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How to Write the Carnegie Mellon University Essays 2023-2024

Tucked away in Steelers country, otherwise known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, lies the 153 acre campus of Carnegie Mellon University. CMU is home to just under 7,000 undergraduate students enrolled across its seven schools and colleges.

Priding itself on copious opportunities as a research university, as well as the achievements of its student body and alumni, Carnegie Mellon offers students the opportunity to pursue real-world solutions alongside award-winning faculty across all disciplines. In fact, CMU is consistently ranked in the top 30 universities and is considered one of the very best for computer science. 

As part of the application process, prospective students are required to respond to three 300-word prompts, and one optional 150-word prompt. However, students shouldn’t look at the supplements as a chore. As the admission process for CMU becomes more selective, its supplemental essays provide an increasingly vital opportunity for you to differentiate yourself from the pack. Keep reading for our suggestions on how to tackle this year’s supplemental responses.

Read these Carnegie Mellon essay examples to inspire your own writing.

Carnegie Mellon University Supplemental Essay Prompts

Prompt 2 (required): 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 words)

Prompt 3 (required): 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 words)

Prompt 4 (optional): When it comes to deciding whether to submit standardized test scores, occasionally applicants want us to better understand the individual context of their decision. If you’d like to take advantage of this opportunity, please share any information about your decision here. This is an optional question for those who may want to provide additional context for consideration. (150 words)

Prompt 1 (Required)

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 words).

Many schools require a “ Why This Major? ” prompt to assess your interest in your chosen area of study. This prompt asks this standard question, but with a particular emphasis on how past experiences have influenced your desire to study your prospective major, rather than what you hope to achieve by studying it.

A successful execution of this prompt will:

• Elaborate on the path that led you to choose your major
• Show the admissions committee why you deserve to pursue this major at their school.

The latter doesn’t necessarily need to be explicit. Instead, reflect on your path in a way that demonstrates intellectual curiosity, creativity, and passion for what it is you hope to pursue at the college level. 

You can take a few different approaches when answering this prompt. The first is a narrative arc or anecdote. Think back to a salient moment in which you realized the importance of your prospective major to you. Perhaps you were in a robotics competition and after weeks of laboring, your robot finally moved. Maybe that was the moment when you knew for sure that this was the path you needed to pursue. This response could start something like this: 

“I couldn’t believe my ears the first time Sparky whirred to life. After weeks of toiling, I watched him wheel across the classroom floor, rhythmically belting out the tell-tale beeps I had coded him to make with each turn.”

Here’s what telling that story does. First, it shows tenacity—even after weeks of failure, you didn’t give up. Second, it shows innovation. And third, CMU just happens to be known for offering a robotics major, so even without being explicit, you just told the admissions committee exactly why you belong at CMU!

Stories are a great method for drawing in your reader and creating pathos. The trick, however, is to not get so caught up in the narration that you fill your 300 words without actually saying anything. If you’re going the anecdote route, ask yourself the following questions:

• Did I answer the prompt?
• Does the story I just told show why I’m passionate about the major I’ve chosen?
• Have I demonstrated that CMU is the right place for me?

Don’t say you want to pursue a major in underwater basket-weaving if CMU doesn’t offer that (just an example, but you get the idea).

Do mention, either briefly or implicitly, how CMU would allow you to continue pursuing and developing your passion.

Let’s move on to the second method of answering this prompt, we’ll refer to it as the chronological method.

You may not be able to fully answer the prompt with just one moment or story. That’s okay! An alternative is to briefly list key moments, progressions, or accomplishments leading up to your decision. Here’s an example:

“From writing short stories as a seven year old to winning my first prose contest in high school, creative writing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.”

Unlike the narrative arc method, this example is neither a story nor a specific event. Instead, it shows how creative writing has been pivotal to your life for years. Though arguably less compelling than a story, this method has the bonus of demonstrating growth, long-term commitment, and development. Being that CMU is one of the only universities to offer a BA in creative writing, it also shows why you’d be applying.

This same method will work if you choose to talk about who or what inspired you. However, this comes with a warning. If you choose to talk about a person or work that inspired you, ensure that you don’t only write about said person or work. If the admissions committee learns more about the Pulitzer prize winner whose work inspired you than they do about you and your work, reassess whether this is a beneficial inclusion.

