Especially for Parents
Thank you for considering Carnegie Mellon! We know that helping your child choose their “home away from home” is not an easy one and we want to help put you at ease. We hope that we can help reassure you that Carnegie Mellon is the academic, diverse and inspirational environment for your child to learn, grow and prepare for real-world experiences.
› Our Site, Your Perspective
› What Do We Want to See
› How to Prepare
› Timeline for Preparation
› How to Pay for College
Our Site, Your Perspective
Below we've highlighted pages on our site that we don’t think you should miss as a parent of a college-bound student. Take a look around and discover Carnegie Mellon from your perspective. A link to this page is located at the bottom of every page in the site so you can return here easily.
↑Back to top
What Do We Want to See
Every applicant is an individual. At Carnegie Mellon, we select our admitted class from a group of many very qualified candidates. We don’t use calculations to select an admitted class of freshmen. Calculations can’t take into account all of the factors we like to consider when making admission decisions. No single grade, factor or score will automatically gain or deny you admission to Carnegie Mellon. We treat every applicant as an individual, taking great care to make our admission decisions fair, thorough and sensitive. We’re interested in students who can be successful at Carnegie Mellon, while taking full advantage of all the university has to offer and enriching our campus community.
We consider a variety of factors. The majority of our candidates are admissible and could be successful at Carnegie Mellon. We use a variety of factors to select prospective freshmen from those admissible candidates.
Academic and Artistic Potential
Our admission process is designed to select a highly talented, diverse undergraduate population from among those who will succeed at Carnegie Mellon. If your daughter/son is applying for academic programs, their high school performance will be the main factor in our admission decision because it’s the most meaningful indication of your abilities. We pay close attention to their curriculum rigor, the grades earned and the work they have accomplished. We’re interested in seeing that they challenged herself/himself within their secondary school environment. If they are applying for programs in the arts, their artistic performance will be either the main factor or a significant factor (depending on the program) in our admission decision.
Standardized Tests
Standardized test scores add to our knowledge of your daughter’s/son’s ability, but we don’t make decisions simply on the basis of test scores. The high school record and standardized test scores (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with Writing and SAT Subject Tests) work together to make up the academic portion of their evaluation.
Activities, Jobs and Other Interests
Their non-academic activities, including extracurricular accomplishments, part-time jobs or hobbies and community service also play a very important part of the admission process. We also consider leadership, motivation, out-of-class recognition, community and volunteer service and other experiences when making admission decisions.
Our students make Carnegie Mellon an exciting campus. The positive qualities and diverse experiences you bring with you will enrich our community. By looking at this non-academic information, we develop a sense of a prospective student’s personality, motivation and sense of responsibility.
Interest in Carnegie Mellon
By showing an interest in learning more about Carnegie Mellon, an applicant can enhance their application. We strongly recommend that your daughter/son and you have a campus visit, which adds a personal touch to our evaluation.
Other Personal Information
Because we want to have a sense of who your child is as a person, we look closely at the essay and personal statement the student is asked to write, a guidance counselor’s evaluation and a teacher’s recommendation.
↑Back to top
How to Prepare
In preparation the for application process to Carnegie Mellon, you should first be aware that there are many documents that students are required to submit before an application is considered complete. A review of an application cannot be completed without all required documents having been received by the assigned date. It is essential that your daughter/son familiarize themselves with these required documents. The late submission of required documents can significantly hamper our ability to provide them with a timely decision.
Required Documents
- Common Application
- Carnegie Mellon Common Application Supplement
- Carnegie Mellon Supplement Essay
- Common Application Essay
- Secondary School Report (from Common Application)
- An official high school transcript
- Teacher Recommendation
- Official SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with Writing results and SAT Subject Test score reports (if applicable, see Test Requirements and official TOEFL or IELTS score report (see International Applicants).
Please note, Carnegie Mellon uses the Common Application exclusively. You MUST submit the Carnegie Mellon Common Application Supplement before your application will be processed by the Office of Admission.
| Tartan Tips | If your daughter’s/son’s application review requires an audition or portfolio/project review, confirm that they scheduled this portion of the review by visiting our scheduling Web site.
