-unique culture

-nice people

-good orientation program

-flexibility in major (we are good at everything so if you're unsure, there is a variety)

-StuCo program (student taught courses)

-ALL HAIL THE CS MAJORS

-expensive

-bad food

-career center could use some work in helping students get jobs

At CMU, there are a lot of opportunities, but you get what you put in. Pittsburgh is a pretty decent place to live and the unlimited bus pass is super great. Take advantage of freebies provided by the school (AutoCAD, Photoshop, Microsoft Office Suite, Newspaper, etc.)

Yes

Class Size: 15 to 25

Student to Faculty Ratio: 12 to 1

Uses Common App and a supplemental one. You can apply to 5 of the 6 colleges individually.

3

2013

very rigorous

early decision, very long application

3

2013

pretty good ability to take subjects in a wide range of areas, in the first couple of years the classes are pretty big but they shrink towards the end of the second year. The professors are very accessible as well as the TA's. There is a lot of work and it is hard. Advising is really a mixed bag, certain departments have great advisors, others are subpar. There are a lot of opportunities for research through professors or even your own individual research. Grading is usually fair, but definitely varies across colleges.

In general Pittsburgh and especially the area where CMU is situated is a pretty nice place, prices aren't too high and most areas are pretty accessible. Crime is a bit of a concern, but I think compared to a lot of places we have it pretty good, its a matter of just making good and safe decisions. Food on campus is ok, but Culinart definitely seemed to regress a bit after their first year.

Common App with a supplement including an individualized essay. No required interview, early decision and regular decision, don't give out a ton of financial aid/scholarships.

2

2013

This very much depends on your college. In my college (Humanities and Social Sciences) there are a lot of general education requirements (math/science, social science, humanities, language, and the arts). For your major you generally have several core requirements and several electives. You get an academic advisor when you enroll and he or she helps you register for classes and decide on what your major will be. Once you declare your major, you get a major advisor who helps you map out the rest of your courses. If you have any additional majors or minors you are assigned advisors for those as well. Carnegie Mellon is definitely an academically rigorous school, but it's not competitive at all. It's actually a very collaborative environment, and students tend to work together on assignments.

Common application and supplement with essay about why you want to attend Carnegie Mellon; binding early decision and regular decision; optional interview with admission counselor or alumni; financial aid but no merit scholarships

2011

You can't come to Carnegie Mellon and be afraid of work. You've got a core curriculum that, depending on major, is fairly set. Then there's the extra classes you can take that are awesome. It's fairly collaborative, and not at all a cutthroat, competitive environment.

Food is pretty good and diverse, housing is excellent, safety is not usually a concern. Campus can be expensive (ie meal plan and housing), but it's easy enough to move off campus.

Common Application with supplement, nothing too out of the ordinary.

3

2013

Requirements depend on the major and the program. There is a lot of advising help available. Professors are accessible and available to students. Classes are 25-35 students usually, students are not competitive for grades but rather generally collaborative, we have some AWESOME faculty, and there are lots of study abroad and work study opportunities. The workload is manageable, as long as students don't mess around.

Housing is available for 4 years, cost of living in PGH is cheap, but on campus it is expensive, there are a lot of facilities near campus and a lot of opportunities for students to live near for cheap. 3 libraries, students mostly use 1 since the others are closed/farther away. Food is good but overpriced for PGH and what it is. Good neighborhoods for the most part. Community relations could be better. Crime and safety is okay. we have our own police but the Pitt police/PGH police aren't so good at catching crime off the CMU campus. People are happy except for when the school gets involved and makes things difficult - ie Greek life.

Supplement to the Common App, essays, they have early decision

4

2012

There are 2 classes that all students have to take. One is called Computing at Carnegie Mellon. It is a half-semester, pass/fail course that you take in your first semester. It's taught by an upper-level undergraduate student, and it's really easy. It's just intended to get all the new students acquainted with Carnegie Mellon's computer network and make sure that everyone has basic computer skills. The other required class is Interpretation and Argument. It's like an English 101 class, but there are lots of different topics to choose from. The topics range from The Rhetoric of War and Free Speech and the College Campus to The Ethics of Harry Potter and Environmental Rhetoric in Science Fiction. If you choose a topic you like and you get a good class of people who like to participate in discussion the class is pretty fun. Beyond that, the requirements differ depending on your college and your major.

Though it's a very academically rigorous school, it's really not competitive. I've heard horror stories from other schools about people trying to sabotage other people. That definitely doesn't happen here. You generally see a lot of collaboration and group projects. All of my professors have been extremely accessible. They are required to hold office hours which means that there's always a time each week when you know you can go and talk to them or ask them questions. Most professors love for you to come to office hours, and they really make an effort to get to know their students even in the larger classes.

Carnegie Mellon accepts the common application. They have a supplement to the common application that doesn't involve too much, but there is an additional essay about your academic interests. They have binding early decision with 2 deadlines and then regular decision. You can participate in an interview with an admission counselor or an alumnus, but it is not required. I did not do an interview, and I still got in, so I'm not sure how big of a difference it makes. Carnegie Mellon no longer offers merit-based scholarships because it has reallocated that money to financial aid. However, there is the Carnegie Scholarship which is for students of high academic or artistic merit who filled out the FAFSA but qualified for little to no need-based aid.

3

2011

Very difficult but great preparation. Humanities while not ranked highly is amazing. Very rigiourous program, you need to know what your interested in before coming. High workload, strong grading. Very availible faculty though. Competitive but not cutthroat.

you apply to up to 5 schools, you can get a separate decision from each. There are a lot of essays but they are pretty straight forward.

1

2013