Senior seeking parental wisdom, accepted EA at MIT, ED elsewhere...

Parent Cafe
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<p>Hi everybody, I'm currently a senior in high school and I'm just looking for a bit of parental wisdom. I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but you all are so supportive that I think it might help, sorry if this is kinda rambly.</p>

<p>I'd been scheming about how to get into MIT since my freshman year. I wanted it so much. I thought about essay topics way in advance, planned out my app early, worked super hard in school, got all the required test scores, and to my amazement, GOT INTO MY DREAM SCHOOL EARLY ACTION. BRAGGING RIGHTS FOREVER HALLELUJAH TEARS OF JOY</p>

<p>..But, they weren't tears of joy for long. See, I had recently visited Carnegie Mellon and fallen completely in love with it. It didn't have quite the prestige of MIT but I was willing to give that up for the security of CMU (I was pretty sure I could get in), and I made the decision to apply ED thinking it would help my chances and give me the security of getting into one of my top two choices, being pretty much tied with MIT. I had already applied early action to MIT at that point (it was very close to the deadline) and heck, I was curious to see if I could get in, and CMU allows other non-binding apps during ED, so I didn't withdraw my app.</p>

<p>Boom. Accepted at Carnegie Mellon and MIT within the span of one day. </p>

<p>I did the right thing. After engaging a bit on the exclusive MIT 2018 facebook page (I'm not perfect), I sent MIT an email saying that I wouldn't be able to go as I'd been accepted ED elsewhere, and sent in my deposit at CMU.</p>

<p>Now, I love CMU. But I had dreamt about MIT, it had been this unattainable goal for me... I don't know, I might have picked CMU over MIT in the end anyways. But I made the decision for myself long ago without even knowing it.</p>

<p>I'm really excited about CMU, but it's hard to give up how close I was to MIT. I think the real reason I want to go to MIT is superficial though (prestige, my ego, sense of accomplishment, being around the smartest people ever) while the reasons I want to go to Carnegie Mellon are more real (environment that I really liked, clicked well with professors I met, loved the classes I sat in on and the dorms I saw and the people I met). </p>

<p>I had this dream the other night that I called up CMU and cancelled and went to MIT. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't schemed ways to somehow go to MIT... but I don't even know if I want to. I think I just want the option to bask in the glow of being an MIT admit without immediately having to give it all up.</p>

<p>I'm rambling... sorry. I don't even know what I want out of responses, support? Advice? Guidance? I really do love Carnegie Mellon and I'm super excited. But... MIT. Sigh.</p>

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<p>Go be a star at Carnegie Mellon and then MIT for grad school! Best to you.</p>

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<p>That’s what I was hoping… I’ll still be MIT material in 4 years, right? :)</p>

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<p>The other possibility is to apply as a transfer student in a year.</p>

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<p>I always say “Have a dream life not a dream school”. </p>

<p>CMU chock full of opportunities. I have a close friend who did his undergraduate at CMU and PhD at MIT where I met him. A lot of people do that. </p>

<p>There is nothing worthwhile that you can’t accomplish by excelling at CMU that you could have accomplished by attending MIT.</p>

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<p>CMU is a great school. Congratulations.</p>

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<p>What college at CMU are you going to?</p>

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<p>You made your choice when you ED’d. Now you just know you would have had choices. That’s ED buyers remorse. Maybe you should have withdrawn the app. Oh well, water under the bridge. Enjoy college.</p>

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<p>Unless CMU is unaffordable after applying financial aid, your ED application there indicates that you will attend if admitted.</p>

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<p>Transfer or grad school.</p>

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<p>Everyone, I know I’m attending CMU. Not trying to weasel out, just wanna vent a bit I guess. I’m going to the college of engineering, and thank you for the support everybody! I don’t think I’ll try and transfer but that’s solid advice as well.</p>

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<p>Also I want to emphasize how much I love CMU. I wouldn’t have applied ED if I didn’t. This is the best kind of conundrum to have, and Carnegie Mellon is an amazing school as well. It’s not as prestigious as MIT, but… hey.</p>

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<p>yayitsme123,
There is a regular poster on CC whose son attended CMU. He chose it over Harvard. CMU is a great school for many majors.</p>

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<p>^That makes me feel better :D</p>

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<p>Since you have 2 great choices, spend some time on both campuses. Since both colleges are good in engineering, there is no bad choice. Look at the classes, talk with students. You will have a different perspective as an admitted student than you had as an applicant. (I had my son do this for grad school, and we visited colleges after admitted.)</p>

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<p>I’m the Mom of the kid who chose Carnegie Mellon over Harvard. He was in computer science so the decision really did make sense. My son really flourished at CMU in way that I don’t think he would have at Harvard. (He’s just not that into being well-rounded.) I loved Pittsburgh and they are doing some amazing work at CMU. There’s something to be said for going to the underdog school - they really do try harder. </p>

<p>I know it’s hard to put aside the MIT dream, but as others have said, you never know it may be there for you further down the road. My nephew wanted to go to MIT and didn’t get in. He had a fabulous experience at Rice. Got into MIT for grad school, but preferred Berkeley. After two years his professor moved to MIT and he had to go too - rather to his disappointment by then!</p>

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<p>Calling CMU an underdog school for someone interesting in studying engineering/CS would sound quite odd to engineering/CS folks I’ve known and worked with. </p>

<p>While Harvard has a much more pedigreed status on the street, among engineer/CS folks, it’s CMU which is considered top dog when compared with Harvard. </p>

<p>For them, they’d find it odd if a student keen on engineering/CS who was admitted to CMU and Harvard turned down CMU to attend Harvard. Saw this on display when a HS classmate did turn down schools like MIT to attend Harvard for engineering. </p>

<p>As for CMU and MIT, it would be a harder choice as they’re both considered top programs and thus, one can’t go wrong with either for engineering/CS.</p>

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<p>Congratulations on being admitted to 2 excellent schools! That said, why do you think that MIT has some magic which is absent at CM? Maybe high school students and the average Joe on the street think so but in the CS/Eng world CM is certainly worthy of bragging rights.</p>

<p>If you will definitely be going to grad school, by all means keep applying to MIT in your plan but thinking about transferring at this point is crazy. Revel in the experience you will have at CM; it’s not anyone’s “underdog school”.</p>

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<p>Alright this is all really reassuring thank you everybody! :)</p>

<p>Part of it is that I <em>don’t</em> usually interact with engineering/CS types, everyone I know is a teenager (therefore impressed by MIT) or is pretty unrelated to those fields, so I guess it’s just an after effect of the environment I’ve been in lately.</p>

<p>Thanks so much people. You’re affirming my already there love for CMU :D</p>

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<p>Carnegie Mellon is a wonderful school for tech people like you. I think you’ll find that it’s a great fit for you.</p>

<p>Decisions about ED are difficult, and sometimes people find themselves in awkward situations when the results come in. You didn’t necessarily do anything wrong; you just found yourself in a situation that you didn’t expect. </p>

<p>But it’s not a bad outcome – not at all. You’re going to be going to a top academic school that’s very well suited for people with your interests. And that’s what matters.</p>