<p>I will be attending one of these schools for engineering in the fall, which of these two schools would offer the best balance between academics and social life? Thanks</p>
<p>Academics - Carnegie wins by a little margin
Social Life - Tufts wins by a huge margin (Boston ftw)</p>
<p>Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, CMU social life blows.</p>
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<p>If your intended major is engineering, I’d say Carnegie Mellon wins by a huge margin.</p>
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<p>Are you still conflicted about your decision not to attend CMU and play a sport? It sounds like you are still trying to convince yourself that you made the right decision. That is too bad. CMU may not be the right place for you, but I have met many (sociable) alumni who enjoyed it.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon is very well known for their engineering program; when I hear “Tufts,” I think of Theater, because the only student I’ve known personally who attended Tufts was a drama geek; so I recommend CMU for engineering. That decision is based soley on rankings and opinionated discussions I’ve had with other prospective students.</p>
<p>I haven’t lived in Pittsburgh or Boston, so I can’t comment on the social life yet. Sorry.</p>
<p>"Are you still conflicted about your decision not to attend CMU and play a sport? It sounds like you are still trying to convince yourself that you made the right decision. That is too bad. CMU may not be the right place for you, but I have met many (sociable) alumni who enjoyed it. "</p>
<p>Actually I was strongly considering CMU until their FA package sucked and I couldn’t afford it. So it looks like I will either be a tar heel or a wahoo this fall. </p>
<p>I guess engineering at CMU is a lot stronger than Tufts but I’ve heard Tufts engineering is pretty underrated.</p>
<p>I am in this EXACT same position. I am not going for engineering, but for cognitive science. CMU is currently re-evaluating my financial aid package, and if they can match Tufts, then I face a veryyy difficult decision.</p>
<p>Tufts seems like the best overall college experience, but I have this gut feeling that CMU’s academics blow Tufts away. Agree/disagree?</p>
<p>GhandiBurger…that’s quite a creative username :)</p>
<p>To us Tufts seemed like a liberal arts school with Engineering tucked in. I really thought it would appeal to our IB student / engineer. But he did not like it all. I could see it being a good fit for students that don’t want an ultra-geeky school.</p>
<p>CMU seemed more intense, with a higher proportion of engineering / comp sci students. It still has other majors too. We did find that CMU had more to offer for amatuer musicians than we had expected, since they have music majors there too. </p>
<p>Good luck wherever you land!</p>
<p>"Tufts seems like the best overall college experience, but I have this gut feeling that CMU’s academics blow Tufts away. Agree/disagree? "</p>
<p>Prestige-wise, yes CMU blows Tufts out of the water. Academics, I would not say the same. I’m not one for USNWR rankings but they are not very far apart at all.</p>
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<p>There are no undergraduate rankings for cognitive science, but CMU’s graduate program in cognitive psychology is rated # 2 in the nation according to the latest USNWR rankings (April 2010). I believe it is hard to beat that.</p>
<p>Two very different alternatives. CMU is much better academically for engineering but may be a little lacking on the social side. Tufts engineering program is good but a very small part of the overall school. At CMU you will feel like you are at engineering school, at Tufts you will feel like you are at college.</p>
<p>I know that some of CMU’s programs are ranked, and most of Tufts’ are not, which is kind of important to me, and should be to anyone serious about academics and college. And I know that I cannot lose at either school, but I want to know what I do not win by going to one or the other.</p>
<p>I was walking around CMU today, and as classes are winding down, it seems like the campus is preparing for their big carnival thing. Some of the students were dressed up in crazy costumes and were running around having a good time. But I was not sure if they were drama students. Rumors about RIDICULOUS workload and NO social life at CMU seem kind of daunting. Is it worth it?</p>
<p>My alumni interviewer (he was pretty fresh, class of 09) basically said that social life is what you make of it. Of course it’s no wild party school, but you’ll have your fair share of fun if you want to make it happen.</p>
<p>But the one thing he did make a point to hammer home was that the primary focus is academics. You can have all the fun you want, but the point is that you’re at CMU to learn.</p>
<p>^definitely the impression my S got from his visit over diversity weekend. He is CFA and stayed with three art students who all were working hard on the weekend but then took some time off to have a nurf pistol fight, play some video games and then go to a smallish party with light drinking (beers were available) and music with dancing. Yes…geeks dancing! S liked the balance because he is easily distracted by social life and being surrounded by hardworking kids would be the best for him. He was disconcerted by how little people got out to Pittsburgh … plenty of good public transportation and legs do a lot… he figures he would have to work on his friends to get out into the city more…</p>
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<p>I don’t think art majors are representative of CMU’s student body as a whole. </p>
<p>In any case, what I can tell from personal experience is that, unless you were the most popular guy/girl in your local High School, your social life at CMU won’t be worse than it was back home and, most likely, will be better. Definitely it won’t be like going to a big state university, but it’s not dreadful either.</p>
<p>I feel like the usual case is that you have a few close friends in your floor/room mates and then you have an extensive network outside of that of people from your classes, activities, whatever else. But I’d be hard pressed to find someone who has ‘no social life.’ Even the meganerds in the quad down the hall have Super Smash and Halo parties (which I am jealous of).</p>
<p>ghandiburger - which school did you end up choosing? carnegie or tufts?</p>