Nothing. TartanHacks is free for all undergraduate students!

Yes! All undergradauate majors and programs, even if they aren't technical, are welcome at TartanHacks. We have slides from a series of web development workshops online that you can use to brush up your skills! We'll also have some workshops during the event so you can get started with new frameworks.

Yes! We welcome students of all skill levels to participate. First-year students and first-time hackers have always been part of TartanHacks; we would love to see you at the event! Some prizes will also be specific for beginner hackers.

Unfortunately, graduate students cannot participate. TartanHacks is currently limited to undergraduate students only.

Yes! Anyone with an educational email address can sign up on the registration system.

You have to sign up as an individual for the event, and we'll have you specify your team later on. Don't worry, if you already have a team chosen you'll still be able to work with them during event.

Absolutely! We'll have a team mixer after the opening ceremony to help you meet new hackers.

Up to 4 people are allowed.

There are 3 states you can be in.
1. Submitted. You have submitted your application, but we haven't accepted you yet. Don't worry though; we are doing acceptances in waves, i.e. one wave each day, up until early Friday morning.
2. Admitted. We have accepted your TartanHacks application! The final step is to click 'Confirm Your Spot' and fill out the form.
3. Confirmed. All you need to do is show up on Friday at 6PM for check in! Your spot in TartanHacks is confirmed.

We expect that everyone who registers can get in. However, sometimes more hackers sign up than we can admit. Once registration closes, hackers are accepted on a rolling basis. You will be notified via email about your registration status.

Hackers are accepted individually, so we are unable to guarantee that all members of your team will get in. However, if they're on the waitlist, there's still hope! See the next question.

We will be letting hackers off the waitlist on a first-come, first-serve basis on the day of the event. Historically, many people have gotten off the waitlist.

Hardware hacks are certainly allowed! We don't restrict projects to software, though you will need to bring your own hardware/materials.

We will have a team of student and corporate mentors on hand who are experts in many common technologies. They'll be able to answer your questions, help you debug, and get you set up with new frameworks. They can't make your project for you, but they are always there to help!

TartanHacks is run by ScottyLabs, a student organization at Carnegie Mellon University that develops apps for CMU and runs educational events, like TartanHacks. ScottyLabs isn't affiliated with any academic department, and all of our funding comes from corporate sponsors.