Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

I feel that in general, CMU is a very tolerant campus. We have students coming from small towns in Ohio, and simultaneously, a large population of foreign students. I have noticed over my three years here that people of similar ethnic backgrounds initially group together. During their time here, however, there are a lot of opportunities to branch out; it's up to the individuals to take advantage of them. People dress pretty casually to go to class--it gets pretty cold in the winter, so you'll see a lot of down jackets and ski hats. In general, it's a fairly casual place. Financially, it's hard to say what backgrounds are most prevalent. I have friends who are here on all financial aid and grew up below the poverty line, and then others whose fathers are oil tycoons. We're all over the place with that, but regardless, people do talk about how much they'll earn some day. Students aren't particularly politically active, I'm not sure if the general population is aware or not. I was involved with the PA primaries and getting students to vote, and did attend several rallies for politicians this year, but I feel that it's more of a personal interest than popular one. The opportunities are there if you want them.

CMU is diverse, that is the main thing that has to be taken into account when thinking about our campus. There are many different people from all sorts of backgrounds and from many different nations. This diversity does not inhibit friendships, infact it causes many different people to form friendships that are nurished in the fact that they can learn so much from the others.

still no

Very diverse. Unfortunately lots of crazy annoying liberals.

CMU is an extremely diverse population, especially ethnically. Their are a lot of asians and plenty of people of other ethnicities. There are people from all over the country and all over the world. The financial backgrounds are diverse, though most are middle class or upper middle class. CMU isn't as liberal as many colleges, but the student body definitely leans left.

One of the first words you will here at CMU is DIVERSITY. It's a loaded word. We have several different majors, races, and religions represented, but that says nothing about diversity. I am impressed with theyw ay this campus promotes diversity. One of the orientation events is a community collage. It features performances and speeches by different groups and student leaders around campus. After orientation though, it's really dependent on you if you want to experience DIVERSITY. The school offers cultural shows, a gender issues conference, political rallies, dance shows, robot races, a womens leadership program, and interfaith council events. We are a pretty liberal campus. Unfortunately its the same batch of people that attend all of these and too many people leave CMU not going to any of them. Ok...down to the nitty gritty. People dress so well during the few warm summery days but by the second midterms come, several are in sweats. There are the few and mighty that refuse to sacrifice style for convenience and they look great no matter what. Greek life is highly visible on this campus. Different organizations are continuosuly having philanthropies, parties, or barbeques for people to attend and though it is not for everyone, it's definitely worth checking out.

Geeks rock. Allies, our LGBT support group, is very active and rocks--brought Dan Savage in for Gaypril.

Diverse group of students but so many of each culture that if you only wanted to be with people of your race you can still have many friends.

There always seems to be somebody outside of Doherty (the primary Science building) getting you to buy something or asking you to support a cause. They can get kind of annoying at 9 in the morning, but you get over it. Just meeting people during orientation, I think half of the student body is Asian. My three best friends are Asian, and I joined Asian Students Organization because I knew a lot of the people in it. I'm white, just so you know, and I think I might be a minority here. There aren't many African Americans. There are a good amount of Indians (from India). I think the girl/guy split is about 50/50. People here seem to be mostly left-leaning at least, but I saw a bunch of Ron Paul signs first semester, before it was even cool to like him.

Student body is hella diverse. Many, many countries are represented--especially Asian ones. You can meet the coolest kids from totally across the world and they can fill you in on perspectives you would never have imagined. Plus everyone is smart in some way since it is CMU and therefore you can make friends with probably 85{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the people you meet if you so desire.