Hi! I got accepted to Carnegie Mellon day before yesterday into school of computer science. I’m super happy but also freaked out because I have read terrifying reviews (such that there is absolutely no social life and that the environment is toooo stressful). I am kind of confused and don’t know if I should go to CMU or not. Although I have also read similar negative reviews about other schools, which makes me think this is normal, it would be great if anyone could tell me how CMU is (and if the social life and the ‘fun’ of college is that missing).
the gender ratio for enrolled freshmen is usually close to 50/50 and when looking at the school overall it doesn’t stray much from that. i am also curious about the social life and have heard a bit about the awkwardness of the kids there.
@beestings My son is there, and had similar concerns initially. He is a social sort of guy. Currently, as a freshman he is finding it to be socially engaging and has no regrets. However, I suggest you go to the cmu reddit thread in order to hear from actual students – most CMU students doing read CC. Also perhaps try to visit campus if possible.
As a student who is here (not CS), the CS students pride themselves in the stress culture. Lots of them have horrible hygiene since they would rather study/work than to stop to clean themselves or eat. Lots of them do lack social skills that is necessary to function (it’s a running joke about CS kids here, but is sadly true). And a lot of them have a huge stick up their ass because “they are doing CS at CMU”. So many people on campus agree the CS group is really insufferable and stuck up. However, you’ll find your group/niche of people, but be prepared to be initiated in the stress culture here.
@anonymous_otter127 My experience is pretty dated, but I would say that it depends on your definition of pretentious. Will you encounter a lot of boorish, wealthy, aloof snobs? No. CMU thankfully doesn’t (ro didn’t) seem to attract that demographic. There will be plenty of students there from wealthy families, but I never saw anyone that I personally would classify as pretentious.
Within CFA, you’ll find plenty of name-droppers though, and the creative and intellectual competitiveness is really intense. In their way, I would say that the CFA students are every bit as dedicated and challenged as the SCS students that we hear about. The great thing about it though is how much if forces you to learn in order to keep up. I was an architecture major for 2 years before switching to Civil Engineering. I had never even heard of Pei, Zaha Hadid, or numerous other influential architects until some of my classmates mentioned their work and I took the time to look them up.
@CougarCatClan You sound angry and upset and maybe jealous? even… My son attends CMU SCS and you are as far from the truth as possible. He showers twice a day, has a bunch of simple normal unpretentious kids he hangs with.
They play scrabble and walk down a mile or two to grab pizza. No sex drugs or frat parties, no overdosing on drugs, no assaulting passed out women by the trash can.
Maybe its all boring and dull… but as a parent I am happy.
Yes it is brutally hard, he had a a GPA of 4.37? or something graduating high school, he is nowhere near that. They have 30-50 hours of home work a week. They are taught by the best minds in CS in the world. Its not a community college or a mail order university, yes, that part I agree. He has very little time after lectures, recitation, homework and projects to get into trouble.
If I am paying $70k a year and if there is no homework and everyone gets straight As have a GPA of 5.88 out of 4 it would be ridiculous.
I am thrilled, excited and happy. I have no complaints. I get the bang for my buck.
from what I’ve heard talking to undergrads there, stress culture is huge and as others have said, people pride themselves in sacrificing their health, social life, etc for their major. but you honestly have to try to not give into that. work smart, not hard and know when to make sacrifices. the work definitely is difficult and could be overwhelming, but imo as long as you are able to find that work/life balance, cmu will be whatever you make of it.
The stress culture is unbearable. I’ve never considered myself someone with a ton of pride for their major (I won’t ignore my own needs if it means I’ll get an A) but I’m still inundated with stress. I’ve developed severe depression since coming here.
If you’re willing to risk it, you will get a good education. But there is barely any social life and the stress is INSANE.
@Elite1965: did you joint CC just to tell people about the stress culture at CMU? I wonder if you are really a CMU student. If so, how about stating what department and what major. You have three posts to CC, and they are all trying dissuade people from attending CMU owing to the stress culture – no other posts at all. I think you could be a CMU student, but you could also be someone with another agenda – perhaps someone who did not get into their desired school.
@psycholing fully agree with you. CMU is not for everyone. CMU SCS is also not for everyone. Those that feel super discouraged might think of getting help or quitting or transferring to a party school where he/she can get straight As even without showing up to class.
Similarly, greek life, doing drugs while in college, having multiple physical relationships, partying every weekend ignoring home work and projects because “u only go to college once” , getting severely drunk and misbehaving was not in my child’s comfort zone.
Plus I am not willing to pay $70k a year for my child to have multiple relationships “experiment with drugs cuz you only live once” and and get straight As, " without going to class
CMU is right up his alley and money well spent for me
@BoiDel LOL, I am not jealous at all. In no shape or form period. I do NOT want to major in CS at ALL, the stress that school imposes on the students is straight up abuse (+ Stockholm syndrome). And plus, I am not interested in CS at all. And please, you are a parent, you are not on campus with the view/perspective I have. And nice that your son doesn’t conform to the stereotype, once again I said lots not every person. Social life is always iffy since it’s dependent on the people around you so it’s pretty variable each year, but in nature CS kids are usually extremely introverted. And plus, the stress culture here is not ignored but is pretty much encouraged here.
