Current Student-- Any Qs?

<p>Hey, I'm a current CMU student. I remember being on these forums a lot this time last year, so I thought I'd offer my help. I'm studying art and I work for the newspaper (my real job) and the computer clusters (my paying job) but most of my friends have all different majors so I can probably answer a variety of questions. You could post them here, or email me, <a href="mailto:administrator@cmu.edu">administrator@cmu.edu</a><a href="which%20I'll%20most%20likely%20get%20much%20sooner">/email</a>.</p>

<p>What happened to the online version of the TARTAN for the spring semester?</p>

<p>Every December the whole staff changes, and since the paper had just undergone a huge ordeal (you might be aware that it actually had to stop publishing last April), the new staff was really crucial. We have a new online editor and online design editor, but wanting to do everything thoroughly and well this time around, we spent a while working through planning, etc. Still, it's up now and should be up for good (and schedule man is back)-- <a href="http://www.thetartan.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.thetartan.org&lt;/a>. I think the whole thing came completely back the week before Carnival. Still, there are some problems with it. For example, all of the art says "Photo by..."</p>

<p>to everyone who has been e-mailing me-- feel free to send me CC mails as well, as I have a lot of spam mail in my inbox currently.</p>

<p>Hey, I was considering bringing a safe to my dorm, so when I leave I would lock my valuables and my laptop into it; is it necessary?</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

<p>Good question... but personally, I'd say that it is definitely not necessary. This is not to say that things do not get stolen--over the yr I had my new bike, CD player, mp3 player, all of my CDs, an art project, and several other things stolen from me--but there are other simple precautions that you can take that should cover it.</p>

<p>Doors-- For one thing, your dorm should ALWAYS be closed and locked (that means NOT bolted, which is a way to keep it held partially open, or double-dipped, which means set so anyone can open it w/o a key) when you are not in it. Leave your room open when you are there to be social, but make it very clear to your roommate that it should be locked when you leave. This is how I lost most of my stuff, and it is very easily avoidable.</p>

<p>Laptops-- For $30 from the school comp. store, and Im sure for MUCH cheaper elsewhere, you can buy a lock for your laptop that connects it to your chair or desk or something. Anyone stealing laptops on campus (which did happen to several people I know last yr) stole the most easily available ones, ones which they could just grab and run. There is NO WAY they can outrun campus police with a laptop AND a chair. Also, leaving your door shut should solve this problem, but I recommend this extra precaution.</p>

<p>Bikes-- Get a U-lock, NOT a chain or a cable one. Do not tell ANYONE, even your friends, the combo. Ever. Also note, if you have an expensive bike, Kryptonite locks offer something where if you register their bike and you buy certain U-locks from them (usually about $40) they pay for your bike if it is ever stolen. </p>

<p>Money-- You theoretically could bring a lock box if you are worried about your roommate, but most roommates are fairly trustworthy, and if they stole your stuff--anything--it would be really obvious anyway, so most dont do it. In my opinion, the best way to keep money is to hide it in a roll of socks in the back of one of your drawers or something. I did that last year, and it worked really well. Even though my roommate kept losing her key and leaving the room double-dipped (this being what you NEED to avoid--discuss at the BEGINNING of the yr), money was the one thing that wasnt stolen.</p>

<p>Of course, these are all just my opinions, what Ive learned from experience. Overall, CMU students are quite trustworthy, and there's no reason to be worried, only careful. Communicate w/ your roommate better than I did, and you should be quite fine. I hope this helps. :)</p>

<p>sots, you have no idea how much you've helped :) I'm glad I didn't drop a grand on a 500 pound safe before your post haha.</p>

<p>Just one more question, what's CMU's mascot? Thanks!</p>

<p>The tartan, or a scottie dog with a tartan thingy on its back. I'm so happy, my dad just got back from Italy and bought me a little scottie dog keychain! It's so cute.</p>

<p>sorry again sots for asking endless questions, hope you don't mind :/</p>

<p>How does CMU do their grades? Are they inflated, curved, etc? Thanks a lot [again]! :)</p>

<p>cmu does grades on a 10 point system: 90-100 A, 80-90 B, etc</p>

<p>Not much curving and it can be very difficult to get high grades espically in engineering or cs. The humanities are much easier and more likely to curve.</p>

<p>As for safes that is just too extreme, like sots said keep your door locked. There were a string of thefts late last semister but they were all student who double dipped their door (kept the electronic lock in the open position).</p>

<p>Hey again sots,
If you take the online calc exam, what score do you need to get in order to get into Calc I? If you don't get that score, do they MAKE you go into co-calc? If so, how does scheduling with co-calc and calc I work together, because all I know right now is that co-calc lasts half a semester. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>I actually lived kind of close to CMU, about 15 minutes, and I was interested in applying there just because it is the best local school around. However I am interested in Economics and was wondering if you knew how good and the program was?</p>

<p>The Qualitative Economics program at CMU is booming.</p>

<p>What time of day is the first day of Orientation? Should I leave on Sunday morning, or Saturday night?</p>

<p>Sorry for lack of posting lately-- our internet was down for a few days (we switched companies).</p>

<p>Yes, the mascot is the scottie dog. Well, actually a lot of people will argue with that and say that the mascot is PLAID (the school colors!) and that the scottie dog just <i>wears</i> the plaid, but I dont know where these people get their sources, lol. I am not sure. </p>

<p>I DO know that the only time you might actually want to know this will be during orientations 'house wars' when one of the questions they ask is typically "what is the CMU mascot?" and "scottie dog" is an acceptable answer. :)</p>

<p>I dont mind the questions at all. ^_^ Glad you didnt buy a safe.</p>

<p>As for the grades, what _42 said was correct. I guess the important bit is that we dont have +s and -s... as in, if you get an A+ or an A- its all just an A. I personally find this extremely useful, especially because most of my professors, in the past, have had a bit of a habit of bumping B+s up to As, which is then as good as getting 100%.</p>

<p>I think it very much depends on the department, but I'd say that in general there is very little grade inflation. The grades are mostly fair, in my opinion. You will find some classes where a C really is the average grade, but then everyone is in the same boat. </p>

<p>Also... I have heard that H&SS classes are easier grade-wise, but I have no proof of that or experience. I can say that CFA grades are crazy; much of the time it just comes down to how much the teacher likes you, since the arts depend so much, for better or for worse, on personal taste.</p>

<p>Unfortunately I dont know much about the calc exam. I actually never took calculus... which still strikes me as odd. And I kind of liked math, too. :/</p>

<p>As for economics-- I have heard that the program is very good. It attracts a lot of people. I would mostly just consider whether you want to go to college so close to home; if you are willing to do that, you could probably save a lot of money on dorms, but it would also be a very different college experience. Of course, you could stay in a dorm too. I have local friends who are doing both.</p>

<p>I got to orientation late (some time between 4 and 6pm) and it as pretty bad. The people who were directing students to dorms, etc, werent there so it was very confusing for me... and I never got the free duff. bag and t-shirt, lol. I am not sure what time it starts for you, so definitely call and ask or find out some other way. </p>

<p>Also, another benefit to getting there early is that it seems to be the unwritten rule that whichever roommate arrives first has dibs on the lower (non bunked) bed. In many of the rooms there is one loft and one regular bed, and trust me, do not under any circumstances take the loft. It looks cool at first, but many of them are too close to the ceiling and by the end of the year, lets just say that my ceiling was a LOT redder than it was originally, and I ended up sleeping on the floor.</p>

<p>My d is an incoming freshman. Can you tell me which are the closest malls, where we can find Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target, etc?? I printed out local malls, but do not know which are easiest to get to. Thanks!</p>