Prompt 2 (Required)

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 words).

This essay provides you with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate your passion for CMU and your understanding of its available opportunities. While the prompt doesn’t explicitly ask you “ Why This School? ,” it does asks you to discuss two things:

• The explicit question: what do you hope to accomplish in your undergraduate degree program? 
• The implicit question: how is CMU uniquely equipped to help you realize those goals?

While the explicit question is definitely important to address, tackling the implicit question through the use of specific examples and thoughtful reflection will allow your essay to stand out among other applicants. 

Think about your expectations for your college experience. Perhaps it’s really important to you to have substantive research experiences under your belt as an undergraduate student, since you want to pursue an MD-PhD. 

What specific projects and topics might you be looking to pursue? How will studying at Carnegie Mellon enable you to pursue these projects and ideas? Briefly reflecting on Carnegie Mellon’s financial investment in undergraduate research as you answer this prompt, for example, can help demonstrate both your familiarity with the university and its resources as well as your alignment with its culture and values. 

Perhaps you are hoping to apply your textbook knowledge within a broader context through community engagement. CMU empowers its students to tackle problems and issues that matter in hopes that its students will be leaders in improving the world around them. Consequently, discussing your interest in taking your learning outside of the classroom with the support of the Office of Student Leadership, Involvement, and Civic Engagement would not only speak to your metrics regarding a successful college experience, but also show how you might add to the CMU community as an undergraduate and beyond.

Whatever your goals may be, ensure that your essay has a clear “why.” Rather than simply stating that you want to join the college orchestra, explain that you want to do so because playing the cello in high school has allowed you to form meaningful relationships with other musicians and life mentors. Playing music has taught you the importance of teamwork and dedication, and you want to continue cultivating these relationships and skills in college. 

The point here isn’t to draft a college bucket list, but instead to reflect on what elements of the college experience, outside of the day-to-day coursework, you’re looking forward to as a prospective student. Be true to yourself and your goals, and speak honestly about what it is you hope to accomplish as an undergraduate student at CMU.

Prompt 3 (Required)

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 words).

This is your chance to show the admissions committee exactly what makes you special. Within the confines of the word limit, the options are endless. But don’t get bogged down by the possibilities! 

So, how do you know what’s worth writing about?

Is there something you mentioned on your Common App that you feel the need to elaborate? The topic of this essay should not be even remotely similar to the subject of your personal statement. Think of your essays as a portfolio; they should be complementary without being redundant. For example, if your passions are science and wildlife, and your personal statement is about wildlife, make this prompt about science.

Is there something you haven’t been able to mention anywhere else that you’re dying to talk about? Let your personality shine through. Whether your passion of choice is volunteering with animals, taking apart computers, or almost anything else, it can have a place in this prompt. However, it shouldn’t be so random that it doesn’t say anything about you as an applicant.

Here’s a good example: “I buy postcards but never send them. My collection is from all over the world, ranging from Tanzania to New Caledonia. Each postcard tied to a travel story. The postcard of the Dolomites? That’s where I went on a 3-day backpacking trip with my family. The postcard with a sketch of takoyaki? I bought it because I wanted to remember the delicious meals my Japanese host family made me.”

See how this paints a picture of a student eager to learn and expand their horizons?

Now here’s a bad example: “I like watching Netflix in my free time.”

Does that tell the admissions officers something that helps them envision a contributing member of the CMU community? Not particularly.

Basically, use this as an opportunity to show your personality and your passion. Narrow in on something pivotal to your identity, and make sure it still shows CMU why you’re a great fit. If you have a story, accomplishment, or passion that shows you possess drive, an entrepreneurial spirit, or a similar embodiment of the values of CMU, here’s the place to show it. However, if you’ve already said it in another CMU essay or in your personal statement, don’t say it again!

So, there you have it for the required prompts! At the end of the day, you want all three essays to answer the prompts in a way that screams ‘you.’ The more of your personality in the essays, the better. Whether you’re reflecting on how your first broken bone led you to pursue medicine or discussing how synchronized swimming deepened your capacity for empathy and collaboration, remember to always be open and honest as you tell your story.  

