Carnegie Mellon or Georgetown?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
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<h2>I am currently a high school senior who was accepted to both Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown. Carnegie Mellon has a strong reputation as a comp sci/engineering/arts school, while Georgetown is more known for politics. Both are the same price for me, since I do not qualify for any financial aid. I intend to be a math or science major (not going pre-med) and I hope to prepare myself well for a job. I might get a second major in business or comp sci, whichever one that is more marketable to employers/fits me better. I am graduating at the top of my high school class and received high scores on my standardized tests. I know when I go to college everyone will be like me (or even stronger than I) with respect to standardized test scores and GPA. But below I do ask some questions about academic rigor below so I hope that helps to gauge what I am looking for!</h2>

<p>Carnegie Mellon </p>

<p>Pros:
-Strong reputation for the field I am interested in (math/science/business)
-Generally high pay for a bachelor degree (Math median $70,000, Comp Sci median $100,000, Physics median $75,000)
-Lots of math/science extracurriculars
-Full of people who are interested in the same areas of study
-Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture!</p>

<p>Cons:
-Very high Asian population (my parents are Asian -I grew up/was born here- but they do not think it is a positive environment for me since I grew up in a mostly white area, so in their eyes less Asians = less competition. They went to college here with a lot of Asians and told me that Asians that speak the native language tend to flock together, whereas I am not a strong speaker). They think the "curve will be killed" in a sense, and I would be left in the dust.
-Campus was not my favorite...it was okay. Got mixed feelings
-Pittsburgh area....job/internships available for college students? Not sure, but I heard there are a lot for comp sci people like Google and Microsoft? And what other types of internships?
-Social life? I heard from a friend who went there that most math/engineering/science students "always studied" like more than 24 hours spent at a library. The friend who went there was a social science major, so her workload was different
-Some don't have a social life because all they do is work, but some with less work-intensive majors had more time
-I met a few people who were really nerdy (I'm a nerd, but rather ordinary) but not all were like that</p>

<h2>-Far drive to get home!</h2>

<p>Georgetown</p>

<p>Pros:
-Located in D.C. where it seems to have lots of internships (but not sure if those are more oriented towards politics or if it includes business?)
-Lifestyle I hear is work hard, but there is also time to have fun
-Good reputation for politics, but I heard the sciences were pretty good too
-Campus is beautiful (so I've heard...I am visiting soon)
-Less diverse student population
-Far enough without being too far</p>

<p>Cons:
-I am not insanely rich, so no I do not own yachts like some of the people I see in the accepted students group! But I still have to pay full price :(. I guess the real question is will I fit in?
-Not as well known for math and science fields compared to Carnegie Mellon
-Dorms are not as good as Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Questions:
1. Is CMU really a place where you "choose two" between "grades, sleep, and social life?"
2. Is CMU more competitive than Georgetown? I want to be at a school where I am challenged, but I don't want to be crying or worrying at 2 in the morning after 22 hours of studying about failing when I am putting forth all of my effort.
3. Which degree looks more favorably to employers in the math/science or business fields?
4. Which location is better to get internships? Easier to get a job after I graduate? I intend to get my bachelors then go to work...hopefully get my masters in the future.
5. Social life at both schools?
6. Any job advice to a math/business/comp sci oriented student? I was wondering about pharmacy if I chose chemistry vs. larger variety of jobs as a math or comp sci major? Which one is more flexible?
7. I know I have to ultimately decide and go there for the next 4 years, but which would you guys choose?
8. Can anyone comment on any of the academic majors that I am interested in for Georgetown/CMU?
9. How difficult is it to graduate on time?
10. Is it hard to transfer to other schools within the university? If I go to Georgetown College but later want to transfer to their McDonough School of Business is it difficult? If I got to CMU is it difficult to double major (I was accepted to both Mellon College of Science and the Humanities and Social Science School.)</p>

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<p>I don’t know much about Georgetown, but I will try my best to answer the CMU aspect of your questions.</p>

<ol>
<li>While CMU does get a reputation of being a hard working school (probably deservedly so), you can still do all three if you plan your time well.</li>
<li>CMU is pretty competitive, and most people have a couple moments in their undergraduate careers where they feel like they’re not good enough. But if you work reasonably hard and are reasonably smart you will get reasonably good grades, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The people who truly fail out are the ones who give up. Also 2 in the morning is not that late, you need perspective.</li>
<li>CMU is a pretty good degree. Georgetown is too, but in my clearly biased opinion I’ll vote CMU looks better.</li>
<li>I would be surprised if Gerogetown could compete with the career environment at CMU. Companies, especially in technology/computer science, are very eager to hire CMU students for internships/full time positions.</li>
<li>This one probably goes to Georgetown. CMU does not have a great social atmosphere. That isn’t to say there aren’t parties or social outlets (there are), but they are reduced and definitely tamer than at most other schools. Also CMU’s lack of student interest in varsity sports is quite notable.</li>
<li>Can’t comment.</li>
<li>Tough call, but I don’t think you can go wrong either way. You’ll have fun and you’ll get a good job either way, so don’t worry about it too much.</li>
<li>Computer Science is very, very competitive at CMU, and it is one of the most respected CS programs in the world. Math and business are also well respected, but not on the same scale. Business classes tend to be pretty easy here, but I think business kind of works that way at every school.</li>
<li>If you put in a decent effort you should have no problem graduating on time. The people who don’t graduate on time either do very poorly when they first get here or they change majors relatively late in the game.</li>
<li>Transferring colleges is not trivial at CMU as it is at most other places. You need to apply and you need to have done decently well. Transferring into SCS and CFA is especially difficult. However, anyone can declare an “additional major” in mostly anything, and that generally requires no application process at all.</li>
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