<p>here are my stats:</p>
<p>HS graduation year: 2011
UW GPA: 3.5
Weighted: 3.8
SAT Composite: 1940
(should i take SAT II subject tests?)
Took 3 AP classes-- AP Biology, AP English, AP Calculus (i'll take these during my senior year, since my school didn't offer any before then) </p>
<p>EC's/awards:
Played JV tennis for 2 years, varsity tennis my senior year
Academic Spell Bowl team -- state finalists all 4 years, regional champions 3 years
Math team
National Finalist for 2 years in a row in a neuroscience competition
National Finalist for 2 years in a row in a public speaking competition
National Finalist for 2 years in a row in a essay writing competition
Marching Band State Runner up -- freshman year
Speech team for 2 years
National Society of High School Scholars
National Honors Society
FIRST Robotics team for 3 years -- won a regional championship in 2009 (had leadership position)
VEX Robotics team for 2 years -- won a regional championship in 2009
Rocket Club
Vice President of Chess Club
Played violin for 6 years, performed at various concerts</p>
<p>Volunteer Activities: (total = slightly over 100 hrs)
Assisted my tennis coach in coaching small children
Assisted my tennis coach in his adult tennis classes
Volunteered at a local hospital
Assisted the Salvation Army </p>
<p>i was looking at upitt's and carnegie mellon's neuroscience undergrad program. i live out of state. which of the two do i have a decent shot at?</p>
<p>i don’t think you have a shot at carnegie mellon. try upitt.</p>
<p>what do you think my chances are at upitt?</p>
<p>Pitt does have around 30% out of state students so I can’t see that being too much of a detriment although it would probably have helped a tiny bit to live in Pennsylvania. As to your chances for Pitt, I would say they are quite good. I know a lot of people that were accepted with scores and grades below that from my school. </p>
<p>I’ve just done a little research on Pitt’s Honors College. Only 20% of the 2009 entering freshman were eligible to enroll in the HC, but the average SAT I score was a 1447 which is very high for a median. In fact, there is a general cutoff for their HC - you need to be in the top 5% of your class and manage a minimum of a 1400 on your SAT or a 32 on your ACT. Since you haven’t met this minimum requirement the HC looks very unlikely. I don’t know your class rank, but already you’d have to raise your SAT. Pitt, HC or not, is a terrific school though. </p>
<p>On the subject of Carnegie Mellon, I think it would also be a long shot. You have nice ECs, but I think that if you really wanted CMU you’d need to apply early decision. I would take the SAT over again, but here another dilemma arises. You would be applying to the Mellon College of Science which requires two SAT subject tests: one in either Math I or Math II and another in either Biology, Chemistry, or Physics. I mean you can take them in October, but the limited time that you have left yourself would probably only let you take them once (although some schools early decision programs will allow you to send November scores via rush delivery). So, you’d have to really study up and would only have one maybe two attempts at two subject tests. Having said that, I wouldn’t even apply to CMU if your SAT isn’t raised by a nice margin. This really boxes you into a corner where it’s one or the other. </p>
<p>Frankly, Carnegie Mellon is a high reach that I don’t know if you could surmount for all the reasons stated above. The University of Pittsburgh has a terrific biology department which I can only assume reflects very well on the Neuroscience program as well. I hope that I have helped you out on your college search.</p>
<p>were the people you know that got accepted into uofpitt pennsylvania residents? i know that my grades are pretty good for uofpitt but i’m just wondering i have a decent shot even though i live out of state. would you say i would have almost guaranteed admission if i applied to uofpitt via early decision or early action?</p>
<p>Yes, they were in-state when they applied. Pitt also doesn’t have Early Decision or Early Action because it’s rolling admissions - it’s a state related school so it is pretty much categorized as a public school. I think you have a good chance as it is. I remember reading that something like 56% of the freshman class was in the top tenth of their class. Would you also fall under this category? Also, if I were you, I’d be preparing for the October SAT to try to bump that up to 2000+.</p>
<p>i rank #44 out of 208. which is top 25%. what is rolling admissions? do they admit year round?</p>
<p>Ummm, to some extent. Rolling admissions has a start date to when you can submit your application, let’s say October 1st, and anytime after that you can submit your application. That is up until the cutoff point which is probably in early spring/late winter. So, if you apply in October, you’ll get your application back within a month probably which allows you a sense of satisfaction as you don’t have to wait, and it also allows you to submit other applications depending on the outcome. It’s typically for large public universities.</p>
<p>yeah that’s definitely an advantage.
