Hi All,
I was wondering as to what the social culture and atmosphere at CMU looks like. I am majoring in Computer Science and hopefully be able to do some kind of AI program and was considering my choices. The obvious choice since I’m from Houston is UT Austin. I know for a fact that Austin is a very interesting, complex place with various recreation, food and leisure spots. The computer science program is very reputable at UT and Austin is a good hub for recruitment. But I want to know at what point would it be better to consider CMU Computer Science. Any students able to speak on the overall “vibe” of the place, difficulty of courseload, and any overarching comments/insight on CMU CS. I would greatly appreciate your sound advice.
People at CMU definitely are not asocial but it is definitely not a party school either. Generally, people are pretty stressed out about the courses. Hard to comment on the difficulty of courses because it is different for people with different background, but it is probably harder than UT Austin. For me, I don’t really explore Pittsburgh, but I don’t hear great things about Pittsburgh. Austin is most likely a funnier place.
I’m studying CS, and I love it at CMU so far (generally lol, there are rough patches for sure) !! Although I would say most of the school does not party, people have their own social groups that do their own thing. I’ve been to a few places off-campus that I really enjoyed as well, but Austin definitely has more to do (I’m from Texas too! so I considered UT as well). That being said, the school still has a party scene that I was actually pleasantly surprised by, and there are definitely parties. The weather really does suck though… can make a day significantly worse. Sometimes if I do poorly on an exam, going outside to a sunny day cheers me up a little, while walking out to the usual gloomy days does make it seem a little sadder.
CMU CS is very challenging. Do not come here if you are not up for some difficult and stressful times!!! If you take it seriously, however, there are SOO many resources available, and there is a VERY collaborative community that my friends at other schools don’t say they have. Many of my classmates will spend the time to explain things to me when I get confused and sincerely want me to understand the concepts–I do the same. But you have to take initiative and spend your time wisely. Also there is a new AI major here at CMU, so lots of resources here to concentrate in it even if you don’t want to major in it.