According College board, CMU graduation within 4 years is only 69%. US News pointed 72%. I wonder whether CS and/or Engineering would have better (or worse?!) rates?
Other peer schools are around 90%+ , so it makes me wonder what factor is impacting CMU to have these low rates…
College Board:
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/professionals/four-year-graduation-rates-for-four-year-colleges.pdf
I seem to recall reading that the high % of international students tends to be a factor, The following doesn’t show four year rates but it shows international students relatively lower on a six year basis.
https://www.cmu.edu/ira/carnegie-mellon-retention-and-graduation-rates-as-of-fall-2015.pdf
Some do 5 year cs masters there. My son is a senior cs major there and will be done in four as will all his friends who are not doing masters
One factor affecting 4 year graduation rates is the number of required courses needed to complete a major. If a student decides to change majors, it often takes an extra year or so in order to complete all of the degree requirements. CMU has a fairly large set of degree requirements as compared to some other schools.
@shaninbe When we attended one of the Tartan Overnights last fall, the associate dean of the CS school was bemoaning the fact that not many of the CS undergrads continued on for Master’s degrees. In large part this was due to the number and quality of job offers. He said the median accepted salary for CS students graduating with BS degrees in 2015 was $104,000! Not many are willing to stay, pay for more education, and forgo that kind of money.
I also remember the dean of CS saying that some students graduating with BS degrees were getting insane signing bonus… $75K or so…
If students are not graduating because they are getting these amazing opportunities and just drop out… That would be fine. I am just more concerned the lower graduation rate is because it is so hard to change majors in CMU.
Yes all above is true but he does know some friends who are staying which could affect the statistic you cited. He also knows some poached by tech and not finishing a degree.
Cmu cs has a bit of a weed out philisophy, particularly second semester freshman year. I do not know if these peer institutions have such a philosophy. Some students left cmu at that point.
My D decided to give up about CMU and committed to another Engineering/CS school. She loves CS, but she was concerned there was not enough fallback options at CMU if she had a change of heart. She was also concerned about what other CMU students described as a “brutal” workload. By the way, this does not mean she didn’t admire CMU. It was a great place and she expects to go there for grad school. She just hopes to have a better well-rounded university experience before that. 
Sound reasoning. The fallback options are limited compared to other schools and the workload/culture is definitely daunting.
Have to admit that I was concerned about the fit at CMU if my daughter decided she didn’t like her major or couldn’t handle the stress. Transfers are no fun…
Good luck to your daughter - there are many possible paths to success!
D decided to pass on Cmu SCS and will attend Univ of Texas as a CS honors student. S goes to cmu and is graduating in SCS. She visited several times but just did not feel it was the place for her.
SkepticalOf Most…where did she go instead?
@IowaMom66 - she’s at CMU and doing very well!
Sorry, I was a bit vague - my concern was when she chose CMU - my wife and I weren’t sure a) how she would handle the pressure and b) what would happen if she didn’t like her major. We’re on the older side of the spectrum, paying full freight, and CMU’s a big dent in our retirement funds. Gulp…
Parents are supposed to worry, right? But the worries were all for naught.
We underestimated her.
She loves CMU, Pittsburgh (apart from the weather), her major and the program she was just accepted into for a double major. She’s active in a sorority, has a boyfriend, has done Buggy, Booth and painted the fence. She’s been to a Pirates game and wants to see the Pens and Steelers. Not sure if she’ll ever wear a kilt, though.
She worked in a research lab at CMU last summer and has a great internship lined up this summer.
Have there been rough times? Oh, yeah - there was definitely some shock her first year!
She learned that a B is OK. She learned not to freak out when she gets a 50 on a test, especially when that happens to be the median. She’s learned to accept challenges head-on.
The complaints about the stress and workload have diminished this, her second year, even during Spring Carnival when so much was going on. She’s adapted. She’s learning how to learn.
She’s tougher than we thought. Fitting that she’s in the Steel City, eh?