<p>@lucky2010: easy stuff. No, seriously, MechE’s tell me that the first year is easy.</p>
<p>@CMUGUY2014: It is hard for Von Ahn to turn down Google after the sheer amount of free stuff they threw at him. Well, 213 was hard because of Kesden, but since this time it’s being taught by Bryant and O’hallaway (the authors of the 213 textbook) difficulty is still up in the air. I hear 211 is lots of work, but in no way backbreaking (except for the 20 page midterm). 212 is definitely hard. ML is an amazing language, but I suspect that it’s the math (and the strict rules on good-styled code) that hurts.</p>
<p>I don’t think any CIT student has it easy-- (well - maybe CivE relatively speaking). MechE is considered one of the most difficult majors on campus after SCS and ECE. ArchE perhaps has the largest work load along with SCS == that’s what I’ve heard from my D and her friends. I think it’s fair to say though that students work together on their 20 hour a week problem sets-- so you aren’t holed up in your dorm room or the library by yourself- your friends are those you start forming study groups with - very different from other top engineering schools.</p>
<p>Regarding English- those topics CHANGE every semester-- some stay for a while…but the genocide one was the most popular this past year, and the year before it was Obama/Race that was the big topic. Unless the English grad student teaching the course has a very focused topic-- chances are that half the sections offered are the same topic – who knows what it will be next Fall-- it will be up by June which is when you start looking at things in anticipation of July course registration (after AP scores are in). At least half the sections are taught by a 4th or 5th year English grad student-- amazing that there are any at CMU – !</p>
<p>Engineering majors other than ECE take the same classes first year:
Chem, Physics, Computing, 2 Intro courses, Freshman English and a GE…that’s pretty standard at CMU and most schools. The more AP credits out of the way- the more opportunity to try out other options for a minor outside of CIT and/or take it light to get accustomed to college life and actually enjoy yourself (something BCO noted as well).</p>
<p>CIT restricts you to 4 classes in the Fall and you only get approved to hit 5 if you pass a 3.0 Fall semester. News flash-- there are no +/- s at CMU-- and the average GPA is 3.1 for the college as a whole. Don’t be upset-- they tell parents at opening day presentations not to be upset if their previously stellar “A” student gets a 2.5 first semester! Good news-- you don’t have to tell your grades to your parents – FERPA mails nothing to the home address- it’s all electronic. Getting an A in Physics for Engineering is not easy.</p>
<p>Well, I can probably IB out of math, history and english. Also spanish, but is that even required? I also don’t know how I feel about getting out of IB math, mainly because I feel like I should take the engineering math to keep the knowledge in. History, I hate. English I’m okay with, the comics class seems interesting.</p>
<p>Dang, I hate chem. That’s for mechE? argh. I like physics, chem was boring as all heck and my teacher was terribly, hopefully I’ll like it better there.</p>
<p>The immigration course this year was a weekly lecture we had to attend given by a professor in CS where they basically just talked about their projects and research. To be honest, i slept through about 75% of them. There weren’t any socialization points, but there were weekly “photo races” where we had to go take pictures of ourselves at various buildings on campus and locations down Forbes. These were designed to get CS kids out of their dorms/the cluster, but I found it ironic that it punished those who already were out and about because they would lose the race since they weren’t sitting at their computer the second the email got sent out.</p>
<p>Back in the day when I was a freshman half of my CS friends had to lie about their activities in order to pass the class. Hopefully that number’s gone down in recent years so it would make sense to phase it out. ;)</p>
<p>(I’ll never forget when one of my friends hosted a weekend bagger to get some points. He lost him around 1:00 AM, and we had to hunt all over campus to find him. Turns out his roommate had taken the bagger to the CS lounge where the kid said he’d rather stay than with us!)</p>
<p>@Racin: Oh god that’s embarrassing. I think it’s improved some since then, since the typical SCS candidate now has a little more leadership experience than “I sit in my closet and write operating systems lol.”</p>