Prompt 4 (optional)

When it comes to deciding whether to submit standardized test scores, occasionally applicants want us to better understand the individual context of their decision. if you’d like to take advantage of this opportunity, please share any information about your decision here. this is an optional question for those who may want to provide additional context for consideration. (150 words).

This prompt applies to those who have either opted out of taking standardized tests, have chosen not to submit their scores, or have other circumstances surrounding their scores. Here, Carnegie Mellon gives applicants a chance to explain the reasons behind these circumstances. 

Standardized testing disadvantages many groups of people, especially low-income students. With the pandemic, it’s also likely that students won’t have had as many opportunities to take tests, if at all. Students may also have other extenuating life experiences or circumstances that affected their ability to take or do well on the test. 

Whatever your circumstances, Carnegie Mellon gives you 150 words, so avoid including long anecdotes or excess background information. State your reason(s) clearly and concisely, in a matter-of-fact way. This section might be optional, but you should treat it with the same care as your answers to the other prompts. Your writing should carry the same level of poise as your other responses. 

There are some cases, however, where you might choose to forego this prompt. If you chose not to submit a score because you underperformed, and there wasn’t necessarily an extenuating circumstance, then you could leave your response blank. If you performed poorly and didn’t submit your score because you were recovering from a concussion, then you might respond to this essay. Otherwise, telling the admissions office that you got a low score defeats the purpose of not submitting your score.

Where to Get Your Carnegie Mellon Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your CMU essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Carnegie Mellon University 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide 

Early Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 3

You Have: 

Carnegie Mellon University 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 3 short essays of 300 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s):   Why ,  Short Answer

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?

So many factors go into shaping your educational experience: course selection, professors, classmates, campus culture, even the city where you’ll live. Think through how each of these will affect you and jot down some examples of what you’re looking for in each. Do you value a professor who is accessible via office hours? Do you focus well in a stadium-seating lecture hall? Are you excited to start a small study group for your Shakespeare: Comedies and Romances  literature course? Additionally, do some research on their website and show them that you value what they specifically have to offer. Give them a peek into how you learn and help them visualize you as a thriving student in their community.

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?

This prompt sounds simple enough: describe what you want to study and why you like it so much so that you’re willing to dedicate four years of your life to it (at the very least). While you might be tempted to get technical or poetic in your response, your reader will expect you to connect your intended major with some prior experience and/or passion. In other words, tell a story. Lucky for you, we would have advised you to start with an anecdote anyway. The most personal, memorable essays spring from concrete descriptions of your lived experience. What excites you and why? When was the last time you got drawn down a Reddit rabbit hole – and what was the topic? While you don’t need to drill to the origin of your interest in a given topic, try to zero in on some formative experience: the best TED Talk you ever watched, the first time you spoke to your new friend in ASL, that one time when you shadowed an EMT and saw what it’s like to help people in need! Your story should showcase your unique connection to your chosen course of study. And don’t forget: CMU asks what passion OR inspiration led you to choose this area of study. You can also talk about a particularly powerful book you read or a life-changing experience that set you on this path. Just make sure to use details to bring your story to life.

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).

This prompt is a kind of free for all opportunity. Much like Common App’s prompt #7 , CMU is giving you free reign to write about any topic under the sun. If you’re overwhelmed by all the potential possibilities, don’t fret. Instead take a breath and ask yourself: What doesn’t admissions know about me yet? What do I wish I’d had more space to write about on my resume or activity list? If you’ve written a supplemental essay for another school about a particularly rewarding activity, this is an excellent place to tweak and recycle that essay. Almost any essay that you have already written in response to supplemental essay prompts for other schools will be applicable here, as long as it doesn’t address what you want to study or how you work with others. If you haven’t already drafted any others supplemental essays that would fit here, feel free to seek inspiration in the prompts for other schools (ideally the ones on your list). Worst case scenario, revisit your personal statement brainstorming notes and think about the topics that you almost wrote about. Can you write about any of those memories or stories in 200 words?

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Video Interview

Follow the detailed instructions below for successfully completing your video interview and submitting it to Heinz College as part of your application for admission.

You have the option of completing a one-question video interview in support of your application for admission. The video interview will be available after you submit your application and your official undergraduate transcript(s).

