Carnegie Mellon (IS) vs Swarthmore (Econ+Comp Sci)

College Search & Selection
1

Soon, I am going to have to make a decision between Carnegie Mellon for their Information Systems major and Swarthmore for their Economics and Computer Science double major. I am a recruited athlete and have a high likelihood of getting in depending on which school I apply to ED. Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon is a combination between business and computer science and they also offer a 3+2 accelerated Masters program which I am also interested in.

So here are some of my pro’s and con’s for both schools:

Carnegie Mellon:

Pros:
Very strong on the tech side
Close to the city
Great internship opportunities

Cons:
Many anti-social internationals
Cold Climate
Buildings are somewhat ugly

Swarthmore:

Pros:
Open curriculum
Very motivated students
Close to the city

Cons:
High workload
Very small school (everyone knows everyone)
Some old crappy dorms

I have picked these two majors because I have a real interest in combining both my interests in the business and technology side of the industry and feel that these two majors both accomplish that task the best. I am just torn between the two schools and was hoping for some of your guys’ thoughts.

Thanks!

2

Yeah I can definitely see where your conflict arises. I actually have a friend who is in the SAME EXACT SITUATION and I don’t know how to help him either. In my opinion, I’d rate an education from Swarthmore higher than the standard CMU education, but the CMU name is so big that it alone opens doors and gets you known.

But I myself am big on education and Swarthmore is still considered very prestigious so i’d say go swarthmore.

3

Bump

4

CMU also has Pitt to socialize with.

5

We toured both and personally I strongly preferred CMU as did both our kids. They do have some old crummy dorms though too especially for freshmen. Cinderblock and no AC :frowning: I think the rankings for CMU are considerably higher than Swarthmore in the Tech fields. We were definitely feeling like STEM was not a priority at Swarthmore and the whole small thing got even smaller when you started talking about computer science and engineering. The other nice thing about CMU is that you can take a few classes at Pitt if you want to expand your social circle. On paper Swarthmore looked great to us but after visiting both we all had a clear preference. I assume you have visited both? Do you have preferences in the sport program? You don’t want to have to work with a coach/team that you don’t like for hours a week either.

6

@acdchai Thanks for the feedback! And yes I visited both campuses and loved both of them. Although I felt that the CMU sports program was better for me as they were more serious, had better practice facilities, and had facilities closer to the campus.

7

CMU is definitely stronger in CS - in fact it arguably has the best CS program in the country. Their business school is good too. And the 3+2 Masters program could be a good path to follow. The cons you listed are real - and CMU is very competitive in CS (but probably less so in IS) - but if it were me I’d still pick it over Swarthmore.

8

@insanedreamer Yes, the IS major is much less competitive than CompSci but the total class is much smaller at only 50 students. But so far it seems like I am leaning towards CMU.