Advanced Placement/Early Admission
Advanced Placement/Early Admission (APEA) is a summer credit program for high school students interested in taking Carnegie Mellon classes. The classes are actual university courses, condensed and accelerated to fit into the six-week duration of the program.

If you're at least 16 years old and have completed your junior year of high school, you're eligible to apply to APEA. College freshmen planning to enter Carnegie Mellon or any other college in the fall of 2004 may also apply. Please note that your acceptance is based on a review of your qualifications and available space in the program.

Applications are also accepted from advanced younger students, such as 9th- and 10th-graders, who are western Pennsylvania residents. Students younger than 16 cannot stay in the residence halls on campus and must commute from home.

A No-Risk Opportunity
The credit you earn in the APEA program can give you a head start in college. At Carnegie Mellon, the academic units earned in the APEA program can be applied toward graduation requirements. Although in most cases, these units also can be transferred to other colleges or universities,some schools do have rules limiting the transfer of summer pre-college courses. If you fail or do poorly in a class, Carnegie Mellon will not release your records to any prospective college or university to which you apply. At the end of the program, you will have the opportunity to decide which grades you would, or would not, like to be kept on permanent record at Carnegie Mellon. In this respect, the program offers students a no-risk opportunity to test their skills at the college level.

Early Admission to Carnegie Mellon
If space is available, Carnegie Mellon may accept a very small number of academically talented and mature APEA students who are interested in skipping their senior year and attending college.

If you do exceptionally well in the APEA program, meet current admission standards and space is available, you may be invited to apply for early admission to Carnegie Mellon. Participation in the APEA program does not guarantee early admission to Carnegie Mellon. If you're accepted through Early Admission, you have the option of skipping your senior year and coming to campus in the fall as a full-time student.

Students who apply for Early Admission and who are not accepted may have their application reviewed for Early Decision for fall 2005. For further information, schedule an appointment with the Office of Admission during your time on campus.

To be considered for Early Admission
*you must take two courses of 9 units or more
*you can only apply to the following colleges:

Carnegie Institute of Technology
Mellon College of Science
School of Computer Science
School of Industrial Administration
College of Humanities and
    Social Sciences
Information Systems program

*note that early admission is very limited and is based on space available in your college or program

Coursework
Our Pre-College courses are regular Carnegie Mellon classes, so you should anticipate intense, college-level work. Many of the Pre-College faculty are the same who teach during the regular school year.

Resident students are required to take two courses of nine units or greater during the summer program (3 units = 1 credit hour). This two-course schedule completed in six weeks is only slightly less demanding than the typical five-course schedule completed in a 14-week semester.

APEA classes meet daily. Class size is small, giving you a personal learning environment. Although a substantial amount of homework is expected in the program, time spent studying will naturally vary from course to course and from student to student. Tutors are available for students who are having academic difficulties.

Students who are enrolled in the chemistry course 09-105 may take the chemistry lab course, 09-101. There is a $35 lab fee for this course.

Students with special qualifications may apply for special permission to enroll in a third course. If permission is granted, an additional non-refundable charge will be added to the student invoice, which is equivalent to one-half the tuition rate for one course. Based on past experience, carrying three courses in the APEA Pre-College program generally is not recommended.

All courses in APEA are subject to change. Additional courses may be substituted for some of the courses listed here. An addendum giving an update of APEA courses being offered will be mailed to you upon receipt of your application.

If you'd like to take a class not available through APEA, some classes are open in Carnegie Mellon's Summer Session II courses for current college students. Availability of these classes is based on space left in the class and your high school preparation. The faculty member teaching the course and the director of Pre-College programs must also authorize your decision. For a complete listing of these courses, contact Carnegie Mellon's HUB at 412-268-8186.

The Pre-College Program runs from June 27 - August 6, 2004. courses, schedule and fees are detailed in the courses section.

"The summer program helped my parents during that crucial first year to know that I had a counselor that would look out for me if I was running into trouble."

 

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