<p>I was accepted in the CMU and Cornell materials science programs, and now comes the decision of where to go. </p>
<p>Which one is better for materials science and engineering? How is the campus life? Any interesting and/or horror stories about these colleges? I'm not interested in greek life, so that doesn't factor in for me.</p>
<p>I'd also like to participate in theater and music while in college, any ideas which on would be better for interdisciplinary stuff like that?</p>
<p>CMU has an excellent theater program, but I think that you will Cornell will have more ‘well-rounded’ students interested in perusing different activities on the side, be it theater, music, outdoor activities, student government, etc. It’s my understanding that CMU is pretty segregated between the artsy kids and the engineers. By contrast, plenty of engineers at Cornell live in Risley, which is the residential college for students interested in the preforming arts.</p>
<p>Cornell is large enough so that many different types of students can feel at home. You can have an MIT-esque experience at Cornell, or you can have a campus experience that is more similar to Dartmouth. The choice is yours at Cornell.</p>
<p>Most of the engineers I know are heavily involved in the arts and music, since musical ability tends to correlate well with logical/left-brain oriented people.</p>
<p>I am planning on affiliating with MSE at Cornell and I have found the atmosphere to be very close knit and very supportive.</p>
<p>Materials is one of the smaller majors, but is still filled with roughly the same amount of professors doing research. This means there are more professors with whom you have a closer relationship with to ask for research/recommendations/internships. The laboratories on campus are absolutely amazing (Go to Duffield to see the Nanotechnology Labs) and the professors are helpful and knowledgeable.</p>
<p>CMU theater is a BFA (and MFA) program I believe, the chance of you getting parts in plays, training , etc, as a non-major may be severely lacking or non-existent. If this is important to you I suggest you check this out with them in detail.</p>
<p>Like others have said, my sense is that Cornell would be more suited to your particular interests. </p>
<p>It never hurts to have a Cornell engineering degree, and I can guarantee you’ll be able to find whatever you want to do there and many people who cross disciplines. It’s really the underpinning of the school’s philosophy.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Does anyone know the chances of getting into one of the theme dorms, more specifically Risley or JAM, in freshman year? How’s the atmosphere at Cornell? Not too fratalogical I hope.</p>
<p>Ha. It’s actually one of the biggest Greek systems in the country. So in certain respects, it can be just as fratty as Michigan or Dartmouth.</p>
<p>But the good news is that there are 8,000 students not in the Greek system at Cornell, the vast majority of which never have anything to do with frat parties or the like. So you won’t have a problem finding like-minded students.</p>
<p>The other good news is that I never heard of a freshmen who wanted to be in a program house not getting into either JAM or Risley.</p>
<p>Matsci at cornell is the smallest major in the engineering department. Thus, it has the lowest faculty-student ratio and many students have the opportunity to do research. </p>
<p>I was in the same position, choosing between CMU and Cornell. Ultimately, I felt Cornell’s student body was more well rounded and had more to offer outside of academics. And was a lot prettier.</p>