<p>My D got her packet yesterday. Very exciting. One of the first things I noted is that they advise the kids to take fans, as the dorms apparently get blazin' hot in Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>Blazin' Hot for sure!!!! My daughter had 2 large fans and 2 small fans in her room and was still sweating up a storm! That would have to be the number one thing NOT to forget when packing!</p>
<p>Have a great time!!! If you have any questions...ask away! My daughter had a blast at pre-college last year!</p>
<p>Ohhhh yea, the fans. Lemme tell ya, my roomate brought one and a personal fan for her bed, I brought one, and we still ran out to target and bought another one! It was an intersting sight to see us two riding on a bus with a huge box fan in our laps!</p>
<p>Make sure you buy lots of water when you get there, a grocery run is a must!</p>
<p>At some point I'll make a list for you parents on what us kids needed...</p>
<p>dramachick, please do that! We will hold you to it!</p>
<p>Congrats to all those going to CMU this summer!!--D went there last summer and loved every minute of it!! On your packing list--Definitely fans!! D had 3!!! Lots of water!-- we did the grocery run when we got there and at parents weekend. D during the stay also bought a 3/4 floor length mirror (she got very inexpensive one from CVS)--this helped with getting dress, make-up and reviewing monologues since there are no mirrors other than in the bathroom.
Be wise on signing up for all the excursions. Because of the workload, D did not make many of the trips she signed up for. By the weekend she was rather exhausted and opted to sleep in. Feel free to PM me if you need more detail.</p>
<p>My Parents did the grocery run the first day and on parents weekend. Rather than having both sets of parents buying a ton of water, my parents bought a few boxes for the first three weeks, and my roomates parents bought them for the last three weeks.
A mirror would have been nice to have, all I had was a small, free standing, circular mirror.
Make sure you rent a refrigerator, my roomate and I split the cost and it was a LIFESAVER!
This is probably a bit early, but when deciding what kind of method you will use to give your child money, dont use plaid cash. It rarely worked on very many places outside of campus (the starbucks plaid cash machine didnt work for about three weeks). My mom just took me to our local bank and got me a checking accout, it was extremely helpful. When I ran out of money (yes, I learned very quickly how expensive the world is), my mother easily put money on my account. Plus, there are plenty of ATMs around campus.
Oh, and bring multiple sets of sheets. I dont mind doing laundry, but I hate folding sheets, so bring multiples sets of sheets so that you can just stick the dirty ones in a bag and not worry about it. Oh, and bring a foldable hamper, it helps to carry all your clothes back to your room. The laundry room is like 30 or 40 feet from an elevator and then you have to walk all the way to your room, so a structured hamper as opposed to a bag actually helped a lot!</p>
<p>I'll keep the tips coming as I remember them. If you have questions, u can just post them and I'm sure 4 tips will spew just from that!</p>
<p>dramachick, you're the best. Looking thru the booklet CMU sent, PlaidCash sounded like a great idea. Thanks for warning us against that. Dramachick, do campers have any choices when it comes to dorm buildings, etc. I recall, last year, reading that some people loved their dorms, and others hated it. Are MT and drama kids spread out, or do they usually find themselves in the same building?</p>
<p>From what I understood from the handbook, all students will be housed in Morewood (There are different sections of Morewood; I don't know which we'll be in.). Here's what the CMU website says about Morewood: <a href="http://www.housing.cmu.edu/buildings/morewood/%5B/url%5D">http://www.housing.cmu.edu/buildings/morewood/</a> Or Maybe <a href="http://www.housing.cmu.edu/buildings/morewoodetwr/%5B/url%5D">http://www.housing.cmu.edu/buildings/morewoodetwr/</a></p>
<p>My brother is currently a Junoir in CMU's Computer Science program; he stayed in Morewood his sophomore year and said it was decent as far as dorms go. The rooms are all different sizes and shapes because it used to be a hotel.</p>
<p>Or something like that...</p>
<p>Yes, every person in every program is in Morewood. Most of my friends roomed with someone in the drama program, mostly the same option (I roomed with a fellow actor), but some roomed with techs, MTs, actors... The only choice you have is if you want to be in towers A-D or in E. E is brand new, which is kind of nice. Every room is the same, but there are community bathrooms rather than having one right there. The disadvantage to A-D is that some of the rooms are extremely small. My room was a freshmen room and would have been a normal size room if the bathroom didnt cut the room into an L shape. But really, this is all part of the college experience, so my roomate and I loved it. It just ment less places to have to clean.
