont think so. Also, although you believe yourself to be “excellent” (which I would never call myself, i like to shoot higher always), Carnegie Mellon receives many “excellent” candidates from which to choose. So, dont assume you are in everywhere you apply, ey?</p>
<p>But, I am impressed about the company. You never really hear <em>anything</em> about that around here. Caltech might also be an option for you, I think they tend to be more numbers-oriented, but I’m not certain.</p>
<p>You have an excellent chance at getting in as long as you don’t come across as pretentious.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input! I’m sorry for any misunderstanding - I didn’t mean to come across as pretentious. I used “excellent” in the thread title, in reference to my test scores and GPA. I’m not so sure about the rest.</p>
<p>True, your GPA and SATs are perfect. Are you aiming for any ivy leagues? You probably have a decent shot. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Yay for a fellow Oregonian! You have an excellent shot at CMU considering your stats are amazing and your extracurriculars are decent. The research at PSU will also really help you. I knew some people that did research there and they all got into great schools.</p>
<p>@kate10662 - Do you live in Portland? What school?</p>
<p>^I won’t say what school I go to (this is college CONFIDENTIAL after all) but I’m in the Beaverton School district. Are you attending ISB? And to further my post, I think that you’re almost a shoe in. Just show that you want to go to the school, and you’ll be admitted.</p>
<p>@kate10662 - Yeah, I go to ISB. Crazy school.</p>
<p>haha, with those grades, i’d go to IIT (one in india). No offense meant, we have a bunch of PhD students who did their undergrad in IIT, and they’re amazingly smart.</p>
<p>@despair - Yes, IIT is an amazing school. My dad went there… he says the entrance exams are killer. When he was applying, the acceptance rate was less than 1%.</p>
<p>unless ur trying for computer science, u really have a close to 100% chance of getting in if not possibly getting one of our scholarships as well. I dont know why u’d be worried, and I would probably be shooting either for Stanford/Caltech (if u wanna stay west) or some of the awesomely exclusive programs at some schools like the Jerome Fischer program at Penn.</p>
<p>If you take out the perfect SAT, this is a pretty bland app. (Yes, a perfect unweighted GPA is still bland.) The only special thing on there is the Eagle Scout.</p>
<p>(Okay, I don’t know if the summer jobs are special – I know next-to-nothing about them.)</p>
<p>When I first visited CMU two years ago, they told me that 70% of applicants had the grades and had the scores. You’d best work hard at making yourself stand out from them in your app, because it does not come through in this post.</p>
<p>(Yes, an SAT 2400 does not stand out from a pack of SAT 2300s. It certainly helps, but not by a huge amount.)</p>
<p>(I also find it interesting that an IB school in America with no AIME qualifiers exists.)</p>
<p>Haha, and I remember at the admissions tour guides they make a specific point to say that “We did not accept 12 students who had perfect SAT scores…” Just be yourself. And make sure you go to the school that exemplifies your traits… For example, if you don’t take pleasure in work and real problem-solving, CMU is not in your heart.</p>
<p>It all depends on how you show yourself on your application.
READ: Don’t make your application as arrogant and pretentious as the title to this thread!</p>
<p>Secondly, I really don’t see why you’re so worried. You know you have the test grades, you know we know you have the test grades…
You need to seriously chill.</p>