If you are a STEM student, you have probably considered applying to Carnegie Mellon University. CMU is a private research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While CMU might be best known for its STEM majors, the university offers a wide array of programs across several schools. CMU is test-optional this year and has been committed to need-blind financial aid. Carnegie Mellon’s supplement hasn’t changed since last year, and we have written about it before. However, their acceptance rate has been steadily falling. Last year it was around an 11% acceptance rate—it has never been more important to put your best foot forward when it comes to the CMU supplement.
Before you begin
The CMU supplement takes a little bit of research before jumping into it. The bulk of this research will be about the offerings at Carnegie Mellon. However, they also publish a lot of great information about applying and what they want in an applicant on their website. They also give a tip for writing these essays that we couldn’t agree more with, “While there's no such thing as the perfect essay, the best essay you can write helps us learn about you!... While role models, mentors, and family members may have played a critical role in your life, don’t forget to write about you.”
So let’s talk about how to approach these essays.
1- Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that’s developed over time — what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study? (300 word limit)
The first rule of answering questions like this is don’t be undecided. Even if you aren’t 100% sure what you want to study in college, for this essay, you should act like you are. Take a best guess if you are on the fence. This essay essentially asks for your backstory concerning an academic passion. Ideally, it’s about the moment you started to fall in love with the area of study that you hope to pursue.
For example, if you want to study Chemistry, maybe it was creating an experiment for your middle school science fair. Or if you love engineering, maybe it was making rube goldberg machines with your grandfather. You want to capture the spark. You can then fan those flames. Say you want to major in Statistics and Machine Learning, and your spark is doing statistical analysis for your Fantasy Football League. Show how you followed that initial interest. You may have taken an online course, interned at a tech start-up one summer, or conducted your own research on facial recognition after reading into the topic. This is your opportunity to show that progression.
For the cherry on top, connect this passion to CMU. You can mention upper-level classes or a professor whose research you would love to assist. Ideally, both. Show how your story intersects with CMU. This takes a bit of research but starts with their course catalog. However, word to the wise, ignore intro courses. Stat 101 is similar wherever you go. You want to find an upper-level class, as those will be more specific to CMU (upper-level classes usually start with a 300 in their course number… you are welcome.)
2- Many students pursue college for a specific degree, career opportunity or personal goal. Whichever it may be, learning will be critical to achieve your ultimate goal. As you think ahead to the process of learning during your college years, how will you define a successful college experience? (300 word limit)
While question no 1 needed some light research, you will need to explore CMU deeply for this question. You want to show an overlap between your goals and the opportunities that CMU provides. You can write about research, clubs, residential programs, fellowships, study abroad opportunities, etc. But those opportunities need to connect with what you are looking for in the “process of learning.”
Learning and the college experience don’t end in the classroom. You want to identify how your goals and show how they fit perfectly within the offerings at CMU as a whole. This is a difficult undertaking, but with solid research and some soul-searching, you should be able to recognize the opportunities that most call to you and what you would do with them.
3- Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee’s consideration? Highlight something that’s important to you or something you haven’t had a chance to share. Tell us, don’t show us (no websites please). (300 word limit)
We love this question but know it will be difficult for some students. Why? Well, many students try to tell and not show for these questions. They do not want a 5 paragraph essay or a resume. They want you to tell a story. Think of this as almost a second Common App essay (psst, we have blogs on how to approach that as well.) You want to tell an engaging and insightful story and not just a list of facts about yourself.
The big trick here is to show them something new. By this point, the reader has already seen your transcript, activities, recommendations, and at least three other essays (2 supplemental and the Common App essay.) You want to give them new information. Maybe you go to your local farmer’s market every Sunday. Maybe you have been trying to teach yourself to watercolor. Maybe you are learning to grow your own strain of super hot peppers. Maybe your family has a unique tradition that you treasure. Don’t be afraid of being quirky or outside of the box here. We want you to show off a quirk here that wouldn’t fit anywhere else.
We like CMU’s supplement. It gives you an excellent opportunity to talk about your academic passions, goals, and who you are as a student and a person. This shouldn’t be a challenging supplement to write, but you should give yourself ample time. You will need to brainstorm and research before diving in.
If this all seems too much, we can help! Contact us here!