Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

The common stereotype for CMU is that all of its students are ridiculously smart; therefore all of its students are either nerds or hipsters. And to some extent, this is true. Carnegie Mellon offers highly-competitive and intensive programs in engineering, computer science, and the arts, so the majority of the students who get in are very intelligent and hardworking individuals. So, of course, there are going to be computer science nerds and hipster film students, but don't forget that Carnegie Mellon is a school! These types of students are going to exist at all schools, from Harvard to your local community college. An unique aspect about CMU however, is that the university accepts, embraces, and even celebrates these characteristics in people. If you're a nerd at heart- be a nerd! That being said, Carnegie Mellon, perhaps better than most colleges, opens you to a world of new, unique individuals who are all different an can by no means be shoved into a stereotype. At school I've met a wide variety of students, all of them with different cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. At CMU, over 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the campus participates in Greek life, 14{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students are international, and we have students from almost all 50 of the United States. So in reality, a stereotype is just a stereotype, and no matter what type of student you are, I'm sure there will be a groups of students you will fit in with.

The stereotypical student of my school is the nerd. Not the fashionable nerd-chic cliche that's been permeating our culture, but the hard-core computer science kind of nerd. The kind of nerd that revels in Starcraft, D&D, and writing operating systems for fun. Needless to say, the stereotype is not accurate. We have so many other hobbies as well.

At Carnegie Mellon University, the stereotype that comes to mind when thinking about the students here is "socially awkward." And it's true - every day there are frequent displays of our incredibly underdeveloped social skills. This is due to the fact that most people here probably spent most of their time in high school on the internet, and thus have little experience when it comes to actually socializing. But that's okay - the personality traits that ostracized CMU students from their peers when they were in high school are the very things that guarantee that they will fit in here; instead of being viewed by your peers as awkward, you will be seen as someone who is full of quirky idiosyncrasies.

The most common stereotype of Carnegie Mellon students by far is that we are over-caffeinated, under-rested workaholics who understand how programs and machines work better than we understand people. Should you choose to go to Carnegie Mellon, you will probably meet this person, but we are not all like this. Many of us go without enough sleep and attempt to make up the difference with coffee, many of us have less than average people skills, and most of us have too much work to do, but in my experience it isn't often that I find an individual for which all of these things apply. Even when they do, the stereotype still isn't quite accurate. The reason we tend to be a bit difficult to socialize with in the "real world" is because we are all a bit off. The reason we work so hard is because of our course load, yes, but also because we set ambitious projects for ourselves that take a lot of hard work. We all have our eccentricities and passions that most people simply don't share. At Carnegie Mellon, everyone is passionate about something, and if you don't quite fit in at your school because you people just laugh politely when you make your obscure science, math, literature, or video game joke, rest assured that here you will find people to put in stitches.

There are several, rather accurate stereotypes of students at Carnegie Mellon University. We are all uniquely talented within our respective fields, but there is this intense notion of self-derived pressure and stress that we overwhelm ourselves with. We strive to be the best at nearly everything we attempt, and can be easily dissuaded from other pursuits, especially social advancement. With this having been said, Carnegie Mellon University students, regardless of their major or interests, are notably awkward to interact with. We have our fair share of geeks, stoners, etc., but we all share this multi-tasking ability that hinders what could be considered 'normal' interpersonal communication.

Whether you're a nerd in the cultural sense (a science fiction addict, a gamer, an active participant in live action role playing) or in the more academic sense (you read literary criticism for fun, you spend hours beyond those required to ensure you not only get an A, but also actually learn something and maintain that knowledge) you’re sure to find your kind here.

Students at Carnegie Mellon University are known to be intellectual, ambitious, and overall pretty geeky. Because of our very successful engineering and computer science programs, many of the students at CMU can be considered "nerds." It is not completely true that CMU is where "fun comes to die," but students do seem to spend more time in the computer clusters than most other places. It has also been said that CMU has a lot of "fruits and nuts." Also, with the women to men ratio being overwhelmingly male dominated, ladies should be warned that "the odds are good, but the goods are odd." Overall, Carnegie Mellon is a place for individuals who are intellectual and driven. It is a place for engaged youths with an inner nerd. It is a place where brains outweigh brawn.

There's definitely a perception that Carnegie Mellon is full of freaks and geeks, so to speak. And you could understand where this perception comes from--we wouldn't be so well-known for our technology and computer science programs if some folks weren't glued to their screens all day. But this isn't the whole picture--CMU excels in the arts as well, from drama to architecture to the visual arts. The saying, "the odds are good but the goods are odd" stems from the fact that CMU is home to a lot geeky guys. Stereotypes begin for a reason (there are a lot of geeky guys here) but again, there's more to it than that. There's a lot of people from all over the country (guys and gals!) and the world, involving in everything from robotics to football to journalism to student-run theater.

CMU students are generally thought of as introverted, cave-dwelling nerd beasts. And to be honest, we have a few of those. But the vast majority of people are outgoing, personable, and interesting, often because of their quirks and geekiness. They're all weird, but who isn't? CMU owns their oddity.

The common stereotype for CMU is that all of its students are ridiculously smart; therefore all of its students are either nerds or hipsters. And to some extent, this is true. Carnegie Mellon offers highly-competitive and intensive programs in engineering, computer science, and the arts, so the majority of the students who get in are very intelligent and hardworking individuals. So, of course, there are going to be computer science nerds and hipster film students, but don't forget that Carnegie Mellon is a school! These types of students are going to exist at all schools, from Harvard to your local community college. An unique aspect about CMU however, it that the university accepts, embraces, and even celebrates these characteristics in people. If you're a nerd at heart- be a nerd! That being said, Carnegie Mellon, perhaps better than most colleges, opens you to a world of new, unique individuals who are all different an can by no means be shoved into a stereotype. At school I've met a wide variety of students, all of them with different cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. At CMU, over 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the campus participates in Greek life, 14{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students are international, and we have students from almost all 50 of the United States. So in reality, a stereotype is just a stereotype, and no matter what type of student you are, I'm sure there will be a groups of students you will fit in with.