<p>I was accepted to SCS and Penn Engineering and am having trouble deciding which school to attend. Obviously, CMU's computer science department is phenomenal and can't be compared to Penn's, but Penn seems to be more well-rounded and I may be interested in pursuing a dual-degree (compsci and some humanities/liberal arts major). I know I definitely want to major in computer science but I'm not sure if that's the only thing I want to do. Extracurriculars are also pretty important to me and I'm worried that the difficult coursework at CMU will hinder my ability to participate actively.</p>
<p>I visited Penn this past weekend and enjoyed myself but didn't fall in love. Chances are I won't be able to visit Carnegie Mellon. </p>
<p>Any help I can get with my decision is greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>I dont know Penn that well (considered applying, but didn’t), but as for your rounding opportunities, CMU SCS actually requires you to minor outside of SCS. So that would mean you could minor (or, of course, double major) in fine arts, humanities, etc.</p>
<p>How is the workload in SCS? I know it’s obviously very intense but is there enough time for me to participate in extracurriculars/have a social life?</p>
<p>penn engg will be more well rounded experience. from job perspective after undergrad, you will do fine either way. cmu scs will be brutal in terms of requiring intense studies leaving little time for social life. (that is why cmu does not care for well admitting well rounded folks when it comes to admitting for scs- mostly techie geeks). if you are committed to doing ph.d. in your field, cmu scs is a more sure path. those are the tradeoffs.</p>
<p>Though I tend to believe that you can do what you want with it either way. I’m CMU SCS, and I’m definitely not a ‘techie geek without a social life’, though thats clearly not to say that there arent many people who are like that. All I mean to say is that in SCS, you can minor outside (you have to), and you can double major, and you can definitely have a social life if you want to. It wont come to you, though I’m not sure that happens anywhere.</p>
<p>Equally, those people will probably show up at Penn. I know a big part of my getting in to CMU was related to my being fairly well-rounded - aka, not only being into the CS/Math side of things, also being an outdoorsman, interested in technical theater, liberal arts, etc. But the above poster is correct in that the well-roundedness is not universal at SCS. As to whether or not it is at Penn, I think thats debatable.</p>
<p>You will definitely be fine no matter what school you go to, so I would focus on other aspects of what you’re looking for in college.</p>
<p>If you’re questioning what CMU’s class next year will be like, here was their admissions philosophy: </p>
<p>If you truly want to do CS and do it well, you should come to CMU. Here’s the paradox about CMU, the CS program requires less credits for graduation, requiring you to minor in something else, but the classes are time consuming. The really smart kids graduate in 3 years here.</p>
<p>In my experience, I spread out my CS courses, never taking more than 2, sometimes only 1 per semester. +1 math related, then +2 humanities. I’m graduating with a double major in Chinese, studied 2 years of Japanese, play in a band, am taking private voice lessons, and was President this year of a fairly large student organization…</p>
<p>Social life will be one that requires good time management. Like other schools, there’s never going to be a moment where you can say you’re completely done with your work. Rather it will be more like, I’ve done enough work, let’s have some fun.</p>
<p>Of course this reasoning would only make sense if you feel that the most important thing in college is becoming excellent in something you want to study. If you make that commitment and you still want to do more, I’m sure you’ll make time for the other things.</p>