<p>Because college websites and the most outspoken students generally seem to have only good things to say about their schools, I would like to hear from some current students about what are the worst aspects of being an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University. Which things about CMU do you wish were different, and why?</p>
<p>By the way, I am interested in the CS major in the School of Computer Science so any thoughts on that experience in particularly would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Computer Science students! (j/k I love CS kids, and I might double major)</p>
<p>but last year the food was quite bad and the dining system in general, but there is a new contract this year, so I want to see if anything has improved.</p>
<p>the social scene is kind of messed up at CMU, but you can get around that if you make some good friends</p>
<p>How hard is it to transfer in and out of a school within CMU and how is the social scene messed up?</p>
<p>cmonyuk, could you please elaborate on how the social scene is messed up?</p>
<p>by messed up he might mean dead or cliquey (read: it isn't exactly a social haven and one should not go to CMU with that impression, the people you happen to meet have an impact on this)</p>
<p>there is a greek scene though if you are into that kind of thing, i might go to a frat later tonight with some peeps for example</p>
<p>I have not heard about this new contract - is it with the same company? interesting</p>
<p>CMU isn't a party school and you work hard. If that's not how you envision college, then this might not be the place for you. </p>
<p>The food wasn't as bad as it was 2 years ago. I actually thought last year was an improvement. Unless you count Schatz, but I've only gone there once in my life. But I don't eat much on campus anyways. The food trucks are wonderful ^_^ (chinese food, indian, mediterranean, thai).</p>
<p>I personally don't exactly know how horrible the social scene is. I have a good group of friends and I go out often. But I'm not a partier-type. Frat parties and such aren't my normal thing (although I do occasionally go). </p>
<p>But there are a lot of school clubs n stuff where you can meet people. So I'm not sure how incredibly "messed up" it is. </p>
<p>But my dislike of CMU would be the lack of sleep one suffers through with all the schoolwork.</p>
<p>I think the social scene is a bit "messed up" because more people seem to be reclusive than outgoing, in comparison with my public high school. People are smarter, quirkier, less socially apt on average. I'd even venture to say that most people have fun here, but possibly in non-standard ways. Frat parties kind of die down after rush, but there are plenty of school clubs that are a good place to meet people or intramural sports are good too.</p>
<p>Like I said, once you get a good group of friends, it doesn't matter that many people spend a Saturday night playing an intense game of Super Smash Bros. Hell, that might be your perfect Saturday night. I'd also encourage people to leave campus and explore Pittsburgh; buses are free for CMU students.</p>
<p>Finally, I don't really believe the above poster about the lack of sleep. I had good grades last year and got 7-8 hours on average weekdays. The secret is to schedule late classes and not morning classes.</p>
<p>That type of social scene does not seem 'messed up' to me, just different. I went to Caltech (dropped out at end of first term) and it was a similar situation, only worse because there are only ~900 undergraduates and they are all brilliant science/math nerds. That kind of social environment had its advantages and its disadvantages for me, but I think it was some other unique aspects of Caltech's social situation that I found more annoying, such as the cliques that seemed to naturally form as a result of the house system.</p>
<p>I hope that CMU might be a less extreme version of Caltech socially, because it has students with more varied interests (i.e. more than just science and math).</p>
<p>There are cliques, but they don't seem to dominate.</p>
<p>Back to my previous question... how hard is it to do an internal transfer?</p>
<p>^ CMU is not for the individualist. If the students are like my S and roommates, they are very focused, work together, become close friends, but at the same time have individual interests and wide circle of friends. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cmu.edu/about/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.cmu.edu/about/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>In CIT, you can not really declare a major until you become 2nd year. I imagine the same for other schools of CMU. This is a school for people who pretty much know what they want to do. I as parent, I, would be hard pressed to finance a 5th year, impossible for a 6th year of undergrad study. A very large majority will finish in 4 years, a good proportion with 2 majors, and a quite a few will take a 5th year to complete a Masters in their undergrad field.</p>
<p>I think transferring really depends on where you're transferring from and where you're transferring to. It also depends on how much size they have, and whether or not your performance in the major you want to transfer to is good enough.</p>
<p>My roommate was a physics major who transferred pretty easily to CS his sophomore fall, what he did was take the same classes I took as a CS major and since he got good grades in them. The associate dean allowed him to transfer easily</p>
<p>I wouldn't say the social scene is "messed up". I think what was meant is that a lot of groups are exclusive and selective. I don't think we have as many parties as other schools, and people tend to socialize a lot less when it starts getting busy.</p>
<p>CMU offers a very exciting college experience. Excellent academic resources, brilliant student body. Quality of campus food can be better</p>
<p>"Finally, I don't really believe the above poster about the lack of sleep. I had good grades last year and got 7-8 hours on average weekdays. The secret is to schedule late classes and not morning classes."</p>
<p>Well... when your classes are all 3-hr long classes twice a week each, doing so is almost impossible.</p>
<p>But you're right. You can get enough sleep if you prioritize it right. Just depends what you prioritize, I think.</p>
<p>
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CMU is not for the individualist. If the students are like my S and roommates, they are very focused, work together, become close friends, but at the same time have individual interests and wide circle of friends.
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</p>
<p>CMU not for the individualist? How many CMU students have you met? :D</p>
<p>There are plenty of CMU students without a group of friends that do just well - not only in majors like CS and ECE but others also. Student collaboration is encouraged in many classes but not everyone partakes. You can know a million people at CMU or 2-3 and get along alright.</p>
<p>I'll preface this by saying that CMU is truly a phenomenal university, and I loved it there. But, you gotta stay germane to the topic at hand and so here are the (relatively minor) frustrating aspects that I noticed.</p>
<p>Insecurity. Far and above, this was the biggest issue with too many of the students. The sort of insecurity that manifests itself in all kinds of frustrating ways: constant "oh they don't matter but my SAT scores were..." conversations; attempts at slipping into discussions the other schools you got into; and, sadly, a general lack of school spirit due to the fact that far too many of the students seemed to feel they were 'settling' for CMU.</p>
<p>Also, the weather kinda sucked, and there were some pretty annoying social cliques (i.e. KGB, motto: let's be self-consciously wacky to show how unconstrained we are by social norms!)</p>
<p>I definitely found the lack of school spirit thing in a lot of the current students, while I was at APEA [Pre-college]. Some girl was telling me how she got into all these Ivies and regretted going to CMU. That was sort of sad to hear... xD</p>
<p>Really? My experience is entirely opposite. Most people who got in here were excited and it was their first choice.</p>
<p>Me, it was my second, but I have no regrets. I really am glad I came here. </p>
<p>Although, to say something else negative about cmu, I dislike the art department. They're too stuck in their traditions it feels and it's like they expect all their students to become fine gallery artists.</p>
<p>And school spirit in terms of sports n stuff isn't really there. </p>
<p>And waldo<em>pepper, you don't like KGB? I've never been in it, but I love the random stuff they do. It's just entertaining to watch. ^</em>^</p>
<p>Yeah, I personally found KGB to be pretty annoying. To each his own and all, but for me their antics came off as just completely forced attempts at being zany. I dunno, this might seem harsh but I at least got the sense that they were trying to fill the void usually occupied by a genuine sense of humor with an awkward pastiche of borrowed pop-culture references and irritating loudness.</p>
<p>Again, just the impression I got.</p>
<p>In case you haven't noticed, most people in the world aren't that interesting or funny. People seem different to different people. You can't expect to click with everyone. "To each his own" - exactly.</p>