5 ms·

Help me break in to Carnegie Mellon

12 points by reddog9287 13y ago

reddog9287 13y ago
So I noticed that some people figured out that I didn't secure the voting very well. Haha, I guess going forward I'll use a csp and lock it down to one vote per ip
- reddog9287 13y ago
  Finally got some time to secure this and voting is accurate now!
the-swa 13y ago
Imagine a future where college acceptance is decided by the internets... and how happy all of the cats will be in that future.
btgeekboy 13y ago
I apologize if this is harsh, but here's what I see. Start by moving the first section's text up higher, so it doesn't start obscured by the background. Then, remove the annoying JavaScript from the downvote button that prevents you from clicking it. (You might also consider not using Facebook's thumb icon for this.) Finally, reconsider why you want to attend CMU. "Code" is what 1st year students learn. Computer Science is what 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students study. You've not told us how you will benefit CMU, or how attending CMU will improve you, but that you can write code. Good for you (sincerely) - but that's not what a Computer Science education is all about. You want to learn CS, but why? What are your goals?
- reddog9287 13y ago
  No please reserve no judgement! The icons are part of an open source set online (yes styled to look like facebook's though). This is all great advice. I'll definitely be adding better content to the site
  - rbkillea 13y ago
    You never answered the question.
    - reddog9287 13y ago
      I think he was speaking rhetorically, as in his being good questions to consider for writing good content. Nevertheless, I will update the website. If you're really that interested in my answer to his question I can post it here as well.
- tom_bob 13y ago
  Let's be honest, how many of us really understood what Computer Science @ CMU was before 15-251 ;) Coding is the reason I was interested in Computer Science and I also happened to like what Computer Science was after diving into the major. It's totally fine for a high schooler to have this view, I think we forget what high school us really looked like back then. It's almost impossible for most high schoolers to understand all of the theory and mathematics that comes with the major. From a current CMU student, best of luck to you Alex!
  - reddog9287 13y ago
    Thanks very much!
jwise0 13y ago
You probably stand a pretty good chance, depending on your in-school performance. But, here are some things to consider (from a CMU alum) -- You probably were the most "with it" person at your high school. When you arrive at CMU, this will not be true -- not by any factor of your own, but because there will be many folks with a huge diversity of experiences. There will be people who have done what you have. There will be people who haven't, but have done something else just as cool. There will be people who haven't done either, and will power their way through the curriculum anyway, taking every opportunity to learn new stuff on the side. Be ready for that, because it'll be a big hit to take. (For me, it sure was.) But, the other side of it is this: absence or presence of past experience, in a structured class environment, need not necessarily be a predictor of academic performance. There is all the reason in the world to bring in a diverse assortment of people from wide backgrounds. You have a very strong classical "rounded high school" background, to be sure; but, make sure you understand also that there is much more out there than the classic rounding-out of extra-curriculars! There is a whole wide world about us. Either way, your site is certainly interesting. I'm not sure how much it will influence our dear admissions department, but best of luck to you!
- reddog9287 13y ago
  Thanks for your advice! I will keep that all in mind :)
woodenstick 13y ago
This is really, really impressive. From a current CMU SCS student (who also went to crazy lengths to get in here!), I hope to hell you are accepted!
- reddog9287 13y ago
  Thank you very much!!
  - woodenstick 13y ago
    Did you apply ED to CMU last November?
    - reddog9287 13y ago
      Nope, this is my first time applying to the school
sakp 13y ago
Good start but you should start learning how to prevent someone flooding your site.
- reddog9287 13y ago
  Yeah, I'm more of a frontend developer, and I have just started very recently getting into a little backend so I'm sure I'll learn this with time, thanks for your response!!

12 points by reddog9287 13y ago

So I noticed that some people figured out that I didn't secure the voting very well. Haha, I guess going forward I'll use a csp and lock it down to one vote per ip

reddog9287 13y ago
Finally got some time to secure this and voting is accurate now!

the-swa 13y ago

Imagine a future where college acceptance is decided by the internets... and how happy all of the cats will be in that future.

btgeekboy 13y ago

I apologize if this is harsh, but here's what I see. Start by moving the first section's text up higher, so it doesn't start obscured by the background. Then, remove the annoying JavaScript from the downvote button that prevents you from clicking it. (You might also consider not using Facebook's thumb icon for this.) Finally, reconsider why you want to attend CMU. "Code" is what 1st year students learn. Computer Science is what 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students study. You've not told us how you will benefit CMU, or how attending CMU will improve you, but that you can write code. Good for you (sincerely) - but that's not what a Computer Science education is all about. You want to learn CS, but why? What are your goals?

reddog9287 13y ago
No please reserve no judgement! The icons are part of an open source set online (yes styled to look like facebook's though). This is all great advice. I'll definitely be adding better content to the site
- rbkillea 13y ago
  You never answered the question.
  - reddog9287 13y ago
    I think he was speaking rhetorically, as in his being good questions to consider for writing good content. Nevertheless, I will update the website. If you're really that interested in my answer to his question I can post it here as well.
tom_bob 13y ago
Let's be honest, how many of us really understood what Computer Science @ CMU was before 15-251 ;) Coding is the reason I was interested in Computer Science and I also happened to like what Computer Science was after diving into the major. It's totally fine for a high schooler to have this view, I think we forget what high school us really looked like back then. It's almost impossible for most high schoolers to understand all of the theory and mathematics that comes with the major. From a current CMU student, best of luck to you Alex!
- reddog9287 13y ago
  Thanks very much!

jwise0 13y ago

You probably stand a pretty good chance, depending on your in-school performance. But, here are some things to consider (from a CMU alum) -- You probably were the most "with it" person at your high school. When you arrive at CMU, this will not be true -- not by any factor of your own, but because there will be many folks with a huge diversity of experiences. There will be people who have done what you have. There will be people who haven't, but have done something else just as cool. There will be people who haven't done either, and will power their way through the curriculum anyway, taking every opportunity to learn new stuff on the side. Be ready for that, because it'll be a big hit to take. (For me, it sure was.) But, the other side of it is this: absence or presence of past experience, in a structured class environment, need not necessarily be a predictor of academic performance. There is all the reason in the world to bring in a diverse assortment of people from wide backgrounds. You have a very strong classical "rounded high school" background, to be sure; but, make sure you understand also that there is much more out there than the classic rounding-out of extra-curriculars! There is a whole wide world about us. Either way, your site is certainly interesting. I'm not sure how much it will influence our dear admissions department, but best of luck to you!

reddog9287 13y ago
Thanks for your advice! I will keep that all in mind :)

woodenstick 13y ago

This is really, really impressive. From a current CMU SCS student (who also went to crazy lengths to get in here!), I hope to hell you are accepted!

reddog9287 13y ago
Thank you very much!!
- woodenstick 13y ago
  Did you apply ED to CMU last November?
  - reddog9287 13y ago
    Nope, this is my first time applying to the school

sakp 13y ago

Good start but you should start learning how to prevent someone flooding your site.

reddog9287 13y ago
Yeah, I'm more of a frontend developer, and I have just started very recently getting into a little backend so I'm sure I'll learn this with time, thanks for your response!!