<p>My D has admission in CMU ( SCS & CIT) , berkeley & Harvey Mudd among others like UCLA,GeorgiaTech,Olin,UIUC & RoseHulman. She wants to major in Computer Science/ EECS </p>
<p>We have narrowed to CMU, Berkeley and HarveyMudd . She prefers CA for the weather.
But CMU is supposed to have a top CS program. She does not want to be in cold weather having been in CA.
She fears the big class size in Berkeley and the chance of not being able to graduate in 4 years due to not being able to get the req classes. </p>
<p>How would any of you compare the 3 ? She wants to be able to do other things as sports and active social life. She is going to be visiting in Apr.</p>
<p>If she gets into Olin that would def. be my first choice…</p>
<p>but for the three you named it seems that she would like Harvey Mudd the most b/c of the class sizes, professors, and its moderate weather. I really think CMU is overrated and the campus isn’t that nice.</p>
<p>Some would say CMU is a little liberal artsy, so social life is balanced (ie. not the land of nerds as a good CS program would suggest…). You’ll find high competition at any top class university, so it seems like if she likes the place then Berkeley should be the decision.</p>
<p>There really shouldn’t be a problem with graduating in 4 years due to not being able to get into required classes, even at a huge school like Berkeley. I have never come across a major school where that is a major issue for anyone to a degree where it would delay graduation.</p>
This is kind of funny… not on bashing Harvey Mudd, but really… you’re talking about CMU and Berkeley, as if they’re not difficult at all compared to HM. Something wrong with that I think. HM is more liberal arts than the other two, personally I wouldn’t choose it but clearly that’s a personal matter, though seems like most engineers wouldn’t care for liberal arts stuff.</p>
<p>There won’t be any problem getting into the technical classes for Berkeley. For humanities classes I’m not as sure, but I know for sure that EECS classes let everyone in. Not graduating in 4 years due to not getting the required classes shouldn’t be much of an issue.</p>
<p>RacinReaver, assuming you are from CMU - how is the class size like in CMU for SCS ? Do TA teach classes? Can you approach the professors? how about social life ? are intramural sports good ?
What do kids do when it is so cold half the year ? Are u stuck to your dorms?</p>
<p>“This is kind of funny… not on bashing Harvey Mudd, but really… you’re talking about CMU and Berkeley, as if they’re not difficult at all compared to HM. Something wrong with that I think. HM is more liberal arts than the other two, personally I wouldn’t choose it but clearly that’s a personal matter, though seems like most engineers wouldn’t care for liberal arts stuff.”</p>
<p>Liberal Arts? Are you kidding me? Here is a school where 100% of the students are in a STEM major. Yes, HMC is listed as “liberal arts” as a college type but HMC runs on science/engineering/math!</p>
<p>Also, yes, our engineering curriculum is quite rigorous. I went through it and was matched against some quite competent MS level engineers. The interview was 6 hours of technical one-on-one and supposedly they were quite impressed how Mudd gives a solid foundation in engineering even without specific majors besides “general engineering”.</p>
<p>I could go on and on about this. I don’t have time for this though because I’m late to work. Either read my previous comments or send me a PM with questions.</p>
<p>I was in the engineering college at CMU, so I can’t say much other than what I heard from my friends in SCS. Class sizes were large to begin with (my biggest freshman lecture was ~125, though I imagine that’s considerably smaller than what you’ll see at Berkeley), but they get smaller as you get into upper level classes. In general, the more specific the class the fewer people will be in it. Sophomore level classes in SCS were probably a bit bigger than mine (mine were ~15-25) since there are more people required to take those classes.</p>
<p>TAs aren’t allowed to teach lecture sessions, though they will generally be the ones in charge of recitations. They’re generally classes held on days different from lecture (say lecture is MWF, recitation will either be Tuesday or Thursday) and are meant to reinforce things taught in lecture. Generally you’ll do problems or get help on the homework from the TA.</p>
<p>All the professors I had were really nice, and almost all of them were approachable (some were so busy it was difficult to hunt them down). Research opportunities are everywhere, as professors and grad students can always use another hand with their research.</p>
<p>Social life isn’t quite what you’d see at Berkeley; the campus is generally politically apathetic and most people are more concerned about getting their work done and having a little bit of time to blow off steam during the weekend. There are parties around campus that aren’t difficult to find, and there are also tons of clubs sponsored by the school holding events almost every night of the week.</p>
<p>Things can get a little more difficult during the winter to go out and play, but downtown Pittsburgh is just a short bus ride away, so you have access to anything going on there. </p>
<p>I didn’t play IM sports while I was at CMU, though I do have some friends that did and they enjoyed it. I think IM sports are pretty non-competitive since we’re a D-III school to begin with, so most people just want to use sports as a way to relax and have fun.</p>
<p>COA an issue?
CMU will have a definite international and national flavor. Most students will be in the same social-economic class-its not cheap for anyone.
It is a residential, student housing for undergrad is guaranteed for 4 years.
Many big name companies have setup research operations nearby CMU.
DS did not have a problem in finding student opportunities with a prof.
Nice airport and easy access.
Far from home.
Reasonable expenses.
Carnegie name is known worldwide although the school may not be as well known-CMU reputation is growing fast.</p>
<p>congratulations on your D’s acceptances. She has quite a decision. She shouldn’t look back once decision is made.</p>
<p>One difference between Berkeley EECS and CMU SCS that people overlook is the amount of discrete mathematics you’ll be required to learn. For Berkeley, you can replace your discrete math with statistics. At CMU, you will need to take at least two discrete mathematics based courses. This is important if your D wants to either take a more practical or more theoretical (ie algorithm-based) approach to computer science.</p>