would i still stand an above average chance at uofpitt even without being in the top 10% of the class? i’ll definitely try to bump up that SAT score though</p>
<p>Simply put: absolutely! If anything, your ECs make you stand out a lot more than the people I know who applied to Pitt. And with fairly solid stats, you’re more likely than not to get in.</p>
<p>OP, CMU and Pitt offer cross-registration for courses. You could go to Pitt and take some of your coursework at CMU. </p>
<p>For rollling admissions, apply early. Don’t wait until the end of the application window.</p>
<p>Pitt is a lot cheaper, and frankly, it has a bigger reputation in Neuroscience in general. It has one of the oldest and best [undergrad</a> neuroscience programs](<a href=“http://www.neuroscience.pitt.edu/]undergrad”>http://www.neuroscience.pitt.edu/) in the country. Not that CMU wouldn’t be excellent for someone interested in neuroscience, but its area of expertise in the field is more on the computational side, drawing from its expertise in computer science. Pitt also has a vastly larger [neuroscience</a> community (the CNUP)](<a href=“http://cnup.neurobio.pitt.edu/]neuroscience”>http://cnup.neurobio.pitt.edu/) than CMU. That said, Pitt and CMU are so collaborative, a lot of the professors are adjunct at the other institution (physically, the two campuses actually abut and overlap) and the two schools jointly run the [Center</a> for the Neural Basis of Cognition](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/]Center”>http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/). In general, CMU is more selective and has a better reputation in technical fields including engineering, computer science and robotics, as well as fine arts/theatre arts. Pitt has the stronger reputation in anything health and bioscience related as it has a top med school and its internationally regarded med center (UPMC) is right on campus. It is also well regarded in several humanities such as philosophy and english. With all that said, it is very likely that you could work in any lab at either school, so the choice is mostly one of personal preference, cost, etc.</p>
<p>BTW, Pitt admissions does not care if you are out of state. They won’t say it, but it probably actually helps your cause for admissions and scholarships as they seek to recruit geographic diversity. Pitt’s numbers for fall of 2009 were and average SAT (CR+M) of 1274 (Pitt superscores and does not look writing) and 51% were in the top 10% of their class.</p>
<p>my SAT math + cr = 1320. but i’m ranked 44 out of 208 in my class. which is top 25%, not top 10%. would you say this is a match leaning towards a safety?
i checked pitts stats and only about 30% of admitted applicants are out of state.
i also have a feeling that the university’s best department would be really competitive for admissions, but i’m not sure…
would you say i have a good shot at this college?</p>
<p>I’d say Pitt is a match. You’ll probably get in, but what you would probably need to improve things for merit scholarship concerns. Being out of state is a plus for you (although how much of a plus depends on how underrepresented your particular geography is in Pitt’s student body…generally the further away the better). Your out-of-state status will not negatively affect your Pitt application at all, it will only help.</p>
<p>I don’t think your interest in any particular undergrad major offered within the School of Arts & Science will effect your admission at all. (someone currently at Pitt may want to comment on that further though because I’m not there) If you were interested in Nursing or Engineering, that will effect things because those schools have separate admission goals. In any case, if you are worried about them having too many applicants interested in neuroscience, just put another major. You don’t have to declare a major right away. You aren’t locked into anything. But honestly, I doubt indicating neuro as an interest for a major would impact your admissions. You don’t apply to the department, but the school.</p>