Admissions Factors
What Carnegie Mellon University Looks For
Carnegie Mellon University rates 6 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, character and personal qualities and volunteer work.
How Carnegie Mellon University rates each factor
Each college sorts 18 factors into four levels on its Common Data Set.
Very important
The numbers behind the class
Overall admit rate
11.1%
3,859 of 34,867 applicants
Early decision admit rate
20.6%
Early decision admits equal 31% of the class
Admitted from the waitlist
0.7%
36 of 4,937 who stayed on it
Enrolled first-years had an average high school GPA of 3.89. 82.5% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.
Frequently asked questions
What does Carnegie Mellon University look for in applicants?
Carnegie Mellon University rates 6 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, character and personal qualities and volunteer work.
Does Carnegie Mellon University consider legacy status?
Carnegie Mellon University rates alumni relation as "not considered" in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.
Does Carnegie Mellon University track demonstrated interest?
Carnegie Mellon University rates the level of an applicant's interest as "not considered".
What is Carnegie Mellon University's waitlist acceptance rate?
4,937 students stayed on the waitlist and 36 were admitted, a rate of 0.7%. The number changes a lot from year to year because it depends on how many admitted students enroll.
What is Carnegie Mellon University's early decision acceptance rate?
Early decision: 553 of 2,680 applicants were admitted (20.6%), against 11.1% overall. Early pools include recruited athletes and other students with a strong tie to the college, so the gap overstates the boost for an ordinary applicant.
Source: Carnegie Mellon University’s own Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C. Last checked 2026-10-08. The ratings are the college’s own description of its process. Counts are for one entering class.
