<p>Hi all, I'm a grade 12 student with offers from the schools listed above. I'm gonna study engineering, and most likely Electrical Engineering or Materials Science. My future career would probably be related to Renewable energy or the energy industry. So here's several questions for you guys (I will post the same thread in the other 2 forums.), thanks a lot for any valueable information from you! </p>
<p>1, Generally, I think CMU have a stronger EE program in comparison to the other 2, while I think JHU and Northwestern are more well-rounded schools. (feel free to refute any of these points I held), how do you think of the balance? Shall I go to an engineering school like CMU or a school maybe less competitive of my major but have a variety of options and different guys to get along with in my undergraduate years? </p>
<p>2, How's the energy research center of these three universities? I think most of the top-notched schools are having Energy research center or center for sustainable development,etc., how's the energy research center in your school? Is the center the leader of some specific field for example solar or wind (or I should ask what's the emphasis of research in the center)? Is the center having some very famous and impressive professors? and is it accessible to students? Especially undergraduate? </p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your response!</p>
<p>FMonarchC
2013/3/29</p>
<p>I’m a current CMU student (in CS/design, though, not ECE). I do agree CMU will have the stronger ECE program. Why do you feel CMU isn’t well-rounded, though?</p>
<p>CMU is definitely not just an engineering school; there is a very strong business school here, and the art programs are all killer (art/design/architecture/drama are top-notch; I don’t know much about the music program but I imagine it is similar). You’ll find there’s a pretty large variety of engineering students at CMU, too; CMU’s really good at picking people with great diversity of background and interests. Even within my CS peers I’ve been able to find people deeply interested in writing, art, literature, history, et cetera…and there are a number of clubs and activities that are multidisciplinary and interesting. One of my favorite events every year is the Lunar Gala (the student-run fashion show where students design collections), and I think it’s a great example of CMU going beyond the “engineering school” mindset. It’s a huge event and tons of people across different departments contribute to it and enjoy it immensely.</p>
<p>I can’t speak to specifics on energy research at CMU, but research in general is fairly easy to get into. Professors are very accessible and eager to recruit freshmen. If you want to do research here it’s very easy to get involved in a project.</p>
<p>Thanks Greekfire!!!
Your answer is very helpful. And I’m also a bit concerned about the social scenes in CMU, it seems that there’re fewer girls? And overall, if everyone are too into academic rather than socializing? </p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your response</p>
<p>I’m glad I could help!</p>
<p>To answer your followup questions…I’m a girl, so my perspective may be a bit different, but most of the guys I know who wanted to be in a relationship have been able to go on dates/strike up relationships with girls. The first semester of freshman year is when a lot of people end up getting into relationships.</p>
<p>Someone else noted on these forums that if you subtract the guys who just sit in their rooms and play League of Legends, the gender ratio ends up being pretty even. It’s a bit of a crude way to put it, but I tend to agree CS might have the worst male:female ratio, but it’s still quite high for a CS school (probably close to 40% female now?). I wouldn’t worry too much about that.</p>
<p>The school is definitely tough and your classes will absorb a good deal of your time, but people can still regularly go out and party and spend time with friends if they want to. My CS/ECE friends can make time for pretty time-consuming activities like buggy and ballroom (which can be 10 hours a week or more). You just have to prioritize.</p>
<p>I’m also deciding between Carnegie and northwestern. I hear the engineers at nw hate it, so I’m leaning towards Carnegie. My email is omahavaibhav******.com. Email me if you want to discuss more.</p>
<p>Hi Alreadyapplied:
Oh really?! That sounds terrible, I’m glad to discuss with you but your email address was partially blocked.</p>
<p>Thanks all of you, any other opinions?</p>