<p>@Lake: Depending on where you come from, the winters either suck hard or aren’t that bad. I’m from california, so the winters suck hard. We got a ton of snow this winter but apparently that’s very rare for Pittsburgh and usually we don’t get more than 3-5 inches of snow at a time, and only for a couple months.</p>
<p>@applebee: The fine arts program is pretty serious, and according to the director it’s a lot more conceptually based than technically. They want to see that you can put meaning, creativity and ingenuity behind your art rather than just have the technical skills mastered.</p>
<p>I remember it generally getting cold in early November and not really warming up until late March through mid-April.</p>
<p>I think one thing you have to keep in mind is how your body will adjust to the temperature changes. When it’s 20° out at noon for a week, suddenly 50 feels like t-shirt weather.</p>
<p>that’s true, too. I used to bundle up in a sweatshirt if it dropped past 54, but now I’m out in shorts and a tank top in 50 degrees just because I forget what the sun feels like in January.</p>
<p>Hello! I was admitted to HSS, and I"m almost certain I will be attending CMU this fall! But I’m slightly worried because it’s such a sciencey school and I don’t know if I will have the same opportunities/resources to explore my major…</p>
<p>I was accepted as undeclared, but I’m really interested in international relations and business. If I decide to pursue a major in international relations, how hard/easy will it be for me to find internships, jobs both during and after my undergrad years? I know CMU is very highly ranked in terms of prestige but the impression I have is that a lot of it comes from the science and the arts program there. Will this kind of degree be as valuable as any other from CMU?</p>
<p>Also, is it possible to somehow do both international relations AND business? I do realize that the latter is probably for people admitted to Tepper, but I’m still interested.</p>
<p>capo17, I was just wondering. How is the Pre-med experience for you at CMU? How hard are the pre-med requirement classes, like Modern Biology?
Do AP credits help you take out pre-med requirement classes?</p>
<p>@gashergina: International Relations is in HSS, but business is in Tepper (unless you’re talking about Econ), so you might find yourself switching colleges once you get here. HSS is a very highly respected school, and we’re welcomed on campus just as much as the other colleges, even though we’re considered the “easiest” to get into. It’s true that our classes are not perceived as difficult by the other colleges, but that’s mostly because in HSS, the majority of your classes will be writing based rather than, say, lab or programming based. You’ll have essays instead of code to turn in. :)</p>
<p>It is still just as valuable a degree as from any other school. CMU is very highly ranked in a lot of humanities areas you wouldn’t think it to be (like creative writing and cognitive psych). With a little bit of self marketing, you’ll be off to a good internship in no time.</p>
<p>@laure327: Yes, it does. Welcome to Pittsburgh. Rain, sleet, snow and hail. :)</p>
<p>I have lived in Pittsburgh for 17 years now and the weather gets more extreme every year. For example, IT IS 80 DEGREES today and tomorrow. That usually never happens in April. Also, it has snowed more this year than ever in Pittsburgh. I had two winter breaks because we missed school for ten days straight and then we had two hour delays for 5 days after that. Be prepared for anything when it comes to weather.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to note that Pittsburgh’s 15289 entry on weather.com frequently has an “Air quality” alert and is voted the # 1 poorest air quality city on the East coast…</p>
<p>That said, I’ve visited at least 4 times in each of the last 2 years and cannot smell anything foul nor do I faint. Must be some micro-carncinogens they are measuring…cannot be worse than smoking!</p>
<p>What’s a little rain…buy an umbrella, buy a good pair of waterproof snow boots for winter, have a warm coat and an all-season coat…and you’re ready for the four seasons which is Pittsburgh’s regular weather.</p>
<p>I don’t remember the air quality really being that bad in Pittsburgh while I lived there. The worst days I can recall were during the summer, and that won’t matter unless you’re spending the summer in town.</p>
<p>Unlike Los Angeles where I can always taste the air each time I leave the area and come back.</p>