<p>Best Buy in nearby too as well as other stores. I know there is a Target, K-Mart or Wall Mart nearby also.</p>
<p>This shopping area is about 15 minutes away from campus by freeway. It wasn't a problem for us because we had a rental car. The Radisson Hotel adjacent to the mall is a very nice place to stay when visiting CMU, (as long as you have a car).</p>
<p>Definitely check the Waterfront (Homestead). Monroeville is a nice standard indoor mall that's undergoing renovation/expansion...lots of clothes stores, etc.</p>
<p>The Waterfront is a new, huge power center built on the former site of a steel mill on the Mon River. Basically outdoors, with one large store (eg Target) after another. It's very nice, very big, beautiful and fun, lots of kids frequent the place. Also at least a dozen restaurants (like PF Chang's, etc), and a mutiplex state of the art movie complex. It's only about 3 or so miles from CMU (go south and east) but unfortunately there isn't a highway from the campus so you go through trafficky local streets but it's definitely worth it. Eveytime I visited S we ended up there, you'll like it and can do all your shopping there.</p>
<p>That question has been asked alot. Alot of guys complain that the girls at CMU aren't very hot, but the same is felt at almost every top 25 school. Suggested is "importing" girls from UPitt down the street, or getting over the fact that it's okay to date a girl who doesn't spend an hour a day doing her hair. My theory is that girls at top schools realize that there are things more important than appearance, and are about as attractive as those at other schools but don't spend as much time on hair/makeup/clothes.</p>
<p>There far are better places to shop than the waterfront, but it is what i would suggest as well. Its very easy to get to from CMU -- its a transfer-free bus ride away-- and CMU also runs several free shuttles there on weekends. It would be a good place to get used to, because you'll probably end up spending a lot of time there as a CMU student. There's a pretty part with christmas lights, overpriced clothing stores (read: abercrombie) and a movie theater, and across a divide theres a much larger, slightly more more industrial-looking section with Michaels, Giant Eagle (Pgh's chain grocery store, but this is not the closest one to campus) and there... short of a home depot or fabric store... should be most of what you need.</p>
<p>And I agree with Krazykow... except that I think we have our share of hot girls, including, unfortunately, the image-obsessed. I suppose some of (but by far not all of) the best looking people are more centered the the CFA--art, music, drama, etc--professions that lean heavily on aesthetics and posessing a marketable appearance.</p>
<p>And yes, of course, there's always Upitt down the road.</p>
<p>SOTS, you are the first person that I have seen that is in the art school. My daughter is interested in the School of Design. She will have a very strong portfolio but her SATs are 1210 and weighted GPA will be around 3.9 ) unweighted is about 3.4 or so. I am wondering if she will have any realistic chance of admission based on the people that you know in the school of art. </p>
<p>Krazycow said my daughter should apply, but I don't know if Krazycow is in the School of Art. What is your take from knowing other art and design students? Will this be a big uphill battle?</p>
<p>I'm a CS major and I forget half of what I advise people to do. CMU does, however, use the common application, so it's not as big of deal to apply there if you're not sure. Unless you're like me, and only applied to one school that used the common application. <em>mumbles</em></p>
<p>My S is in the CFA (acting major). He will be a junior in the fall. When he was first looking at schools we didn't pursue CMU in the begginning because of the SAT/grades issue. Fortunately I went to a CMU traveling admissions presentation near our home. I specifically asked about the grades/SAT issue and if my S should still apply to the College of Fine Arts. I was told that admission was based 85-90% on the audition/portfolio. Due to that eye opening info my S applied and auditioned and the rest is history. Thank goodness I went to that presentation and asked about the admission process for the CFA!</p>
<p>I would very strongly encourage your daughter to apply. If she has a great portfolio, I think she should stand a good chance at getting in.</p>
<p>In the CFA, I believe the people contributing to the admissions side of things have their hearts--and their brains--in the right places. They do care about grades, but not in as much of an academic sense as that they are looking for people who THINK all of the time, who get excited about things, and who are passionate about life. High grades might be read as one possible factor here, but I am quite confident that that is not all that they look for, but more of a side effect. My SATs weren't incredible, but somewhere near the CMU average I think-- 1400 --and one gets the feeling that several other CFA students have similar scores, but also that there is a whole lot of diversity.</p>