If you want to be in E tower and no other tower, the only way you can pull this off is if you request airconditioning, which you would have to pay to install. All of those with air conditioning, most for medical reasons, were in E tower. Otherwise, its just whatever you get. But really, you dont spend much time in the dorms anyway. Once again, its all part of the college experience.</p>
<p>Speaking of cleaning and upkeep, I suggest bringing basic cleaning products. I kept a small broom and dust bin in my room, and i think we had some swiffer dusting cloths as well. Thats about as much as you need. I seem to remember someone coming in to clean the bathrooms, but I never actually saw the person come in (I always attended class!).</p>
<p>Oh, and for those of you with allergies, I am an expert on the subject. I have severe asthma, bad allergies, the whole nine yards. I was actually the healthies I have ever been at Morewood. No mold, dust, anything that normally gives me trouble. I was considering getting air conditioning, but I am very glad that I didnt!</p>
<p>Hmm... I think thats all the friendly tips I can think of for right now. Keep asking questions, its fun to reminise (I CANT SPELL) on the good times.</p>
<p>I had a personal fan with a little water spray thingy that I brought to CMU which worked REALLY well. I'd suggest one of those. It was SO hot in Morewood, but Purnell (the drama building) was freezing, so be sure to pack sweatshirts, too!</p>
<p>Oh, and not to freak anyone out, but there are cockroaches in the dorms. So I'd say that keeping your room clean is a good idea. Me and my roomate kept ours relatively clean and we only had one cockroach!</p>
<p>The summer of 2005 was soo HOT in Pittsburgh.... 3 huge & 2 small fans weren't enough...couldn't study, breathe or sleep. We had to get a doctor to fax a note so that we could buy an air conditioner (home depot) at the last min. It took maintenance approx. 3 days to come and install. Sharing refrigerator/microwave rental helped too.. there wasn't always time to go to breakfast etc.<br>
Why is it so common for singers to have asthma/allergies? Hmmm..</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether or not CMU's precollege program in acting and musical theater allows kids to request specific room-mates for the program? It turns out that a classmate of my D's may also be going, and it would be great if they could room together. Does that happen? If so, how do you arrange it?</p>
<p>NMR...obviously talk to others (like you are trying to do here!) who have gone in the past. But I want to pass onto you that a HS junior whom I know who attended CMU last summer, told me that she entered CMU pre college as roomies with a girl from her HS (so obviously that was requested). I'd call the school to ask the process for submitting roommate requests.</p>
<p>Yes, you can. I applied to be roomed with someone I already knew. I'm pretty sure you just have to write a letter stating that you want to be with another person, and the other person has to write one, too. However, I'd call the school to check. You really have to keep on their case, too. I got mine in as early as possible, and my mom checked in with the CMU pre-college people multiple times until they told her that we would be roomed together. I know of other people who requested, too. But I knew of people who requested and didn't get in the same room.</p>
<p>Thanks so much. It's certainly not imperative that they room together, but they get along very well (similar habits, etc.) and it would make sense. First, we have to find out of that other young lady is going to CMU for sure. (My kid is.) Then we will follow your advice (thanks so much again!) and see what happens.</p>
<p>Acceptance!!! We called today and they told us we'd get our packet sometime this or next week.
YAY!!! SO excited!</p>
<p>Okay, the cockroaches thing, shes not kidding. I didnt have any in my room, but a boys room had a cockroach, I saw it, I screamed, the whole nine yards. But that was only one time that i saw a cockroach.</p>
<p>Im not sure if I've talked about this yet, but let me reiterate, THE FOOD SUCKS IN THE CAFETERIA! Im really sorry, but it does. I hardly ever ate there, and I'm not increadibly picky. I suggest making sure that ur S or D finds good cheap restaurants (The Underground and other restaurants on campus are relatively cheap) and dont be mad when they blow a lot of money in the first three weeks because the food is really that bad. Buy lots of snacks and breakfast foods. This saves a lot of sleep time in the morning because I never had to walk over to get breakfast from the cafeteria, saving me at least 30 (walking over there, getting in line, eating in the cafeteria, walking back to Purnell). Sleep definetly becomes a problem because you are always so busy!</p>
<p>Thats all I've got for today. More tips to come I'm sure! This is so fun talking about the experience again! If you guys want tips on good restaurants, just ask, but I think its more fun to discover them on your own.</p>
<p>dramachick25-</p>
<p>this is already a pretty expensive program, or at least for my family, is it seriously worth paying all the extra money for other foods on campus rather than eating at the cafeteria? and if so, and you don't mind me asking, about how much did most end up spending on food and such? or what is a good amount to bring all together to cmu?</p>
<p>I didn't mind the food THAT much. I just tried not to think too much about what I was eating :) I probably ate most breakfasts and lunches in the caf, but I usually ate dinner in the Underground or Skibo. I'm pretty sure that I spent a lot of my extra money on food. It's not completely impossible to stick to the cafeteria food, but most don't. </p>
<p>Okay, about other restaurants..I'm just going to say one word. Lulu's. Ooh my goodness :-p</p>
<p>does anyone know how often you're able to get a chance to get off campus and into the city? or are there on specific occasions that you're allowed supervised visits?</p>
<p>you know, i have to say that i'm pretty dispointed to hear that the food isn't great. that stinks. :(</p>