Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

One of the most underrated student bodies in the country in terms of intellect. Overall impression is that this is one of the best schools in the country to focus on academics and be thrown into interdisciplinary study. Every student at Carnegie Mellon chooses a specific major in one of the 7 colleges and is required to minor in a college other than the one they are majoring in. This makes every student on campus have a really specific knowledge in their major and an often unrelated and multidisciplinary edge due to the minor requirement. CMU is a great school for students who know what the want before they get to college.

The first thing you need to know about this school is that you will be doing insane amounts of work, and so will everyone else. Always. Even the weekends. All the time. Which isn't a bad thing! One of the reasons I decided to come here because I wanted to be challenged by the work I was doing instead of being able to easily grab straight A's and party. One of the few things I absolutely loathe about this place, though, is the hierarchy that seems to exist within the school. Essentially, Humanities and Business students are thought to do less work, followed by CFA, MCS, and then CIT, then SCS (of course). Its not that big of a deal, though. Also, Stress culture. People seem to be ruled by how much work they do-- people go around saying stuff like, Aw, I only got three hours of sleep last night! and the next guy will be all like, yeah, well I only got two! And they'll sort of laugh it out but you know the first guy was trying to sound all stressed and worked to death-- but he got beaten. Its a really terrible little game that happens sometimes, so if you aren't really excellent at coping with heavy stress, don't come here. Seriously. Don't. As far as Pittsburgh goes, its pretty cool. The transportation is free (the bus, I mean), there's a lot of cool places, shopping centers, cute little shops, museums (which you can get into free-- score! if thats your thing.) And of course be ready to have some hardcore CMU pride. If you are here, you learn to love it and everyone here, because you know that if you are surviving at CMU then you can probably survive anything. Most people on campus think we work harder than-- and are more successful than-- Ivy League students, for the fact that we work so hard, and pour so much of ourselves into it. A lot of the time CMU is thought of as second best (to MIT and other techy schools, ivies, so on), and that is a big part of CMU pride. For whatever reason, a lot of us were told we weren't good enough-- so CMU students have this sort of revenge thing. We will do amazing things. We will prove that they made the wrong decision! Whoever they are. And it feels awesome because for the most part, it's true. So, I suppose you should draw the line at how much you are willing to pour into your education. If it isn't your entire mind, body and soul, then watch out for this one. But if you are ready to take on a challenge and excel because of it, this is the place for you. Everyone here is super chill, you can be whatever you want to be, and you can pursue your life and education in the most intense, most satisfying ways. It gets tough, but its definitely worth it!

I'd say the best thing about this school is the self-directed way it's run. If you want to do well or just fail everything, no one is going to stop you. If you want to sit in your room glued to a book on Saturday nights or go get drunk at a frat, there's no real pressure either way. If I could change anything it would be the absence of school pride. Crowds at sporting events are pretty small, and most of them are there just to see the band play since it's basically a comedy group. The school is a bit small, but not suffocating. Pittsburgh is a pretty cool place, but the bulk of people never leave campus which is a shame. The biggest controversy recently was a girl who wore a pope hat and paraded naked with a cross shaved...well, I'll let you figure out where. Since this school is overwhelmingly liberal, most people supported her. Big complaints include the meal plan and lack of a social scene. The food isn't too bad, but it gets old and eventually you just want to break away from it. Eventually you'll settle in and find your favorite place(s) to eat. However, I have to agree that the social scene here is severely lacking. If you want to party and have a solid social life, you pretty much need to join Greek life or play on a varsity team. The only real stereotypical "bro" frat just got kicked off campus, so most of the groups just function as a group of guys who like to have a good time. Each group has a unique personality (big drinkers, nerds, stoners, normal guys, try-hards, and more) so go to plenty of rush events and see where you fit in the best. There's even one or two dry frats (whether they actually are is questionable). Sorority recruitment is a bit more formal and they pretty much decide for you where you'll join. It's possible to be an independent and have a fun time here, it just takes a lot of work.

This school is definitely a weird place to be. But the key thing to remember is that everyone here knows the stereotypes of this school, which makes CMU an easy place to fit in. The school is pretty small, so you'll always see at least two friends on the way to class and back. But one unique thing about this school is the social-awkwardness that is definitely present across many students, including myself sometimes. CMU sort of makes you self-conscious of introversion, and pushes you to become more outgoing. It also teaches you to be proud of your quirks, since it's easy to find one or two other people that are into the same hobby or weird thing you're into.

This school is definitely a weird place to be. But the key thing to remember is that everyone here knows the stereotypes of this school, which makes CMU an easy place to fit in. But social-awkwardness is definitely present across many students, including myself sometimes, so CMU sort of makes you self-conscious of introversion, and pushes you to become more outgoing.

I love SMU. The school spirit could be a million times better but our athletic program is getting better and better each year. SMU is excellent for people interested in business, for those wanting to go to med school I don't know if this school is for you. The networking capabilities at SMU are outrageous. The alumni love to meet with current students and help them out in anyway they can. While at SMU I have worked for the Redskins, helped throw Leigh Steinberg's annual Super Bowl party, and received multiple job offers. Living in Dallas is my favorite part of SMU. There is ALWAYS something to do. We are only 4 miles from downtown Dallas, and there is never a weekend without something to do.

