<p>Well, Owlehn, I think I’ve already talked to you about CW, but I’ll post again here for future reference :)</p>
<p>I really like H&SS. It’s an easier courseload than the other schools at CMU, which really means it’s a normal courseload compared to any other school of CMU’s caliber. (CIT and SCS are notorious for intense workloads above and beyond what’s required at most colleges). Each major in H&SS is a 180-unit major, which means that it can be completed in two years. They encourage you to take your time figuring out what precisely you want to do and take some breadth classes to expand your horizons, which is nice if you’re not entirely certain what you’ll pursue in college just yet. </p>
<p>The downside of this is that the other colleges look down on H&SS a lot. The going nickname is “H & Less Stress”. You are also not allowed to complain about your Social Psych final while in the presence of your CS major friends (who are probably studying for Algo or Great Theoretical Ideas finals themselves). Accept that, and you’ll catch very little flack from other students. :p</p>
<p>The professors are all quirky, intelligent people, which I guess is expected at any top university. I’ve gotten a lot of personal focus on my writing, which in turn has helped me to improve immensely. The creative writing curriculum is structured around a workshop and discussion format, which means that your work is going to be picked apart by your professor and classmates again and again and again. The most important thing you’ll be taught in your freshman year is how to get rid of pretentiousness about your writing. The professors will teach you how to say, “Yeah, this piece sucks, and I’m a new writer, so I have a lot to learn” and to then turn a critical eye to your own work, which is an invaluable skill.</p>
<p>The Humanities Scholar program is a cool resume booster. You won’t really find any special treatment on campus. It’s just an inside group within H&SS that gives you a little extra coursework on the side and offers you a chance to discuss current issues in the humanities with other kids in the program. If you’ve been given the chance to participate, you will likely find it helpful and interesting (my friends in the program enjoy it), but it’s not an honor program and it won’t give you any major perks. You are expected to live with the other Humanities Scholar kids in Boss House dorm your freshman year, which can be a good thing (smarter floormates) and a bad thing (little floor diversity, less freshman-year floor antics, don’t get to mix with other schools.) </p>
<p>H&SS is probably the least cutthroat school at CMU. There are no “grades on curves” in H&SS, aside from a couple of Statistics and Econ courses, so there’s a strong incentive to work together. Students often form study groups and become close with their classmates in order to succeed, which IMO is a healthy thing. The class sizes are very small (usually no more than 25, often as few as 8-10) with few true lecture-sized courses, so you get to know your classmates well and form friendships fast. (The exception to this is psychology. A lot of psych classes are enormous because students outside HSS take them to fulfill breadth requirements. Sorry, psych majors, but you’re going to be in lecture halls a lot until you get to your Research Methods-level courses.)</p>