Transferring to Carnegie Mellon: your chances, deadlines and credits
Transfer acceptance rate: 8.4%
Transfer acceptance rate
Source: Official school data report, section D, 2025-2026
For fall 2025, Carnegie Mellon admitted 136 of 1,610 transfer applicants (8.4%).
Checked November 9, 2026. Very few transfer seats
- Fall 2027 deadline
- Feb 15, 2027Source, 2026-2027
- SAT or ACT
- Not requiredSource, 2026-2027
- Interview
- Not requiredSource, 2025-2026
Carnegie Mellon transfer acceptance rate
Carnegie Mellon's transfer acceptance rate for fall 2025 was 8.4%. 62 transfer students enrolled. The first-year rate the same year was 11.1%.
Source: Official school data report, section D, 2025-2026
The Common Data Set is the official data report colleges publish each year.
Transfer and first-year applicants are different groups. Use the first-year rate as context only.
A rate this low tells you how few seats exist. It says nothing about you. No GPA makes this safe.
Carnegie Mellon's data report lists transfer applicants for fall 2025 as one total across every college. It does not split the count by college, and transfer into most colleges depends on open space.
Source: Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026; Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
College of Fine Arts transfers are reviewed alongside first-year applicants and are likely to receive first-year status. That is a different path from the rest of the university.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
What Carnegie Mellon looks for
You may be considered for only one college or program. Transfers cannot apply to the BXA programs.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
If you are admitted to the College of Engineering, you cannot move to a different engineering department or major after you enroll.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Our read: Choose your program like you are locking it in, because in engineering you are. Pick the department whose first-year course sequence you have already started.
You need a recommendation from a professor or advisor, not a college counselor. Test scores are not required. Interviews are not required.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page; Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026
What GPA do you need?
For every college except Fine Arts, fall transfer is possible only if space is available in the program. Carnegie Mellon publishes no GPA line for transfers.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page; Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026
Our read: No GPA is safe here. The number admitted is small against the number who apply, and a program with no open seats cannot take you.
Transfer essays and supplements
The data report lists an essay or personal statement as required of all transfer applicants. The transfer page does not mention an essay, and the application plans page sends transfer applicants back to that same page. We did not find a prompt or word limit.
Source: Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026; Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page; Carnegie Mellon application plans and deadlines, undated page
Our read: Whatever the prompt turns out to be, tie it to the single college you picked and to the courses you have already taken. A general case for leaving does not help a committee deciding whether a department has a seat.
Your grades are mostly set. Your essay is not. Get a free review against the six things a transfer essay has to do.
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Transfer requirements
Carnegie Mellon requires a minimum number of college credits. It does not require SAT or ACT scores or an interview.
SAT or ACT scoresNot required
SAT and ACT scores are not required for transfer applicants.
Source, 2026-2027Minimum credits before you applyRequired
You must have completed a semester of college before the application deadline.
Source, 2026-2027
You must finish a semester of college before the application deadline. You send a college transcript and a high school transcript.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
You also send course descriptions for every college you attended, by email with the subject Transfer Course Descriptions or through an online form. The page says not to send a whole catalog.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
The College Report is recommended on the transfer page. The data report lists it as required. Ask your registrar or dean for it either way.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page; Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026
University housing is not promised to transfer students.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Fine Arts applicants also need a portfolio or audition. Those requirements live on a separate Fine Arts page.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Transfer deadlines for fall 2027
For fall 2027 entry, the application deadline is February 15, 2027.
Source: Carnegie Mellon University transfer information, 2026-2027
- You send or do something
- The school answers
- February
- May
- June
The transfer page and the data report say February 15 for the application. The application plans page says February 16. For supporting documents, the transfer page says March 10 and the plans page says March 1.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page; Carnegie Mellon application plans and deadlines, undated page; Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026
The data report lists May 15 for notification and June 1 for reply on the fall transfer line. The application plans page says decisions go out May 17. For the College of Fine Arts, the data report lists April 15 for notification, and the plans page says April 1.
Source: Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026; Carnegie Mellon application plans and deadlines, undated page
Our read: Apply by February 15 and send documents by March 1. Those are the earlier dates, so you are on time whichever page is right.
College of Fine Arts transfers follow first-year dates. The plans page lists December 1 for drama and music, and January 5 for architecture, art and design, with supporting documents due February 16.
Source: Carnegie Mellon application plans and deadlines, undated page
Will your credits transfer?
The college you are admitted to evaluates your courses. You get that evaluation with your decision letter.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
The data report says credit is evaluated individually and varies by college.
Source: Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026
Our read: You learn what counts at the same moment you learn if you are in. Collect course descriptions now, since you have to send them with the application anyway.
Build a full list
The transfer page has no transfer-specific aid details. It links to the general costs and aid section and a net price calculator.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Our read: With so few seats and no housing promise, apply to other schools too and decide on housing before you commit.
- Apply to schools across more than one tier. Do not build the list around one long shot.
- Keep your grades up this term. Most transfer readers see your latest work.
- Decide now what you do if every answer is no. Staying and finishing strong is a real plan.
- Duke UniversitySimilar odds
- Columbia University (Columbia College and Columbia Engineering)Similar odds
- Rice UniversitySimilar odds
- Washington University in St. LouisTakes more transfers
Questions students ask
Can I transfer in for spring?
The data report says spring is possible in some colleges, with an October 15 closing date. The admissions pages we read describe fall only, so confirm with admissions.
Source: Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set, section D, 2025-2026; Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Do I need SAT or ACT scores?
No. Carnegie Mellon does not require them from transfer applicants.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Can I apply to more than one college inside Carnegie Mellon?
No. You are considered for one college or program.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
Who should write my recommendation?
A professor or advisor. Not a college counselor.
Source: Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
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Sources
- Official school data report, 2025-2026
- Carnegie Mellon transfer applicants, undated page
- Carnegie Mellon application plans and deadlines, undated page
Numbers come from official reports, read by our tools and checked. Notes were drafted with AI tools from the official pages linked beside them. A person has not reviewed this guide yet. Admission decisions belong to each college, and no one can promise one.