<p>I am applying to CIT, hoping to major in biomedical engineering. I know that to do this, I would have to double major in another form of engineering, which would probably be mechanical. I also want to potentially minor in music, as I have been playing the guitar for ten years. I really like the campus and area of CMU, but unfortunately I've been hearing some pretty bad rumors about the notoriously difficult workload at the school. I've asked others, and they have said that it is no different at any other college. I really would like to know the truth.. is Carnegie Mellon as difficult as people make it out to be if I would need to double minor? If so, would doing a single major instead of BME and ME cut back? I am also applying to UPitt close by, which has a very competitive bioengineering program, as well as Case Western and Tufts University. My concern is mental health. I am prone to some stress problems, but I am definitely up for the work, especially in the biomedical engineering field. Thanks for any responses!</p>
<p>BME is designed to be a double major, so it’s not necessarily that difficult to add on to your other engineering major. Work load is definitely higher than many other schools, but I felt the level of work expected was, for the most part, reasonable, and I learned a ton from most of the homework sets I had to do. You’ll be doing more work than over at Pitt, but it’s likely you’ll get a better education too. If you really enjoy your field, and you like the classes you’re taking, the work really isn’t that bad. Just be sure to take advantage of all the resources CMU offers such as supplementary instruction, peer tutoring, accessibility of professors, etc if you start to fall behind.</p>
<p>I can understand why Pitt would be less work, but what about CWRU or Rochester? They have similar levels of applicants.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon is generally considered to be a pretty hard working school, moreso than Case or Rochester. I would also argue that it’s more difficult to get into Carnegie Mellon’s technical schools than it is to get into Case’s or Rochester’s, but then again I’m probably biased.</p>
<p>With that being said double majoring is very common at CMU. You can double major here and while you’ll probably be working harder than your friends at other schools, you’ll still have time for a social life, for hobbies, and so on, if you manage your time well.</p>
<p>How many hours of work and free time would you estimate that the average engineering student at CMU gets? I would also be on the cross country and track teams which would take up some time.</p>
<p>Free time and amount of work is entirely dependent upon your efficiency. I had friends that could pound through assignments in a couple of hours because they wouldn’t take breaks to browse the internet, get food, watch TV, chat with friends, etc etc. I usually spent more time doing homework when I was working with a group, but I generally enjoyed doing those homeworks because it was a social activity.</p>
<p>One of the nice things about athletics at CMU is the coaches understand academics come first. For that reason, you do see a lot of athletes in all departments across the university. For an idea of what’s possible, one of my good friends double majored in engineering, played on the football team, and was president of his fraternity.</p>
<p>Thanks! I will definitely have to visit to consider it more thoroughly</p>
<p>If anyone else has any opinions please respond I greatly appreciate it!</p>