<p>Thinking through the CMU artists of my class and those before me, I think what we have is a group of incredibly... unusually... passionate, intelligent people. While I can't quote actual numbers, the high-weight-on-the-portfolio answer prev. to this seems very likely to me. They definitely can recognize talent (and miss once in a while as well, but I'm sure this goes for any art school).</p>
<p>Also, if you get a chance, do visit the school. CMU does very strange portfolio reviews for artists... I assume design is the same, but I don't know for sure. Several teachers speak with the students individually, but then they review the portfolios in a closed session. While somewhat awkward, I assume this is because they want to seriously discuss the students work, and its impact on admissions. For all I know, they could be discussing whether or not they liked your shirt, or what they ate for breakfast that day... but still, if you visit, try to schedule a review. :) And good luck!</p>
<p>i posted this above in my own thread, sorry...but....</p>
<p>Hey, I am going to visit CMU tomorrow. I am very excited because it is one of my top picks. I basically heard all good things about the school. However, almost everyone I know who goes to CMU or knows someone who goes there says that they hate it because the professors give too much work! Is this true? Do students have lives there or is it just studying?</p>
<p>I'll be at CMU in the fall and I'm wondering what students generally bring with them to class. I'm a CS major with a laptop that needs to know how big of a laptop bag or sleeve and bag or what to buy. Do people bring textbooks to class or just notebooks or laptops or what? Thank you. :)</p>
<p>Design portforlio is nearly the same, sots - except they do the closed-door review first, while applicants and their families are in a group info session (maybe 1 hour long or so, depending on how many questions are asked). Then the applicants are called into the review room 1 or 2 at a time to speak individually with reviewing profs for about 15 min.</p>
<p>Sorry for the late replies-- my laptops fan broke (of all dumb things...) and I had to send it to Georgia to be fixed through the warranty.</p>
<p>As for what to bring to class, well it depends on your classes entirely. Generally, I'd say not much. Wait for your teacher to tell you. I cant imagine they would require a laptop though, as not all students have them and there are tons of cluster comps available for classes, etc. Some students brought laptops to history classes, but that was mostly because some of them are taught in lecture halls, and the teacher cant really tell if you are listening or lost somewhere in AIMland or a video game. Some people do legitimately use them to type notes on, but that isn't typical. Just dont worry about it.</p>
<p>& to answer the work-work-work question, it depends on your major and also on your specific teachers, but yes we do have a lot of work. </p>
<p>The thing is, in my experience its been a lot of all-nighters but its hardly been busywork. Ive been learning a lot and its all stuff I love. As long as your major is something you are really passionate about, Its Ok. If you hate your major but are just doing it to get a well-paying job or something like that, that's not a very CMU-like thing to do ("my heart is in the work~ Andrew Carnegie" is plastered all over the school) and it might be kind of awful.</p>
<p>I do wish we had just a feeeww more breaks, that they would let up just a little bit. I think it's all great stuff, but in my opinion they can go overboard with the work load. It's all worth it though, 100%, and its pretty easy to know what you are getting yourself into before you take a class, at least after Freshman year. You'll know which classes are easy to soar through, and which ones will keep you up in the computer cluster all night blinking over a pile of empty cups of coffee. The thing is, some of them are so good you'll take them anyway. It's a love-hate relationship.</p>
<p>Kinderteacher: beware Pittsburgh's streets. They are among the most confusing in the world. They go up, down and around hills, in random directions, and many of them are one-way. A good map of Pittsburgh will be an invaluable asset.</p>
<p>Not only are the streets confusing, the buildings on campus are. I decided to get someplace I was going to walk through a building and come out on the other side... I ended up having to go in the building, take the elevator down 4 levels, and then walk out the other side of the building.</p>