<p>I was accepted to both Carnegie Mellon and Caltech and now I have really tough decision. I am interested in CS (specifically AI, Robo and theoretical CS) and will probably major in it, so that makes me think I should go to CMU, but I think Caltech is probably better overall (in math for example). </p>
<p>Anyone know how the social scenes compare? I hear neither one is very good. </p>
<p>Is there a great deal of competition between CS students at CMU? That's the impression I got and that definitely is a negative for me.</p>
<p>Any overall advice?</p>
<p>Finally, if I do decide to go to CMU, what dorm should I try to get into?</p>
<p>Lots of questions. Thanks in advance for any answers</p>
<p>Have you visited Caltech? It's quirky - kind of a love it or hate it sort of place. More insular feeling to me than CMU. More aggressively nerdy (in a good way.) I like the honor code, the campus is drop dead gorgeous. I like the painted hallways. I wouldn't like the food fights. (Only a tradition in some houses I believe.) They give elaborate parties, but I don't know how often. The campus food is the best I've had anywhere for lunch. I hear dinner isn't quite so wonderful. It's tops for pure science, but probably not the best place for your interests. My husband was a grad student at Caltech and thought the undergrads were a bit weird.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has a very large department. I hae no idea if there is competition among students, but I had the sense that the faculty was paying attention to their students, more than some other places we visited. We visited New Dorm. It's attractive and has A/C for the few weeks you might want it. The dorm next to it (forget the name) has food in the basement "The Underground". Other dorms of suites. Some house only freshmen, others hae a mix.</p>
<p>I don't think that the CS department is competitive, except for a few, random, crazy folk- but those will be everywhere. There's a large number of people who want to get through their classes as well as possible, and the best way of doing that is collaborating, so that's what they do. CMU has a stronger CS program; I believe that Caltech is higher ranked in engineering and pure sciences. Caltech is a smaller school- how do you feel about its size?</p>
<p>If you do come here, I suggest Morewood E Tower, but really any of the freshman only dorms are pretty good. New House has small rooms, but air conditioning.</p>
<p>Caltech is better overall, especially for math and physics (just look at its long list of Nobel laureates and the rigor of Caltech's math and science curriculum, which is unmatched anywhere in the US IMHO). Caltech is also far more prestigious overall, both nationally and internationally. Having said that, I'm pretty convinced CMU is the best school ** in the world ** to study a combination of robotics and AI.</p>
<p>As for social scene, I don't think CMU and Caltech differ much in that respect. Some people prefer California's weather. I myself, having lived most of my life in the tropics, actually liked Pittsburgh's winter and distinct four seasons, as they were a different experience for me.</p>
<p>Caltech definitely is a lot more quirky than CMU as the application implied but as mathmom said it's a love it or hate it thing. From what I hear CS is definitely not Caltech's forte though they are decent whereas CS is CMU's (My father really wanted me to apply because he's in CS).</p>
<p>I can tell you this though. Sometimes departmental rankings are more important than the overall schools. I think this is a weird reference especially for techie schools, but I think it wouldn't be particularly wise for a biochemistry/bioengineering major to go to Wellesley over UCSD even though there is more prestige in the former. There's simply a more robust program. However, wellesley would be better overall. Go with your interests.</p>
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How separated are the schools? For example, is there much collaboration between the engineering school and the school of computer science?
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<p>There's a great degree of collaboration between SCS and the ECE department. In fact, several CS professors have joint appointments in ECE, and many ECE students take CS or robotics classes. There's considerable interaction also between the Mechanical Engineering department and the Robotics Institute. </p>
<p>Incidentally, interdisciplinarity is one of the pillars of CMU's research model, so interdepartmental cooperation is encouraged across all CMU schools.</p>
<p>I chose Caltech over CMU for EE / ECE. CMU is a great school, but Caltech is very special in some ways I couldn't turn down :) That being said I hear CMU's CS program is quite awesome. If you're sure you want to do AI / robo / CS, I think CMU is one of the best places in the world to do it.</p>