Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

It is very easy to get brainwashed into the "I'm going to a great school and am going to get a great job and make great money when I'm done" mentality that exists in the culture here. The prospect of getting a degree for the sake of acquiring money as a means of raising one's status undermines the development of true passion and ingenuity for a trade or a cause.

The worst thing about my school would be the lack of sleep everyone gets, due to their workloads - but that's true at most prestigious colleges, no?

The workload. I studied an average of 17 hours a week for one of my classes and it still wasn't enough.

My school has a very small focus on social life. Though there are several thousand students that attend, it is a small group of perhaps only 200 or so who "party". Also, there is a very small group of attractive women there.

The worst thing about my school would probably be the size. Because it is such a small school, everyone hears things about everyone else. This can lead to huge social problems.

In my program I was particularly dissapointed by the faculty's reluctance to accept student opinions and allow students to explore topics and projects that interested them. My colleagues and I suffered a great deal of resistance when we attempted to take on a project like this.

Personally, I could not be happier with my school. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am very glad I am where I am today.

The worst thing about my school is probabaly how busy people sometimes seem to get. It can get pretty stressful but, at the same time, you always want to do more and don't have enough time for it.

expensive, competitive

The food is often too greasy and because CMU has a large number of students, it may be difficult to find time to meet with your advisor right away.