The video interview is optional, but is strongly recommended for non-native speakers of English. We encourage all applicants to co nsider completing the video interview.

preparing for your video interview

As in a real, professional job interview, we do not share interview questions with you before the actual interview . If you would like to prepare for your interview, you may wish to search the internet for advice on preparing for a job interview and/or professional graduate school interview in the United States. 

Note: After you begin the video interview, you will not be able to pause, cancel, or re-record any of your answers. Please keep this in mind as you decide when and where to complete your video interview to minimize the chance that you are interrupted by a roommate, family member, pet or anyone else while recording your video response.

WHO CAN APPEAR IN THE VIDEO?

The video and audio must be of you, the applicant (not a proxy).

When will you complete your video interview? what can you expect?

You must first submit your online application and official undergraduate transcript(s).

You will receive an email invitation from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College asking you to visit the status page of your application to open your personalized video interview within 24 hours AFTER your required, official undergraduate transcript(s) have been received and processed. 

There is no formal "deadline" for completing your video interview after you receive the invitation. However, if you want to ensure that your video interview is available when your application is reviewed, please try to complete your interview within 5 days of the date you receive the invitation to the video interview (within 5 days of when your official undergraduate transcript has been received).  Applicants for our full-time Master's programs who receive the video interview invitation before the January 10 priority deadline may have more time to complete the video interview. Full-time Master's applications will not be not reviewed before our application deadline.

Here is what you can expect if you choose to complete the video interview:

• You will receive an email from the us AFTER your official undergraduate transcript has been received and processed. This status will be posted on the "status" page of your application.
• The email will invite you to visit the status page of your application to see the video interview link to complete your video interview.
• You will be able to record a test video to confirm that your settings are correct and to become comfortable with the system.
• Immediately after recording your test video, you will have an opportunity to watch the recording.
• You will be able to record a test response several times if you need to make adjustments to your settings - and to practice using the system. (Your test videos will not be saved, nor will they be sent to Carnegie Mellon University.)
• When you begin the actual interview, you will be asked one (1) randomly-selected question.
• You will have 90 seconds to read the question on the screen and decide how to answer.
• After the 90 seconds of reading/preparation time ends, your computer will automatically begin to record your answer.
• You will have 90 seconds to provide your answer. You will have only one chance to answer the question.
• You will not be able to pause the interview after it starts.
• You may stop recording if you finish answering the question in less than 90 seconds. (It is fine to provide a shorter answer!)
• You will not be able to re-record any answer after the interview begins.
• You  will be able to watch your response.
• You will only be able to complete the interview one time . 
• As with a live interview, you will not be able to re-record your answer. Please approach the video interview like a "real", live online video or in-person interview.

After you complete your video interview, it will automatically be added to your application for review by the admissions committee.

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September 8, 2023

2023-2024 Carnegie Mellon Supplemental Essay Prompts

Carnegie Mellon University has released its 2023-2024 admissions essay prompts for applicants to the Class of 2028 . CMU requires applicants to write three essays (in addition to The Common Application ’s Personal Statement). Each essay has a 300-word maximum. So, what are this year’s CMU essays? Let’s find out!

2023-2024 Carnegie Mellon University Essay Topics and Questions

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?

This essay prompt is a straight-up-the-middle Why Major question. CMU’s admissions committee wants to understand the origin of an applicant’s interest in their chosen area of study. It’s critical that students write their origin story in high school rather than as children. Admissions officers, after all, want to learn about how you think now — not as a middle-schooler or toddler.

Also, it would be ideal if the applicant’s activities reflect their interest in their chosen area of study so they present with a singular hook rather than well-roundedness.

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?

CMU’s admissions committee wants to see that an applicant is eager for a challenge. They want to see that while a student has firm conviction, they also are malleable to change. After all, the beauty of a liberal arts education is exposure to a variety of disciplines and ways of thinking. As such, an anecdote that showcases how a student has learned something that has changed their lives — ideally but not necessarily connected to their hook as presented in their activity section — can be a great approach to this prompt.

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).

Much like The Common Application’s Personal Statement, this essay prompt is a free-write. Students can write whatever it is they’d like. Applicants should just be sure not to be redundant — they shouldn’t repeat things they’ve written in previous essays. And they should be sure to highlight their intellectual curiosity. Too often, students write silly answers to vague essay prompts. That’s never the right approach.

