<p>Our youngest child is interested in CMU and we plan to visit the first week of September, which is the only time she can attend with CMU students on campus and not miss part of senior year of high school. Unfortunately, that week is a break week for the CMU admissions tours, but the nice lady in the admissions office said we can do pretty well on a self-guided tour with their self-guided brochure. </p>
<p>Any advice on what to do and see on campus? Our daughter is interested in mechanical engineering with a strong leaning towards product design. We have most of a day free for CMU and Pittsburgh (which is a new city for us).</p>
<p>(We've been through the college process twice before and mainly are interested in CMU as a fit for our daughter, not how the general process works except for CMU quirks).</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Hey that’s what DS, CMU '06, did. Dualed in ME and in HCI, product design. </p>
<p>I self toured while DS was doing graduation parties. Look for display cases in the engineering buildings, Student art in their art gallery. This is a compact campus with even the furthest CMU apartments are just a 10 minutes walk to classrooms. (I went to a landgrant school with buildings a good 10minute hard bike ride apart.)</p>
<p>Any college will be a mix of classrooms, offices, and laboratories. If you been to a classroom before, they are all alike. </p>
<p>Since school is in session, ask a upperclassmen for assistance. Lucky you, that the dorms are still clean :). </p>
<p>Taxguy, always says to visit the facilities of dorms, common areas, and instructional buildings.</p>
<p>Visit Shadyside, Oakland, Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, Pitt’s Chapel, and the Carnegie Library and Museum. </p>
<p>So how much time do you have?</p>
<p>Contact the ME department directly and see if your D can get an appointment and maybe they can even set up a student tour of the engineering department. Our S did that in CS during his pre-college investigative visit - was hosted by CS in the morning (and sat in on a class) then did the official admissions tour etc in the afternoon.</p>
<p>The new Gates and Hillman centers are just open (still partly under construction last weekend) and are very different from the usual type of classrooms and offices - not sure if they’ve added it to their tour brochure yet!</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s on the self-guided tour but be sure to take a good look around the University Center, which is essentially the heart of campus and the location of the majority of dining places and student services. Food has not historically been that great but there’s a new vendor so maybe it’s better now?</p>
<p>If your D is interested in sororities you could probably contact one of them and ask for a visit. You won’t be able to get into a dorm without a student but possibly your D could start up a conversation near one of the freshmen dorms and get an invite in.</p>
<p>You may not have time to see them all, but Oakland, Shadyside, and Squirrel Hill are all close to campus and frequent destinations of students. If you have a spare hour, head over the hill right behind campus and visit Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park. Students can get in for free and it’s a very nice place to relax, especially in the dead of winter.</p>