<p>Hi, I'm trying to decide between CMU, UNC Chapel Hill, and Case Western Reserve (I also got wait listed at WUSTL).</p>
<p>One of my main problems is that I'm not sure what major I want to choose, though I am considering some type of engineering. In high school, I enjoyed all subjects, but I particularly liked science and language classes.</p>
<p>I just got back from visiting all these schools. CMU seemed to have dreary weather and buildings on campus. UNC looked really cheerful and welcoming, and the student population appeared much friendlier and happier than either CMU or Case. WUSTL is probably my top choice if I happened to get off of the wait list, but I realize this is pretty unlikely.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any feedback on which college might be the best choice for an undecided major? Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t know about Case Western Reserve, but if you want to major in some type of engineering, I would suggest NOT UNC-CH. From what I understand, UNC-CH is not big on engineering at all, and if I remember correctly they only offer 3 different degrees in engineering ([Applied</a> Sciences and Engineering](<a href=“http://admissions.unc.edu/Academics/Majors/Individual_Majors/Applied_Sciences_and_Engineering.html]Applied”>http://admissions.unc.edu/Academics/Majors/Individual_Majors/Applied_Sciences_and_Engineering.html)). However, I think it’s possible that UNC-CH do joint programs with Duke and NC State University, but that still sounds slightly inconvenient.</p>
<p>CMU is the strongest choice (academically speaking). Apart from engineering and CS, it has pretty good natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology) and math departments, plus great business and art schools. The modern languages department is small and not so strong, but it should cater to your needs (unless you want to be a languages major, which I guess is not the case).</p>
<p>I don’t know much about CWR, but I do know CMU and UNC-CH. CMU is a better school academically in the subjects that are its strengths like CS, engineering, etc. Depending on your major and your talents, you would have very strong job prospects coming out of CMU. Pittsburgh has colder winters and more cloudy days than Chapel Hill, but I wouldn’t call the campus or the city dreary. I also perceive that students at CMU work harder and party less than students at UNC. The downsides of CMU are that it doesn’t have the same level of school spirit surrounding athletics as UNC, if that’s important to you. Saturday football games in Chapel Hill are big events, and basketball is practically a religion. You won’t get that at CMU. Also, CMU is smaller and has a narrower range of people that attend–it seems that pretty much everybody is either a quant or a singer/actor/musician. There aren’t many history or education majors.</p>
<p>Chapel Hill has a beautiful campus in a great area. The town is all about the university, and that’s mostly a good thing. The student body is very diverse in terms of areas of interest and study: everything from classical literature to journalism to physics. The student body is bigger and the campus is more spread out. The one thing it doesn’t have is any kind of engineering program to speak of, except for a couple narrow specialties. Also, by law, 80%+ of the undergraduate student body at UNC is from North Carolina. That colors the social scene somewhat.</p>
<p>Both are great schools, but if you want to study engineering, UNC isn’t really a practical option.</p>