Transferring to CMU SCS

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello community!

I am currently a second semester freshmen at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (CS major) and I’m here to do a little pre-emptive planning. I would like to apply for a transfer to Carnegie Mellon University’s SCS by the end of my Sophomore year. I hear it’s next to impossible, but I want to give it a shot anyway. Here are my stats:

—————————————————————————
High School

GPA (unweighted): 3.6
SAT: 450 Math + 650 Verbal + 530 Writing = 1630 Total

Most classes I took in high school were either Honors or AP courses. This included AP Java (didn’t take the test), AP US History (4), AP European History (4), AP English 12 (3). I didn’t get a 5 on any of them… will this account against me (not counting transferring credits)?

EC: French Club, Pay-It-Forward Club, Class Cabinet, Musical (2 years)
—————————————————————————
College

GPA: 3.8 (fall semester)

I entered as an undeclared student so most of the classes here were Gen. Eds. 16 credits, 6 classes (5 A’s, 1 B). My main area of concern is the B (it’s in an intro to CS course. Yikes!). My second concern is my math course—I’m only in College Algebra (even though I took Calc. in high school, my math placement exams were low) and will be taking Trig./Pre-Calc in the Spring (hopefully taking Calc. over the summer, but I’m still behind considering that CS is a math heavy major).

And finally the elephant in the room—yes, I’m at Pitt’s branch campus because I was rejected from the main campus.

EC: Habitat’s For Humanity, Role-Playing Games Club, small website (I know, not really programming), plan on publishing my first mobile app this Spring, and I’ve begun development on an independent video game (plan to finish before I apply).

UPJ is small and intimate. My Academic Advisor is also one of my CS Professors (also a CMU alum). We’re on good terms so I should have no problem getting a good recommendation.
—————————————————————————

I made a few big mistakes in high school (i.e. only took SATs once, didn’t study as hard as I should have, applied very late) but I’m putting in as much effort as I can to improve. How bad will those SATs hurt me though (I know they’re extraordinarily low, especially for CMU) as an external transfer app? Is it worth taking a second time with proper preparation?

How good/bad are my chances? I have about a year and a half before I apply—is there anything I can do within this timeframe that will increase my odds?

If not, my dad says it would be a better idea to go to CMU for grad school if I’m bent on going there. Any insight on that?

Thanks in advance, and if more information is needed, I’ll be happy to provide.

2

Bump

3

Transferring to Carnegie Mellon is very competitive; they accepted 8% of their applicants overall in 2014-2015, and I’m sure the percentage was lower for SCS. You’re also up against Carnegie Mellon undergrads who weren’t accepted to SCS and who are trying to change their major. Being behind in Math won’t help; most of their applicants will have taken Calculus 1 or 2 during freshman year. As for your SATs, I don’t think they will accept you with those scores, however submission of SATs isn’t mandatory, just “recommended” according to their Common Data Set.

What can you do in a year and a half to increase your odds? Get good grades, make sure you take Calculus, program/complete independent projects, maybe attend a hackathon. I would not put my effort into retaking the SATs.

My question is why are you setting your sights on transferring? You are already majoring in CS, and you describe your school as small and intimate, which might be just the ticket for someone who is a bit shaky in math. UPJ might be a place where you can be “a big fish in a small pond” getting extra attention and opportunities, as opposed to being in an extremely competitive environment where you come up short compared to highly talented peers who are good at “doing school.” You have a good relationship with your advisor, which is important. With the shortage of qualified developers, you have good job prospects even graduating from a less known program than Carnegie Mellon’s. You don’t talk about program cost, but CMU will be costly and not much financial aid available for transfer students.

If you’re set on transferring, maybe transferring to the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh would be easier.

I think your dad is right.

4

Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science is extremely competitive- I am afraid your B in your CS course would prove detrimental. If you would like to try transferring to SCS, try to show your CS acumen through other ways (try to have the video game and/or app ready so you can possibly submit as a supplement to your application).