<p>How good is CMU computer science? Is it on par with schools like MIT or Caltech?</p>
<p>yes.......</p>
<p>We rock. Come be one of us. Also, people here aren't crazily competitive, and almost everyone I know that is in CS has some other non-geeky interest. There seem to be lots of artists.</p>
<p>"As it has fairly consistently for the past 15 years, Carnegie Mellon's graduate program in computer science ranked first overall in the nation. U.S. News cited its particularly strong specialties as artificial intelligence, programming languages, and systems, all of which ranked in the top three."</p>
<p>so I suppose the answer would be no, it's not on par...it's better</p>
<p>I dont know, i wont say its better. I consider mit, caltech, stanford, cmu and berkeley to be at par for computer science.</p>
<p>Is it impossible to get into the CS school undergrad? What are the stats really like? I see a few CS kids in the Admissions thread, but not a lot. And I've seen the official averages and everything, but I'm looking for examples of what they're looking for. My DD would love to go to CMU for CS undergrad, but I don't know if it's going to be possible for her. She has very good stats, but not sky-high like so many schools want now!</p>
<p>Thanks for any info!</p>
<p>I'm not sure how admissions are now, since they the number of applications was unexpectedly high this year, but I don't think they're ridiculous. I'll be a sophomore in computer science in the fall, and it is my experience that few of my fellow classmates really look amazing on paper. Most of them didn't jump through some hoop that is considered necessary for HYSMP admissions (for example, many people I know were not in National Honor Society or were not in the top 5% of their classes). Many seem to have had one major extracurricular in high school, whether it be art, orchestra, research, or a sport. </p>
<p>CMU has a particular focus on what they call "The Da Vinci Effect," which is interdisciplinary research and collaboration across fields. In computer science, students are required to have a minor or second major, which encourages that. Advisors like students who have nontechnical second majors.</p>
<p>I think it is a bit easier for girls to get in than guys; while officially the GPAs and AP scores of admitted males and females are almost the same, I believe that admissions is a bit more forgiving of girls who don't have previous experience in computer science.</p>
<p>If she thinks that CMU is her top choice, applying for early decision is a good option; she'll probably have a better shot at getting in and she will get her top pick of housing if she is accepted.</p>
<p>If you have any particular questions, I'd be happy to answer them.</p>
<p>hey KrazyKow, do you have any advice for incoming freshmen for SCS?
which teachers to use, what courses to get over with quickly, how many units to take etc.?</p>
<p>Thanks for the great info, Krazy. The multidisciplinary thing is one reason CMU is appealing to my DD--she's also strong in art and creative writing. Other schools that we're looking at for CS tend to be tech schools with less-than-stellar arts.</p>
<p>for current students:</p>
<p>Is it possible to satisfy the science requirements of SCS w/o taking chemistry?</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon's computer science program is extremely strong. Yes, it is on par with the school's you mention. In fact, if you are sure computer science is your thing, I can make a case that you are better off at CMU than the others. (But its a very subjective argument.) I would say highlights of the program is its small size, large faculty, and immense opportunity for research.</p>
<p>The science requirement for SCS is that you take 4 engineering/science courses, one of which is a lab. Two of the classes have to be in the same area. It's completely possible to avoid chemistry; in fact, if you tried really hard, you might be able to completely avoid chemistry, physics, and biology by taking engineering classes and some of the psychology classes that are sciency. The lab requirement is either a physics lab, chem lab, material science, or research methods in cognitive psychology.</p>
<p>While CMU is a small school compared to many, it admits 130-140 CS majors every year, which makes it a bigger CS program than many other schools. It also has the side effect of making the core CS classes into large lectures. I've never had a problem with them (CS lectures are odd beasts anyways), but it may not be the liking of some. TAs and professors have tons of office hours to make up for it, and tutoring is available for free.</p>
<p>wackymother: It can be hard to get into the art classes. They usually have long waiting lists, and the best way to get in is to go talk to a professor. I tried to get into a design class for next semester, and was unable to get into it. Also, amusingly, I know a creative writing major who is trying to get into CS.</p>
<p>sachit: Try to get Interpretation and Argument out of the way, as well as the rest of the intro level classes. I highly recommend taking Cognitive Psychology as your category 1 (I think it's 1) class; I found it very interesting, it had a good professor, and I'm now considering a cognitive science double major. Sadly, the professor I had is not teaching it next semester.</p>