Make sure your daughter/son begins preparing their application materials well in advance of the deadline. Be sure to give your counselor and teacher(s) ample time to write their letters of recommendation!
Be certain to make copies of all the documents submitted in case something is mishandled or misplaced!
Submit all required documents by the stated deadlines. Call our Office of Admission well in advance of the deadline should you have any difficulty in completing the application.
If the Office of Admission notifies your daughter/son that something is missing from their application, be certain to respond in a prompt and timely manner by submitting the missing documents. Applications cannot be considered (and are eventually rejected) if we do not have all required documents. |
|---|
↑Back to top
Timeline for Preparation
| Tartan Tip | Before preparing your application materials for Carnegie Mellon, please familiarize yourself with our deadlines and available majors |
|---|
January
Get ready... get set... go! Your child’s college search process is off! As a parent, this is one of the most exciting times you can share with your child. However, with all of the excitement comes much trepidation, as the process can be very overwhelming. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be! We hope to guide you through the next year and a half with some tips and advice to help make the process more comfortable for all involved.
One of the first things as a parent that you need to think about is your role in the college search process. While you do know your child better than we do and can offer much in the way of helpful advice, it is very important that you let your child take ownership of this process. After all, this is their future that they are planning for and you are there to help encourage and support them through the process. Please allow your child to experience and search for colleges and universities that you are concerned might not fit their needs; it is invaluable that your child come to these conclusions on their own so that they will know what they want out of a college or university. However, your continued support throughout the process will help them to realize that you really do want what is best for them!
February
This time of year is a great moment to initiate conversations with your child to see if they have started thinking about college in general. You might be surprised to hear that they have already met with a guidance counselor or started their college search. If they haven’t, that’s fine as well; there is plenty of time left.
If your child seems unenthusiastic about the college search process, don’t panic! A lot of times students feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Fortunately, you can assist your child by asking some basic questions about what they want out of their college experience. Questions like “will you be most comfortable in a small, mid-sized or large college?” or “are you seeking a very specialized education or one more broadly based” can help to limit the scope of a student’s search. It would be a good idea to make sure that your child keep this information somewhere handy so that they can add to it as they think of other questions that might be relevant to their search.
March
Now that your child may have a better idea of what they would like out of a college experience, this would be a great time to start talking about subjects that they might want to study. A helpful starting point is to talk about what your child enjoys in school. Does he/she enjoy math and science or are they more comfortable in the humanities and arts? By taking an inventory of their talents and interests, your child can begin to understand what academic areas they would be particularly well suited for. Help your child out by asking about their favorite subjects, talents and hobbies and discussing how these might lead to a choice of college major.
April
Now that your child has a good handle on the things that they want out of a college experience, it’s time to start the actual search! One of the best places to start any college search is the Internet. There are many search engines that your child can use to find colleges and universities that fit their criteria. Guidance counselors and college admission counselors can also provide a host of resource materials for your child’s college search.
Virtually every college and university in the world has a comprehensive Web site for visitors to peruse. Many schools have “web cams,” virtual tours and tons of pictures for your child to get a good idea of what that school looks like as well as plenty of information about their programs, clubs, activities, campus life, housing, dining, the city and community (to name just a few topics).
About this time of year, your child will also have the opportunity to start looking into taking the standardized tests required for college admissions applications. While many institutions will say that standardized test results are still important (as they are an important tool for admission offices to be able to compare students from across the country), they are playing less and less of a role in college admissions decisions. Competitive colleges and universities look at so many other factors in choosing their students that getting unnecessarily hung up on standardized testing results is not healthy for students. However, all students should still strive for their personal best on all academic fronts.
May, June, July, August
As summer approaches, this is a great time to get your child to sign up for college mailing lists as they start focusing on the upcoming senior classes and will begin sending out great brochures and information about their institution.
This is also a wonderful time for many families to start traveling to some of their child’s top choice colleges/universities. It is an excellent idea to visit schools if given the opportunity! This will give your child the chance to really see what the campus and community are like. Also, if a school offers interviews your child should consider sitting down with an admissions counselor during their visit. While this is a great way for students to get to know more about an institution, they should come prepared with questions in hand and a willingness to be engaged in the interview! Nothing speaks worse for a student interviewing at a college or university than if they are not prepared for their interview!
