Questions/chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>I'm a junior, trying to put together a list of school I may want to apply that I have a chance at. I really want to go to school in a city, but also have the collegetown feel, so CMU seems like a good fit.</p>

<p>A few questions though?
-If I'm applying to HSS, do I still have to be as strong a math student as the rest of the school?
-I want to study neuroscience, and go on to med school, but I also want to study the humanities, such as Chinese...can I study neurosience or something similar at HSS?
-What's the social life like? I love school and everything, but do people party? What is Greek life like?</p>

<p>Here are my stats-do I have a chance?
Stats:
-Race: White
-Gender: Female
-High School-Public (very affluent, but barely sends any kids to Ivies)</p>

<p>Academic:
-SAT: 2030 (first time taking with little studying, hoping for a 2150+ with hardcore studying)
-SATII-Haven't taken. Will take Math I (but will get a bad score) and US History
-GPA-94.5 UW/99 W
-Rank-1st Decile</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Athletic:
-Track&Field(Pole Vaulting, on track to get scholarship, got injured)-9,10
-Tennis-JV 9,10/V 11,12 (Captain)
-Black Belt Tae Kwon Do-8,9,10,11,12
Academic:
-Debate Team-JV 9/V-10,11,12 (Captain)
-Chinese Club(Treasurer)-11, 12
-School Lit Mag-published 9,10,11-magazine won award 9th
-Barnard Pre-College Program-10,11
Volunteer
-Assistent teacher Hebrew-2 years/2 hrs/wk
-Hebrew Tutor-for children with special needs-4 years 3 hrs/wk
-Volunteer trip-worked in New Orleans Head Start/Rebuilt house in 9th Ward
Work:
-Counselor-10,11,12-counselor for children with behavioral/emotional problems.
-Instructor-Tae Kwon Do-10,11,12
Research:
-Internship with prominent psychologist on attachment theory
-Published paper in medical journal on a systematic review of sleep/growth
Courses:
Hardest Courseload available:
-4 AP's by senior year(most that can be taken)
-6 years of foreign language (Chinese+Spanish)</p>

<p>Hook: Female? haha</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Well, being female isn’t really a hook for H&SS but I can tell you that CMU (especially H&SS) likes well rounded students, so all of you extracurriculars are good. You do not have to be as strong of a math student for H&SS but your scores should still be decent. </p>

<p>I am not sure that CMU has a set neuroscience program, but a lot of my friends that are interested in neuroscience are in H&SS and double majoring with biology and psychology. Being admitted to H&SS your primary major must be in that school, but you are most certainly allowed to double major with others schools (MCS in your case). A lot of CMU students end up double majoring actually.</p>

<p>People do party at CMU, but not as much as at other colleges. There are never any really big parties on weekdays (since everyone cares about academics) but there are parties every weekend. Some of the frats throw a lot of parities and other various groups will throw parties as well. Some of the frats will have invite only lists for big parties though so it’s good to know frat boys to be able to get on the lists. Generally speaking if you join a sorority you will be on the lists though even if you don’t personally know any of the frat boys. </p>

<p>Greek life is actually pretty big on our campus. A pretty large percentage of the student population goes greek and the greeks are very active with the campus hosting many events and things of that nature. I went greek the first semester of my freshmen year and love it. The sororities on campus don’t haze so you don’t have to worry about anything like that if you’re interested in joining. The greek community is very tight knit and supportive of one another as well. I would highly recommend going greek at CMU.</p>

<p>I got accepted into H&SS with a 2140 on my SAT, a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and lots of extracurriculars. You should be fine if you bring your score up a bit. Hope I could help :)</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much! I’m planning on retaking the SAT and I think a score around what you got is reasonable for me. I really want to join a sorority, and it seems like the kind of Greek experience I would want. How many days do people party? Can you have a good social life at CMU? </p>

<p>Also, what are the people like? I think the people are a big part of a school. Are most people(or people in the Greek system) friendly? I’m pretty outgoing and love to be social/party, but really want a great education.</p>

4

<p>People generally just party on Fridays and Saturdays during normal weeks. If we have an extended weekend then there will be more parties. Sunday is generally homework day for everybody that procrastinated and didn’t work on Friday and Saturday. </p>

<p>It is very possible to have a great social life at CMU even though we’re known as more of a nerd school. It’s all of what you make of it and the things you do/people you hang out with. While we do have the CS majors that barely leave their rooms, we also have a lot of people that do go out and do things. If you joined a sorority I have no doubts that you would enjoy the social experience. I know my sorority helped me to meet a lot of new people and gave me lots of awesome opportunities that enhanced my college experience. </p>

<p>From my experience, everybody in greek life is very friendly and we have a lot of outgoing people in our community. Greeks are leaders in all aspects of campus life and you’ll find that a lot of club presidents and other positions (such as RA’s and OC’s) are greek. I personally think CMU is a great school with awesome academics and awesome people. Non-greeks are generally really friendly too. People hold doors for each other and are willing to help each other out. It’s that kind of campus.</p>

5

<p>I would echo everything brightdreams is saying about the social life, for the most part. I’m not Greek, and I still manage to have a social life/go to parties, but a lot of times they still are at frats/sororities. As brightdreams said, a lot of times there will be lists, and if you’re not Greek/not on the list, getting in can be pretty hard. There are also other groups (Fringe comes to mind) that have parties, but again, you have to know someone/be on the list. There also seem to be smaller parties/ones that most people don’t know about affiliated with other groups - that sounds kind of confusing, but for example, my roommate is involved with some theater stuff, and she will go to their parties sometimes, but those tend not to be parties that everyone knows about, just the people involved with whatever activity/organization. In my personal experience, a lot/most of the parties <em>are</em> at frats/sororities. But if you join a sorority, you can definitely find what you’re looking for; I have no doubts about that. If you don’t join, it’s definitely harder, though not impossible.</p>

<p>However, whether you go Greek or not, there are lots of things to do at and around CMU, and there are all kinds of different people with different interests. In general, people are pretty nice - I think most people end up finding a group of people they enjoy hanging out with. And everyone I know who has gone Greek really, really likes their sororities/frats - no complaints about that. Good luck!</p>

<p>EDIT: Oh! And also, I forgot to mention, I’m in CIT (MechE, probably), but I took Chinese in high school and am taking it at CMU. You can definitely still fit in Chinese along with your other classes. However, although I love my Chinese professor, I definitely can’t say I feel languages (or at least Chinese) are CMU’s strength - my Chinese class is okay, but it really doesn’t compare to the program at my high school. Regarding the neuroscience thing, I don’t know much about it, but there is SHS (Science and Humanities Scholars), which is what it sounds like - I don’t know too much about it, but you could look into it. Also, you can definitely double major, as was already mentioned. Additionally, I think there’s a psychbio major in H&SS, which could also have some of what you’re looking for.</p>

6

<p>Guys, thanks so much. You have given me some great information on the social life, and CMU is now right at the top of my list when I apply next year.</p>

<p>But to clarify-I have a decent shot at H&SS with higher SATs?</p>

7

<p>^Definitely - it’s not a guarantee, but I think you have a good shot. The average SAT for H&SS is around 2100 or so, I think? So a little higher SAT would definitely help. </p>

<p>Also, very random, but I read your stats again - I also speak Spanish, Hebrew, and Chinese. I have never met anyone else who knows that combination of languages!</p>