<p>Hey everybody! I am an incoming freshman to Carnegie Mellon in this coming fall.</p>
<p>I was really excited about coming to CMU until I heard about some things recently from a variety of people and sources. Will someone who goes to CMU please address the follow things whether they are true or not?</p>
<p>1.) The environment is very academically competitive. Almost everyone studies all the time and there is barely any time for fun like sports, clubs, music, or even free time.
2.) There are no parties or formal balls at all. I didn't want to go to a party school, thus I came to CMU b/c I thought it was a pretty balanced school (w/ fun and academics). But now it seems like there are no parties or formal balls.....
3.) The work load is extremely heavy. You will spend most of your time studying and it is very very hard to get an A.
4.) There is sabotage and students are not willing to help out each other in school work.
5.) It is overall a very unattractive student body. Because everyone cares about their grades, no one cares about their appearances. The CMU googles are b/c people have nobody else to date/hookup but w/ unattractive people. The laws of average are not present at this school.
6.) Even if the guy/girl ratio is more guys, girls shouldn't be excited b/c the guys are ugly and not capable of holding a good conversation.
7.) The food is terrible and expensive. </p>
<p>Will someone who goes to CMU please address the follow things whether they are true or not and provide a detailed answer? I really hope CMU is not like anything described above b/c if so, I will have to rethink about what college I will go to. Thank you.</p>
<p>Haha all that sounds pretty much what it was like in 1978 when I graduated!! Except the sabotage part and students not working together. I don’t remember that. People were very collaborative. Had to be. That’s got to be even more true now.</p>
<p>As for the attractive part, as a male, CMU was a very interesting place. At the time I attended, the student body was about 35% female which has changed to be much closer to 50/50. But what was unusual about the “attractiveness” of the student body was that you had these world class beauties in the Drama school who were basically unreachable for average guys like me (to give you perspective, Shari Belafonte was in my graduating class. Look her up. She’s still a world class beauty.). And then there was the rest of us. Within the rest of us there were still plenty of attractive young women. I’m sure the odds are better now for a male. If you, Prestigious, are a female or a same gender preference person, the same statement applies, I think. You will be able to find people you will want to date. More than one of my friends met their future spouse while an undergraduate. I can’t think of one who is not still married today. </p>
<p>Also within close proximity of CMU are several colleges and universities, most notably Pitt and Duquesne. So additional opportunities for socializing exist outside of the bounds of the CMU campus.</p>
<p>I think some of the bad stuff is overstated. Certainly you will find “attractive” people to date; they are there. And the fact that these students will no doubt be intellectually stimulating is a bonus. At the same time, there’s no doubt that its a serious academic school and most everyone is focused on that most of the time.</p>
<p>So to summarize, I could not say that CMU is “not like anything described above”, but I could say that it is not totally like you stated above. Academics take priority, but fun and companionship certainly is available. </p>
<p>Thank you kaukauna for your response. I am a female btw so that’s why I am wondering. </p>
<p>I am glad to hear that CMU is not totally like what I stated above. I can breathe a little easier now! I am extremely relieved to hear that the student body as a whole is very collaborative. </p>
<p>By the way, can you elaborate more about the dating/hookup culture? Also, can you talk about how the food is there? Thank you.</p>
<p>Thank you @kaukauna for your response. I am a female btw so that’s why I am wondering.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear that CMU is not totally like what I stated above. I can breathe a little easier now! I am extremely relieved to hear that the student body as a whole is very collaborative.</p>
<p>By the way, can you elaborate more about the dating/hookup culture? Also, can you talk about how the food is there? Thank you.</p>
<p>Prestigious: Unfortunately I’m a 1978 graduate who only goes back occaisionally, serves on an alumni group or two, and who has had two children apply at CMU. My comments were more reflective and general in nature. I’m so far removed from the social scene that I can’t offer anything about the dating / hookup culture these days. Or the food for that matter except to say, like most colleges and universities, it’s much better than when I went there. I hope some current students and / or recent graduates help you out here. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>1) I wouldn’t say it is academically ‘competitive’ here. Challenging for sure, but not competitive; rather, I’d say we have a pretty collaborative environment. I think it really depends on the individual whether he or she ‘studies all the time’. I know people who do that, but I also know plenty of people who have a more or less balanced lifestyle, me and my friends included.</p>
<p>2) Personally I’m no party animal and couldn’t care less about whether there are parties around. But even so I’m pretty certain there are parties around the weekend. For one, there is this thing called Labor Day Party (they even made an abbreviation out of it - LDP - though I’ve always thought it’s kinda silly…) I still remember there were (drunk?) folks WALKING IN THE MIDDLE OF MOREWOOD AVE near the greek quad on the night of LDP, as well as the urge to run them over (just kidding). I’ve also heard that there are plenty of parties down at Pitt, which is like a 5 to 10-minute walk away. As for formal balls, I don’t know if Luna Gala counts but you can check it out; it’s definitely one of the biggest events around the year on campus.</p>
<p>3) The work load is heavy - of course, it’s CMU, who are you kidding. But I don’t think it’s impossible at all to get an A. I’m a senior and I’ve had straight A’s for the past 3 consecutive semesters, taking almost exclusively 300- and 400-level courses within my major. It also obviously depends on what classes you take. There are a few notoriously hard ones, but come on, a percentage of people are bound to get an A no matter how hard the class is (point being, that’s just how the system works, isn’t it? There always have to be some A’s and you may as well just be one of them).</p>
<p>4) This is simply not true. Actually it sounds totally ridiculous based on my experience here so far.</p>
<p>5) Different people can have very different senses of aesthetics. I personally don’t have a problem with the ‘appearances’ of the student population here. I find plenty of cute geeky/nerdy guys here. I can’t comment on girls coz I’m gay and couldn’t care less about how girls look :)</p>
<p>6) I think the degree of social awkwardness of CMU kids has been greatly and unjustifiably magnified. I consider most peeps here normal and capable of normal conversation.</p>
<p>7) Yep, I whole-heartedly agree that on-campus dining options suck. But you can opt out of dining plans once freshman year is over. There are plenty of restaurants with reasonable prices off-campus on Craig St and nearby. Better, if you move off-campus you can cook for yourself. I’ve been cooking for a year and can’t be happier.</p>
<p>I would mostly agree with Szett but would also like to add a few things. </p>
<p>As someone who pays attention to parties and events around campus, there are lots of official and unofficial opportunities to do fun things, and that includes formal balls. The frats and sororities all have them but many of the individual colleges and some of the dorms and student orgnizations hold them as well. Formals aren’t very often, but they are definitely present. </p>
<p>I want to re-emphasize the lack of competitive atmosphere here. I almost always work on homework with friends so that we can use our relative strengths to learn the most while we work on problem sets and if you are willing to ask, 9/10 people will take the time to help you. The other time they won’t because they have class or a meeting they have to get to but if you don’t figure it out before they are done they’ll meet up with you later to help. </p>
<p>The on campus food is not terrible. There are some good places (the Exchange) and there are mediocre places. By the end of freshman year, however, it is easy to be tired of the food because there is not a huge variety. This is when most people cease the meal plan and mostly eat off campus or cook, but I know plenty of upperclassmen who will occasionally eat on campus still because it’s convenient and they have found a few places that they like.</p>
<p>OP, you’re making big generalizations about a large student body. CMU all types of people and you’ll find the type(s) you’re looking here who like to do the things you like to do. Don’t worry about stereotypes; for all its weirdness, CMU is a college like any other. </p>