“They are taught by the best minds in CS in the world. Its not a community college or a mail order university, yes, that part I agree… and everyone gets straight As have a GPA of 5.88 out of 4 it would be ridiculous.” <— This feeds into the stress culture. On campus there are many discussions surrounding why the average GPA on campus is so low for having the best minds on campus (of course comparing it to our peer institutions, we are very harsh with grading). Everyone getting straight A’s is not a problem, and I never understood why people see it that way, receiving low grades does not signify hard-work or “bang for buck”. On the contrary it shows that CMU might have the bar so hard it’s just impossible to even graze that bar (and that concept in itself leads to insanity). CMU is currently working to gauge how harsh professors are grading to remove this “it’s CMU of course you’ll work 10 hours straight and get low grades”. On top of that CMU wants people to see their hard work paid off by receiving the grades they deserve without sacrificing their sanity.
And of course I am angry, not at the SCS kids, but the culture the school encourages. It is not healthy and is unsustainable for students. I mean who wouldn’t be angry at the fact they put in hours and get nothing in return, it is completely demoralizing. On top of that it brings down the whole mood of the campus ruining the college experience (and I mean just being content/happy). I agree CMU is not for everyone/anyone, it’s working on its issues. A school can maintain both its academic prowess, prestige, and happy students CMU is trying to adjust the playing field.
@socalemma I know, because the university accepts the fact that they have the brightest minds on campus and shouldn’t make it impossible to get grades they deserve. It makes sense. Smart kids = A’s.
@CougarCatClan If you dont do stressful things when the mind and body is young then when will you? For some stressing the mind and body is having sex and drugs and staying up all night playing video games because “A body is designed to be crapped on”
Some on the other hand apply their mind and body towards intellectual pursuits to improve its vitality and strength.
He will not be in school for the next 45 years or 50 years. College is only 4.
We have become a culture where everyone wants to be rich and have a super easy life and be rewarded for it. A little hard work hurt no one.
There are regions of the world where kids spend hours every day GETTING TO college and hours returning home. Then they have to struggle with power outages and water shortage and struggle with not enough food to eat.
Many in this country hold three or 4 jobs in order to get through college because they know they will have a better life when they graduate.
When my son graduates, he has all the time in the world to drink every evening and do stupid things and pretend to be having “fun”
He can deal with a lil grade deflation for 4 years now.
If you want a good life later you have to undergo stress for a while. Even Zuckerberg screwed up, though he is ultra wealthy. There is no stress free life.
The key to success at CMU is organization and discipline. If you tend to procrastinate, I suggest you stay well clear of CMU. Keys to success are simple: attend lectures, do problem sets early, attend office hours to go over problem sets you have questions on, prepare for exams. BTW - this works for life in general as well. That’s why students from CMU are in such high demand from recruiters.
@BoiDel You’re just feeding into the stress culture and think it’s fine for “just four years”, that is just plain sad and wrong. So wrong, with the constant demoralization and the “you’re never good enough” grading scheme in this school is ridiculous and shows on many levels with varying departments. Professors are instructed to grade harder and harder just because we are at CMU, and other schools with similar qualities don’t really practice that idea just to be hard because. Academic rigor should not equal being impossible. On top of that dpressed students lead to unhappy alumni who will never give back to their alma mater, that is why CMU lags really behind in alumni donations compared to other colleges. Without these donations schools won’t survive.
And you’re comparison to people struggling to eat in other regions of the world to compare it to going to college has no correlation to what we are discussing. Yes we have the privilege to go to college but that doesn’t mean we should endure this type of stress culture, it’s unhealthy on campus even though it’s four years it leads to lifelong bad habits that are developed in undergrad. And I was NOT saying undergrad should be the years to have free time to pretend to have fun and drink, I am saying kids should be worked here to death, it just isn’t good for the mental health whatsoever, and even the institution recognize this and are trying to scale back on the workload. Yes we should work hard, but not at unsustainable levels. That is what I am trying to get at, and yes school is stressful in nature but there is a limit to everything, and not all stress is good stress.
Everyone here is working their tails off, and deserve recognition, and no the body is not designed to be crapped on, this leads to many mental health issues with being demoralized at every turn. It’s not healthy for anyone to endure this, point blank. I’m just happy that CMU is acknowledging they are trying to correct this issue.
It’s really not worth it. Way too much stress, and if you’re smart, you’ll do well no matter where you go. Even more practically, if you don’t feel good about where you are, it can actually affect how you do. A lot of people I know at this school have burnt out or gone into depression, and done worse than if they hadn’t gone there in the first place
