Carnegie Mellon is a private research university based in Pittsburgh, PA, but with campuses around the country and internationally. Their over 16,000 students (7,700 undergraduates) come from well over 100 countries. CMU takes being an international institution very seriously, and continues to push for innovation and new opportunities. By positioning themselves at the “intersection of technology and humanity,” CMU has become well-known as an innovative — and highly selective — top university in the US across disciplines ranging from music and art to technology and business. In recent years, Carnegie Mellon has been tightlipped about their acceptance rate for first-year students immediately after the admissions cycle ends. They have refrained from publicizing the admissions numbers, so the best place to find true numbers is the hard data. For first years enrolling in 2024, the acceptance rate reported on the Common Data Set for Carnegie Mellon was 11.7%. Based on overall trends, we can estimate that the acceptance rate for 2025 was within 1.5% of this, in either direction.
If you are considering submitting an application to Carnegie Mellon, it’s important to know that CMU is test-optional through at least the fall of 2025, which means that you are not required to submit an ACT or SAT score as part of your application. That doesn’t mean you should just skip it, though, especially if you won’t be applying Early Decision. CMU may be test optional, but if you want to get in you should highly consider submitting scores. For the fall of 2024, 75% of accepted and enrolled students submitted an SAT or ACT score. A strong score that would improve your chances of acceptance is a 34+ on the ACT or a 1510+ on the SAT. Beyond test scores, 99% of accepted and enrolled applicants are in the top half of their high school graduating class.
In this post, we’ll be talking about the part of the Carnegie Mellon application that doesn’t boil down to numbers. The CMU supplement is the most important tool you have to show who you are and why you are a strong fit for the university, as much so as your main college essay. Below, we’re going to break down each piece of the CMU supplement and direct you towards you strongest strategy.
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The CMU supplement has three questions with 300 words allocated for each. This is more questions than most supplements, and more space. We like this, but it also means that you absolutely need to plan ahead. Writing three 300-word essays is not a small task, especially when you are working on other applications. So, start now. After reading this post, begin brainstorming to give yourself plenty of time to draft and experiment with different approaches.
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 maximum)
This supplement is awesome. It is not, for the record, a “why us,” though. You should not go into what you like about CMU here. Instead, focus on passion and inspiration. The best way to convey that is by telling a story. We work with our students to identify an experience related to their prospective major or area of study that we can work together to build an immersive and engaging story around. For example, this could be an experience at a particular competition or conference, a project that sparked your interest, or a teacher who unlocked your imagination. The most important thing, though, is to keep this focused and small. It is not about packing as much in as you can. Instead, you need to bring your passion to life for the reader, which will make them excited to see how you envision yourself at CMU in the next supplement prompt.
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 maximum)
This is a fascinating question. Your response will help them see how you envision yourself at CMU, but also how you see CMU launching you towards your future. The key when drafting your response to this question is that you have remember that you are applying to college, not a four-year social experiment. This is not the place to talk about how excited you are about Greek Life or strategizing the best dining hall plan so that you always catch your favorite meals. Instead, this is all about school.
We advise our students to start by researching the program at CMU that they want to pursue. What makes the major unique? Which professors would you love to learn from? And what are two courses above the introductory level that you will absolutely sign up for and that are connected to your major.
After collecting your research, it’s time to write your story. Start with a dream, then ground it in the facts you found. Remember to include how CMU will get you to that dream, and to include secondary benefits of education, like collaboration, teamwork, stamina, and resilience.
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 maximum)
The wording of this prompt, especially the end, is pretty weird. They say, “Tell us,” whereas good writing shows more than it tells. The only reason we can think for them to use this phrasing is that people have been sending them lots of links. They do not want links. Application readers spend, on average, less than 10 minutes per application. They want to learn as much about you as they can — fast. This does not allow time for clicking out to other places to then try to review your online resume, website, or video. Plus, they ask you to not send websites. So, listen.
So, what should you do for this prompt? As usual, tell a story. This should not be anything that has been mentioned elsewhere in the supplement or in your main college essay. It can be a story related to something that has only shown up in your activity section, but also could be completely new to the application. Other than that, the topic can be pretty wide ranging. You could write about a community that has strongly influenced your life, or your experience living in a multigenerational household. You could highlight a hobby you are passionate about, like baking, or a responsibility you’ve had to manage, like a part-time job.
Once you’ve picked your topic, tell the story. This should be specific, vivid, and show you as a real human, not just a strong transcript.
Perhaps the most important part of applying to CMU is communicating to them that they are your first choice. This may not be entirely true if you are applying Regular Decision, but they should feel it, nonetheless. In recent years, CMU has offered a massive number of applicants, nearly 50%, a spot on the waitlist, which tells us that they are hedging their bets incase their yield is lower than expected. Despite this, they offer a spot off the waitlist to only three dozen or so students in recent years — far less than 1% of waitlisted applicants. This means that their yield estimations are super strong, and they probably don’t need to be as cautious as they have been. As they become less cautious, and accept a smaller pool of applicants with a stronger yield rate, they are likely to only become more selective and more attuned to who truly wants them versus who sees CMU as a back-up.
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