Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

The best thing about CMU is the facilities, the computer labs are really good. I'd change the girls at CMU if I could change one thing, they're all too ugly. The people who know about CMU think its sweet but about half of them don't know about it. Most of my time is spent at the fraternity house. This isn't a college town... its a college block. CMU's administration is ok but they could be a little more open to fun. There is no CMU pride, but reasonably so.

The opportunities after graduation. location. size is just right. impressed. dorm or fraternity house. college town. snobby and stuck-up. no school pride. weather.

The best thing about CMU is that it is easy and possible to change things. The truth is that people here never seem to care about the community, and here is the only school, where you can grab coffee with the Deans or have lunch with the President. The school is just right in size, big enough to see everything. But small enough to get to know a group of people that have similair interests as you. The college town is great, but CMU doesn't seem to utilize it. There is not a lot of school pride, most people got rejected from their first choice and are pissed.

CMU is a great school if you like different people and cultures you may not be familiar with. There is a lot to do in Pittsburgh, and people that say there isn't are usually those that love to complain. A good amount of people here are snobs from rich eastern seaboard towns or an international hub. This is what I'd want to change the most. People here have huge egos but not all the skills and talents in order to make it plausible. There are many brats here spending their parents money and acting as if they have earned something. It is a very big problem at CMU. That rant aside, it is a great place to go for the academics and you can meet smart, well rounded people. Some people here do have extraordinary minds, both analytically and creatively, but everyone at CMU also claims they do as well so finding the truth can become difficult.

Wow, CMU the big picture. I dont even know where to start with this... Carnegie Mellon is, in my opinion and of course I'm biased, the greatest place in the world to go to school if you want to learn, work hard, meet amazing people, and do things you never thought you would ever get the chance to do. For me, coming from a pretty small town to a pretty big city was a little bit of a shock but the relatively small size of Carnegie Mellon makes everything seem closer to home. There are so many things to do here (like shows and sporting events and museums) that I have never had the chance to do. That being said though, Pittsburgh is not a college town. You kinda have to know what is going on and when, but there is always some party going on. Mostly people can't believe that I go to Carnegie Mellon. My friends make fun of me because I'm not good at video games and people that I meet for the first time are always surprised I go here. I get mixed responses from people such as "Wow I didn't think you guys ever left your rooms" to "That must mean you are really smart". It's always fun to see people's reactions. If I could change one thing it would be the school spirit on campus. I love all sports, both playing them and watching them, and I really wish more people shared the same view. Sport events are fun to go to here though especially if you can get some rowdy people to join you! The most common complaint is that CMU is killing their students. It's a really hard school to get in to and unlike most difficult schools to get into, it gets harder when you get here. If you can put the time in and the work it's doable.

CMU is not a cookie-cutter university, and students here do not have a cookie-cutter experience. This is a quirky place. We stay true to our Scottish roots. We are proud to be the Tartans, even though a piece of cloth is not a particularly intimidating mascot. If for some reason we feel the urge to have a conversation with a robot, we can satisfy that desire. On the weekends, we can watch musical theater performances put on by future Broadway stars. We have a fence and we like to paint it. A lot. But only between midnight and sunrise. Due to a recent art installation on campus, CMU is the only school where you will find students asking "is that a real person, or part of Walking to the Sky?" We put tiny people in small, aerodynamic vehicles and race them. Saying the word "carnival" within earshot of a CMU student is likely to result in stories of debauchery and the discovery that everyone here is capable of being a successful carpenter. All in all, CMU is a pretty unique place.

The best thing about CMU is that when you graduate you know you will have a job, especially if you're an engineer, but employers just seem to really like our students in general. If I could change one thing it would be the workload -- it really can be too much at times. The school size is about right, though by the time you're a senior you will feel like you know everybody, which is sort-of nice but it can feel a bit like high school again. We have Pitt next door and a few other colleges around but it still doesn't feel much like a college town. CMU's administration is really concerned with helping students cope with the workload, I haven't given it a lot of thought but I'd say they do a great job helping kids enjoy their college experience. Most frequent student complaint: too much work. No big controversies on campus that I'm aware of, that is one unique thing about CMU, students are pretty self-absorbed so there's not a lot of campus-wide issues that really dominate discussion. An experience I'll always remember is singing karaoke at one of the campus cafeterias on Friday nights -- I don't know if they still have that, but it was a lot of fun.

The best thing about CMU is the diversity. Our school is a melting pot of international students and students from every state in the nation. Furthermore the diversity of the academic colleges allows for a student interested in policy making to see fantastic shows from drama students while working on a project that somehow includes robots! I would change the perception that CMU doesn't have an engaged student population. The size of CMU is small enough to not feel overwhelmed and to be able to know a lot of people while being large enough to still see random people who you have never met before. Since it is located in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh I wouldn't call it a college town but rather a college city. With five universities in one neighborhood you are surrounded by a lot of students and the amenities that goes along with that. If you want to about anything unusual about Carnegie Mellon it's summed up in four words, Booth, Buggy and Greek Sing. I will always remember the feeling of winning Greek Sing after practicing for 4 months for a fifteen minute show with my fraternity brothers and a sorority.

CMU is a great school as a whole. Like most schools it has it's ups and downs and one of the "lacking" qualities of CMU is its student involvement. We have a huge international community which adds to the cultural flare on campus but at times the sensitivity of these segments can get overwhelming. CMU has a very devoted passion toward diversity and individuality. They are building campuses and university relationships across the globe and the opportunity to work at or attend one of these programs is fairly easy if you know who to ask. Stress is high, however, leading to an environment where the week is completely devoted to school and Friday night is almost always an excuse to unwind...if you're not in the library finishing the paper that's due at midnight.