This essay prompt is an opportunity to make it clear to admissions officers how a student thinks and how they hope to contribute to the world in their own small but meaningful way.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Carnegie Mellon Essays

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission to CMU by submitting compelling essays that shine a strobe light on your hook, fill out Ivy Coach ’s free consultation form , and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services for seniors.

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Spring 2025 - Opens July 1, 2024

Makers and thinkers, hackers and scholars, researchers and programmers – find your spark of genius at the ini..

Do you want to launch a tech start-up, join an enterprise R&D team or fight cyber-crime?

At the Information Networking Institute (INI), you’ll gain the skills and experience necessary to realize those aspirations and much more. Our unique combination of rigorous technical topics, practical industry-oriented topics and real-world experience will empower you to be one of the movers and shakers of the tech industry.

We offer technical, interdisciplinary master's degrees in:

• Information Networking
• Information Security

Artificial Intelligence Engineering - Information Security

• Bicoastal Programs: Information Security or Mobile and IoT Engineering

Technical. Interdisciplinary. Hands-On.

Challenge yourself: a rigorous curriculum.

With the ability to customize your education with technical, business and policy courses from across the university, you’ll create a specialized education that aligns your passions with your career goals. Here, the work you do in the classroom could turn into a groundbreaking research project, an innovative start-up company or even the next great technology powerhouse.

Discover Your Passion: Hands-On Learning

Carnegie Mellon stands out among the world’s best research universities. We’re home to experts who lead their fields and create new ones.

As an INI student, you’ll join that culture of collaboration and discovery as Research Assistant (RA) or by completing a thesis project, practicum or independent study.

"My courses at CMU definitely increased the depth of my security knowledge, which helped me move to a Tech Lead role at Amazon in less than two years."

– Manideep Konakandla ,  Security Engineer 2 & Tech Lead at Amazon

Secure high salaries at great companies.

Today’s INI students are tomorrow’s leaders and innovators. And we’re here to help you achieve your dreams.

We’re one of few departments at CMU that offer in-house, customized career services to support you throughout your internship and job search, including:

• One-on-one career counseling, resume reviews and mock interviews
• Pitching Your Brand at the Job Fair & Beyond
• Do’s & Don’ts for Phone, Virtual & On-Site Interviews
• Networking for the Nervous
• Negotiating Like a Boss- Based on Your Value-Add

Employment and Location Results

SEE DESTINATIONS FOR ALL INI STUDENTS

Internship Results

"In my internship, I worked with a huge dataset of all LinkedIn members using big data tools and my feature will finally be part of the LinkedIn app."

– Yuqi Liu, Software Engineering Intern at LinkedIn

Supporting You Along the Way

An unparalleled student experience is what sets the ini apart from other graduate programs. from our in-house career and enrollment advising to your dedicated faculty advisor, you’ll find the support you need in our tight-knit community..

LEARN ABOUT STUDENT SERVICES  

Did you know we have two student organizations:  Women@INI (WINI)  and  Graduate Organization@INI (GOINI)!  Learn More

"My time at INI helped me expand my limits, and grow as a person and a professional. Be it the midnight Pictionary or service opportunities with Women@INI, I loved each and every moment I spent at INI."

– Meenakshy Balachandran, Security Engineer at Google

A global network of alumni.

“My experience at INI was life-changing. It taught me the meaning of hard work."

Rohyt Belani (MSIN, 2002) Chairman and CEO, Cofense

“ Having the INI and CMU legacy is priceless.  "

Goldy Lim (MSIT-IS, 2017) Cybersecurity and Privacy Implementations and Operations, PwC

“A world class education, with a healthy dose of real-world, practical experience."

Dooyum Malu (MSITSM, 2014) Software Engineer, Google

 “The INI not only provided us with the critical skills we needed to start our company after graduating, but also with access to the network and mentorship critical to our early success.” 

- Hooman Radfar  (MSIN, 2004) , Co-Founder & CEO of Collective; Venture Partner at Expa

INI Experience

Scholarship for Service

Student Projects

• Directory/Contact
• Faculty & Staff Resources
• Student Resources
• CA Education Regulations

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How to apply.