Hey! CMU is one of my top college choices, and they rank demonstrated interest as “important”. I live on the West Coast and my family is unable to fund a trip to CMU for an overnight weekend, but some steps I have taken to show interest include emailing admissions rep, going to visits in my area + high school, applying for their diversity fly-in program (Travel accommodations for celebration of diversity) and I will also sign up for an interview. I will not be applying ED, but what are some other ways I can show CMU my interest to remember me in the RD pool? I go to a school with a lot of students interested in CMU, though very few are applying to the schools I’m interested in (Either Dietrich or Fine Arts or Theatre, yet to decide)
Thanks!
My son (currently a freshman) just did the local alum interview, applied regular admission, and got into Dietrich. After acceptance he visited overnight, and they subsequently raised his merit offer. So, certainly doing the interview is enough for some. He did answer the optional essay question on the application about what he learned from his interview.
For Theatre I think you would need an audition – so in that case you may need to fly in. But, I am not particularly knowledgeable about that process.
Note that if you do get a chance to visit and you are applying to Dietrich, make appointments with the department you plan to work with. The professors appear to be very accessible to prospective students.
@friendfiend, all of those things are great. You are right that CMU tracks interest and does place weight on that. I also was told by an admissions person there that they even track how often you visit their website. Yes, for theatre I do believe that you will need to audition in person. My son graduated from the Design program in 2016 and I do think it helped him get in because he showed them a lot of interest.