Carnegie Mellon School of Science vs. UC Berkeley Letters and Sciences

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
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Hi, although this is my first post on CC, I can assure you this is serious.

That being said, I’ve recently been granted admission to both CMU and UCB, and I am in a bit of a quagmire picking the right one. I would like to do a Math/CS double major, and I know that I cannot go wrong with either school, but I’m leaning towards CMU at the moment.

My choice will depend on how difficult it is to do a double major at Carnegie Mellon. Since I was only accepted to the Mellon School of Science, I will have to have adviser approval from both the Math department as well as the CS department in order to do the double major, and I really don’t know how difficult it is to get that approval (please, CMU students, comment!). As per CMU’s regulations, I am obligated to complete the major that comes from the school that I was accepted to (in this case, the math major). If I am unable to do this, I will have to switch to UC Berkeley.

Is anyone aware of the requirements that I need to fulfill in order to get said approval from advisers at CMU or to stay in the double major program? If I do go to CMU, and graduate with the double major, will the math major be awarded by the School of Science and the CS major from the School of CS, or will they both be awarded from the School of Science, as that is the only one that I was accepted to?

I’ve already deemed that in every other aspect, CMU is more favorable to me, but seeing as this is one of the most important ones, I need to have all the details before I make my decision.

One more, slightly less consequential thing: I have been told that Pittsburgh is a dying city that will not experience any significant growth. Should this affect my decision, seeing as UCB is located in California, which is hailed for its jobs in CS and math?

Last, but not least, which undergraduate program is actually better…the one at CMU or the one at Berkeley? According to many polls, both are ranked #1 for CS and are top schools in math, but as we all know, these polls can be quite skewed.

Thank you.

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@sinisalo‌ Wow, I’m in the exact same boat! :slight_smile: Not to hijack your thread, but I’m looking to double major in Neuroscience/CS from MCS–anyone have any experience with that?

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My DD started at CMU in MCS with one major. Then changed to a double major in MCS and CIT. Then start of 2nd year changed again to major in CIT, minor in MCS and a second minor in biomedical engineering. Whoever told you that Pittsburgh is a dying city was wrong. Besides a huge medical/healthcare industry, Google has a large site there, and Uber just opened a new research facility…

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The environment at CMU is intimate. The environment at CMU is also intense, that can be considered a positive and a negative. Classwork is tough and time consuming. The schools instills in you a strong sense of work ethic and will prepare you well for real life. There’s a strong reputation and alumni presence in the technology industry. A lot of of my friends who went to Berkeley felt that sometimes they were a small fish in a large ocean, had to try more to get to know their professors. They also described Berkeley as fairly chill which I cannot say for CMU.

I think CMU wins in preparedness for real world (not a huge margin), small intimate, quirky environment. Berkeley wins in terms of cost, and beautiful campus/weather/city.

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Hey! I’m currently in my freshman year at SCS in CMU.
It’s definitely possible to do a double major in CS at CMU, and there are many people who double major in Math and CS, given the large overlap in the two fields and the required courses for both majors.

You can find out more about double majoring in CS at this website http://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/education/bscs/second.html

From what I know, the college name will not be mentioned on the diploma; it just says that you graduated in a degree in math and cs (in that order, since your home college is MCS).

Pittsburgh is not dying! There’s plenty of life there, and the only significant beef I’ve heard anyone have with it is weather. It is pretty unpredictable, with the possibility of being sunny and in the mid-80s on one day and snowing the next. Campus organizations also organize plenty of subsidized or free trips. I’ve heard of skiing, horseriding and trips downtown to see the annual Christmas lightup. On the downside, CS is probably one of the toughest and time-consuing majors that the university has to offer, and trying to double-major in CS and math will chew up a significant amount of your time, so I’m not really sure how much time you’d have to explore Pittsburgh.

Like someone else already mentioned, Google has a large office in Pittsburgh a few blocks from CMU, and I’ve heard there’s a thriving start-up scene as well, but this is probably nothing compared to Silicon Valley.

While both schools are ranked at the top, I would say there are major differences between them. Berkeley is a large public school and class sizes are huge. CMU on the other hand, has roughly 1500 students in each graduating class, and the largest class I’ve been in has only around ~200 students, and recitations for math and CS have ~20 students in each section. The small student body also makes to get to know your professors better, and there are a lot of research opportunities for anyone who’s keen. Being on a waitlist doesn’t mean you’re doomed, unlike at Berkeley. There are reservations for students who require the class to graduate, and they are cleared pretty quickly. I’ve never had to drop a class from my schedule because I couldn’t get off the waitlist.

The biggest gripe I’ve had (and which plenty of my friends also share) is that CMU offers a very theoretical approach to CS, and a heavy emphasis on discrete math (which is very, very different from the math that you are probably used to in high school). There’s a lot of emphasis on proof, theory and rigor, which is off-putting to many. 21-127: Concepts of Mathematics, is the intro to math class that you’re required to take to fulfill both CS and math requirements in your freshman fall, and I knew of someone who changed major from math because of its difficulty in his first semester. I knew of many who had sleepless nights (myself included) struggling with the homework every week.

That being said, CMU offers plenty of resources to overcome these difficulties. Office hours are conducted by TAs, and there is also peer-tutoring offered by academic development. Both are conducted by undergrads who had to go through the same material a few semesters before you do, so they’re usually pretty emphatic and they know what you don’t understand.