Please Chance me for CMU!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
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<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 800 Math, 730 CR, 760 W (2290 total)
ACT: projecting 34 or 35
SAT II: 780 Math II</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.74</p>

<p>AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Biology, AP World History</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
9th Grade:
- Medalist in regional solo and ensemble festival (regional)
- Top 1000 MMPC in Michigan (state)
- Nominated for NYA “Youth of the Year” award (regional)
- Congressional Recognition for Community Service (national)
- House of Representatives award for Volunteering (national)
- Oakland County Award for volunteering (regional)</p>

<p>10th Grade:
- Medalist in regional solo and ensemble festival (regional)
- Honorable Mention All-State Jazz Bassist by judges on MYAF committee
- Top 1000 MMPC in Michigan (state)
- 6th place in North South Foundation essay contest (national)
- 12th place in North South Foundation public speaking contest (national)
- Named to Academic Honor Roll (school wide)
11th Grade:
- Honorable Mention in Young Voices short story contest, published story(national)
- Top 1000 MMPC in Michigan (state)
- 236 PSAT, National Merit Finalist</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Orchestra (Bass section leader 9-12)
-Jazz (lead bassist 9-12)
-Pit orchestra (lead bassist 9-12)
-Orchestra Committee (chair, 10)
-JV Tennis (9-11): 2nd doubles, conference champions (individually+team), top team in the state
-Relay for Life team (co-captain 9-12)
-Model United Nations (numerous conferences)
-run a personal engineering blog (>4000 views)</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:
- Data Analyst at Pharmaceutical Firm (9-11, 40 hours a week in the summer)
Volunteer/Community service:
-Lots and lots</p>

<p>Essays:
Teacher Recommendation: Should be fantastic
Counselor Rec: Ditto
Additional Rec: One from my boss at work (should be good)</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major: engineering(?)
State (if domestic applicant): MI
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: >300,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

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<p>BTW- my gpa without freshman grades counted is 3.90</p>

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<p>Some fine credentials you got there. Let me put this in perspective. I got into CMU with a 31 ACT and a 570 Math 1 and 560 physics. 3.8 UW GPA. Where I excelled was my EC (internship at arch firm, massive deal as it was college interns Only but I beat them out), my essays, my rec’s, and my interview. What helped me was that I feel CMU realized I wanted them, and they wanted me. I’m a very extroverted person. I love meeting new people. I had the qualities for architecture. I wanted to live and breath it. I want to create the ‘next big thing.’ I showed ambition. They realized I’m the type of student who will succeed in the major I’ve chose and I’m determined. We were a fit.</p>

<p>So let me ask you, why are you a for for CMU? What do you have that others don’t? </p>

<p>You have the grades, you have the EC’s, you have everything. Based on that, you’re in, definitely. But perhaps ponder that question I posed.</p>

<p>Good luck :)</p>

<p>(PS- sorry if I come off a bit eccentric, it’s 2am and I’m studying for an AP Calc BC test ^.^ optimization and related rates… How fun).</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for the reply! Any other thoughts? What’s cmus merit aid like?</p>

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<p>CMU doesn’t really offer merit aid - it is almost entirely need-based. The one exception to this is the Carnegie Scholarship which is awarded to “talented middle income students who qualify for little to no need-based financial aid.”</p>

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<p>Assuming your AP scores are good (4-5 range), I’d say you have a very good chance of getting in to CMU. Schaef is right about the merit scholarships - most top schools don’t give much in the way of merit. They might offer merit scholarships for National Merit Finalists, saying that a lot of schools that don’t offer many merit scholarships do offer several for that. I’m not sure about that though; since I will likely ended up only being commended, I never really looked into it.</p>