Overall SMU provided a solid undergrad experience. There are many activities to get involved in; however, the student must ask around to find out some of the great available opportunities. The school is about medium sized, though there is not much school pride. The football team is making a comeback so some of the school spirit is slowly changing. I wish there was more focus on multiculturalism- there are several cultural organizations, but none of them are mainstream. The campus itself is beautiful, has won many awards for it's beautification- definitely a great place to be

Coming to Carnegie Mellon was initially a bit of a gamble for me because of the unfamiliar location (I am from LA, California) and because it was the only university I applied to without my original intended major. However, I’m three semesters into college and am completely convinced that coming to Carnegie Mellon was the best decision I could have made. The best thing about Carnegie Mellon is that no matter what major you decide to pursue, each program is extremely well developed and guaranteed to improve and advance whatever skills sets you plan on using for your potential career path. Carnegie Mellon is well known not only for its cutting-edge programs in computer science and engineering, its known for its phenomenal fine arts programs in theater, architecture, and design. Other programs Carnegie Mellon excels in include business, psychology, and professional/creative writing. Basically no matter what you end up studying at this school, you’re bound to get an incredible education that will well prepare you for the future. Generally, when people hear that I attend Carnegie Mellon, they are either very impressed or unfamiliar with schools in Pittsburgh, PA. People that know about CMU usually know the school for particular programs we have that are amongst the top in the country. The more disappointed reaction may come from the fact that I went from LA to Pittsburgh; however, I love Pittsburgh as a college location because it has just enough “city” to it without being too distracting and overwhelming like if I had gone to school in NYC (which was a serious consideration for me while I was determining where I wanted to go). Another appeal of Carnegie Mellon for me is the size of the campus/number of students. CMU is a medium-sized school with roughly 5,800 undergraduate students and 3,200 graduate students. For me, this size was ideal because it’s small enough that I can have intimate-sized classes with active discussions yet big enough that I can still meet new people every day outside of class. The campus itself is about 145 acres, quite beautiful and has a lot of open grass space. One thing that I feel like CMU lacks in may be school spirit, most likely because we don’t have any dominant sports teams (though we do have some small club and intramural sports) to cheer for. Our football team is a pretty big joke and though I would eventually like to go to a game one day, there is not a whole lot of incentive to spend your time at a CMU football game instead of doing work or hanging out elsewhere. On the plus side, we have many active organizations on campus that keep our students lively and excited about other campus events.

Starting answering!Academic life varies a lot depending on your major. Drama students seem like almost their own fraternity: older students guide younger ones, and professors make the whole Drama school feel like a community. Architecture students also grow close, through infamous long hours in the studio. The humanities college has less of a unified or tight-knit feel, though Creative Writing, for instance, has its own lounge, which gives its students a bit of a hang-out place. It is true that Carnegie Mellon is known for engineering. It has a strong reputation for drama (Zachary Quinto among others!) and music, and just that you go here is usually enough to make someone think you’re smart. But nearly all the job fairs will be a waste of time for a humanities student (unless you also program software). Just wait for the annual Creative Arts Opportunities Conference. Your college’s reputation also affects what sort of interesting people are brought to campus: it’s going to be more tech and science people than writers and artists. One of the best parts of Carnegie Mellon is the energy of the students. While studying abroad, I missed the creative intellectualism of CMU. A lot of the students here like to talk, and will sit down with you for hours to discuss and joke around. Some of my best conversations have been with people I just met, which says something about the friendliness here. The student organizations are another true strength of the college. There is a wide variety, including improv, dance, Buggy, satire, juggling, philosophy . . . .Most importantly, many people get very involved in their clubs, and thanks to clubs there’s often a lot going on. The college makes an effort to provide activities as well; for instance, movie showings on a big screen are offered for $1 Thursday through Saturday. Dining is different at CMU than at most colleges. Instead of a dining hall, there are many separate vendors. This means you have more control over what food you get (you’re not stuck with typical dining hall buffet). Vendors range from hamburgers to vegetarian, from Indian to soups and salads. This means you can find places you like, but that there’s not a central eating place, and that you won’t meet people at meals. There’s a lot to do on campus and a lot to do in the city, though transport is a bit difficult, due to a slow bus system. Chances are you won’t spend much time in Downtown Pittsburgh, though if you do make it there, you’ll find plays, museums, and sports stadiums. In general, CMU supports you doing whatever you want, be that going abroad or organizing your own major. However, as a side effect, there’s a lot of opportunity to make your own plan and not as much structure. Advising is de-centralized, with an advisor for your major, another for your minor, another for study abroad, and another for your general college. Choosing specific teachers to talk to can help get you more detailed advice.

The most often overlooked part of attending a school like Carnegie Mellon, after you wade through all the complaints of a limited party scene and back-breaking course load, is that it is located in the heart of one of the most culturally alive cities in America. It is a sports town filled with Steeler crazies and Crosby fanatics, as well a home to an immensely diverse interweaving of neighborhoods and colleges, which makes for an excellent mix of young college lifestyle and steel era family. The best part about saying you go to Carnegie Mellon is hearing the reactions of people who know about it's successes. My favorite was from a family member in the South who said, "isn't that the school that embarrasses UPitt in every way possible?" Maybe not in the way of legendary parties, but everything else that matters, yes.