RD SCS or ECE at CIT? Please Chance :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>Alright, theres 5 days left before my Cornell ED comes back and i'm not too confident on being accepted atm. So, CMU is my second choice but I've heard crazy things about the selectivity of some of their schools. Three questions: based on these stats, do I stand a chance at SCS, ...ECE at CIT, and if I label ECE as the 1st choice, would SCS even be considered for me as my #2?</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA(u): 3.75, GPA(w): 4.300, rank:14/360 (top 4%) I have taken the most rigorous course of studies my school offers 4/4 years</p>

<p>Best (not super) SAT1: 800M 720CR 690W
Best SAT2's: 800 Math2, 800 Physics</p>

<p>Other scores
SAT1 760M 670R 630W
SAT2 - 790 Math2 (I'm crazy... i know), 780 Math1, 740 Physics ,710 US History</p>

<p>AP's: Stat(5) Calc AB(5) Physics B(5) US History(4) Calc BC() Comp Sci() Chem() Physics C() Music Theory() i took/am taking all of the corresponding classes</p>

<p>Extracurricular:</p>

<p>Leo Club President - community service (50 hours total) - 4 year member
Quiz Bowl Captain - 2 year member
NHS Technology Coordinator/Webmaster - 2 year member
FBLA Webmaster - 4 year member - 3rd Place Tech Concepts and Parliamentary Procedure at States
Film Club Vice President - 4 year member
Latin Club - 4 Year member
40 Hours working with a boy with special needs
20 hours playing music at Alzheimer's home
3 years JV Tennis, 2 years XCountry, 1 year Marching Band
Several compsci, Latin, technology awards
nominated as finalist for Gov School (engineering)... didn't get in
other minor activities/awards/achievements on resume</p>

<p>My engineering essay is strong and relates computers to brains. Nobody reviewed my common app essay, but both my teacher recommendations showed i am a good student and passionate about technology.</p>

<p>**2 side questions: would CMU let an CS or ECE student take a neuroscience class (need to know for my essay conclusion)? and Is there any chance of them reviewing my online portofilo (has some musical recordings) if it is mentioned on a resume i upload under additional info on the common app?</p>

<p>THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR RESPONSE IN ADVANCE! JUST MENTION YOUR CHANCE POST AND I WILL CHANCE BACK!</p>

2

<p>If SCS is your true passion then make it your first choice. Just remember that you must talk about both schools in your essay. because SCS is so competitive I can’t really say if you have a chance or not. However, I think you are pretty much in for CIT.</p>

3

<p>wow really? as a hs senior i have interests but no set lifelong passion yet… both computer hardware and programming interest me, so my real goal is to find the best overall program i can get into for either. i can’t believe those stats are considered “in” for ECE, but i’ll take your word for it and most likely just apply to CIT (and keep my essay strong). any other opinions? can CIT students take neuroscience classes? i cant find info on this on their website…</p>

4

<p>no no no please apply to SCS. You are a strong applicant and they won’t mind if you split your essay half CIT half SCS. If you look at previous threads people apply to 3+ schools, mention them all in their essay and they still get into all three. Also, I believe you can take whatever you want as an elective but I would call just to make sure.</p>

5

<p>You really might consider doing your homework so your essay reflects a sincere interest and knowlege of the school.</p>

<p>CIT and any engineering school have electives…you might first see if there are any in the catalog of interest or faculty doing related research- that would be important to your essay.</p>

<p>[First-Year</a> Students](<a href=“http://www.cit.cmu.edu/current_students/first_years/]First-Year”>Page not found! - College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University)</p>

6

<p>The last 2 posts (steelers and mom) are dead on. Every school you apply to gives you one more shot at CMU. It does not make you a stronger candidate to only apply to one school. If you look closely at all of the schools, you may easily find a major in each that you are interested in. Write a paragraph about each school you are applying to, or they may not even consider you for that school. Good to research the majors and mention what you’re interested in. Why would anyone just go for one shot when you could have up to five? That is, if CMU is a top choice for you. Even if you don’t get into your school of choice, you can easily double major and often change schools (tougher for SCS, but possible if you do good on certain courses).</p>

<p>It is really hard to predict SCS or ECE, but often they accept people to CIT-(not ECE) but then you can take the weeder courses and get in that way. People do change their majors, as SCS and ECE are pretty tough.</p>

7

<p>I think you should apply to both schools (i.e. ECE/CIT and SCS).</p>

8

<p>Each school will admit (or not) based on your merits. You need to write a convincing little essay about why both ECE and SCS interest you. That shouldn’t be too difficult. While some high school seniors know exactly what they want to do, most only have a general idea, and that’s okay. Don’t play games with what is more or less selective, just put your choices in the order that you now think are right. It’s fine if you can see yourself at more than one of the schools. SCS even makes you minor in something else so having an interest outside of SCS is probably a plus.</p>