August
While it may be hard to believe, your child’s senior year of high school has begun! Hopefully, during the summer you and your child have had an opportunity to visit some schools, or, if not, maybe you’ve narrowed down the college search a little bit to a few schools that your child is more serious about.
The next step for many students is to get a handle on the application process. Fortunately, students are now doing much of this work online. Your child should become familiar with what forms are required by the institutions they are applying to and keep records of what they must submit.
September
At this point, your child should be signed up for any standardized testing that they may need to take for the schools they would like to apply to. Fall is also a great time for your child to sit down and write out a resume of activities in preparation for filling out their applications. Many schools welcome, and some even require, that your child include a resume of activities.
More than likely, your child will now have an opportunity to sit down with one of the high school guidance counselors to talk a little bit further about the college process and their thoughts on it. This is also a great time for your child to find out the procedure for requesting transcripts and recommendations to be sent to the schools they will be applying to in the fall. Be certain to allow plenty of time for recommendation writers to complete their recommendations!
October
October is a great time for your child to start working on their college essays. You certainly don’t want your child to write them the night before the application needs to go out, because they really should have some time to think over their ideas and also have someone else review it!
Unfortunately, students often panic about the essay because they know how competitive college admissions truly are and every last positive impression can help. It’s important to know though that while schools may use the essay as a way to get to know the student a little bit better, it is not the only thing we use in determining admission. Essays give schools an opportunity to find out more about students as the application is often very cut and dry. Students should see the essay as an opportunity to tell us something about themselves that we don’t already know. While there are no steadfast rules that students should adhere to, they should be certain to get their ideas and thoughts across so that when we are done reading their essay, we can say that we learned something new!
November
The actual application process is about to begin! Now comes the hard part as a parent, because you have to wait and rely on your child to get those applications done! Also, at this point your child really should have taken some time to narrow down their application choices to schools that, if they are given the opportunity to attend, could see themselves attending. This ensures that your child has confidence in the schools that they’ve chosen to apply to. Also, it is a wise idea to make copies of everything you will be sending out to a school before you send it - that way, if something is lost, you have back up copies to provide to schools!
February
As a famous musician once said, waiting is definitely the hardest part! Your child (and you) are probably feeling very anxious about the whole process. Try to take some time to relax and realize that the decision will come sooner than you and your child realize. This is also a great time for you and your child to start looking for scholarships! There are so many different scholarships out there - you and your child just have to do some searching to find them! Also, this is the perfect time to begin the financial aid process. Start the process now so that you are less stressed when your child begins to receive their decision letters in the mail and the excitement and anticipation begins!
March
O.K. - it is now time! Your child is probably running to the mailbox every day waiting for the expected fat letter or dreading the thin letter! This is a great time to try and help your child (and yourself) remember that there are over 3,000 colleges and universities out there, so there is definitely more than one school that could be a fit for your child! Whether your child was admitted to their first choice or their last choice, they should be proud of themselves and so should you! The reason they narrowed their school choices down at this point is because they should be able to find a place at any of the schools that they applied to. That doesn’t mean it won’t be a tough blow if they are not admitted to their first choice, but more than likely, they will have choices and your child should be proud of themselves for their accomplishments so far!
April
Many students will wait until they receive their admission decision letters before deciding to go visit a school, which is understandable as travel can be expensive. Most schools will offer activities in April for families and admitted students to attend, which is a great way to experience the campus community. If you have the opportunity to visit a school your child has been admitted to during April, you’ll soon find that this is a great way to see if your child really wants to attend that college/university. It also gives your child a chance to speak with current students, professors and advisors to get a realistic idea of what it is like to be a student there! While April can be a very stressful month, please know that this is a great chance for you and your child to enjoy the opportunities that they have in front of them! Good luck to you all and enjoy your college search!
↑Back to top
How to Pay for College
Financing a college education will take creativity, sacrifice and support…although there are many ways of making it happen. That’s why Carnegie Mellon has a financial assistance program designed to provide your family with options.
↑Back to top
