<p>My dad went to CMU in the 80s and loved his time there. He always tells stories of the fun and excitement he and his ATO brothers had (ATO is no longer there). Even in Civil Engineering he had time for fun. I love Pittsburgh and upon being accepted to CMU I signed up immediately, thinking it was a great school. Given its #23 status (#2 for cog psych, my major), plus the fact that the cheap local housing makes it one of the most affordable private schools out there, I thought I'd love it.. until I came across **************. The consensus all over that site is that CMU is a nerd-filled, antisocial, unathletic, ugly (save the CFA) institute of torture that sucks all the fun out of the college experience and forces unmanageable piles of work on its students.</p>
<p>I never expected a party school here, but I don't want to be surrounded by nothing but antisocial geeks who just play xbox and study constantly. I like to get out and have fun on weekends, but academics are my first priority. I also like to keep in physical shape, and I assumed most people here do considering the massive success of intramurals, but that's not what I hear from CP. Will I be in the minority if I do anything remotely close to enjoyment here? I knew the school had a lack of athletic spirit, but I expected that from a top 50 school (save Notre Dame, which is too strict for my liking and lacks Greek life). I feel bad for asking this and it seems kinda shallow, but are all the girls here really that unattractive and socially inept? </p>
<p>Is CMU really a place filled to the rim with antisocial nerds? What happened to all the non-tech colleges? I mean, I'm no jock by any stretch but I really don't care much for techy stuff. Should I expect to transfer to UMich or UPenn after one semester? Both are supposed to be kinda geeky too, but Mich has the Wolverine pride and Penn prides itself on being social. I ruled out SMU due to half the campus being a party school and the rest having no life. The only schools that seem perfect are Vanderbilt and UT Austin and I can't get into either so cross those off. I also worry because I have a mental illness and I'm scared that too much stress and a depressing social scene will bring my problems back. I see Ivy Leagues priding themselves on being better than the others, and other schools flaunting their positive qualities, so why does everyone at CMU want everyone to think that their school is a horrific world of geek-dominated pain? Are these tales of agony merited, or is this all the work of the antisocial ones themselves (they did create CP after all)? I don't get why anyone would hate on their own school, unless they transferred (which 96% or so don't). Am I really in store for an awful time? Hope not :(</p>
<p>The only really ****ty semester you should ever have with cog sci is when you take 15-251 Great Theoretical Ideas of Computer Science. It WILL suck your time if you hope for higher than a C. Otherwise, CMU will be reasonably fun. If you like pittsburgh, then you know what you’re getting into.</p>
<p>I don’t go to Carnegie Mellon, but Michigan is not “geeky.” There are nerds who only study and there are people who only party, but the majority of the people on campus have a party hard work hard mentality. Our fantastic athletic programs, enormous Greek life system and the pride that we have for our school create this type of atmosphere at Michigan. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that college pr0wl3r is the place you go to complain about carnegie mellon when you’re dropping out. It’s not like people who are having fun and busy doing things are like, “you know what I really want to do on Saturday night? Go on CP and write a nice review about how fun CMU is.”</p>
<p>This is called nonresponse bias. As a cog sci major, you will soon learn about it. It describes a lot of CMU’s negative perceptions. The people who are happy here – the majority, really – don’t need to complain because everything’s good. The people who are miserable tend to be as loud as possible. So this gives a skewed feedback to prospective students.</p>
<p>Yes, CMU is a small, academically-focused school. Yes, it’s nerdy. Yes, people do work out and play on IM teams. And yes, people have fun - a lot of it. If you are looking for the land of the sun-tanned bikini blondes, look elsewhere. CMU is for people who work hard and play hard. That’s what we pride ourselves on. </p>
<p>But you can’t expect everything to come to you. People are not going to congregate at your dorm door and start partying. You’re going to have to meet others, make connections, and get invited on your own. That’s the difference between us and other schools - having a social life takes initiative. Then again, consider it training for the rest of your life. The world is not college, after all. :)</p>
<p>Edit: I just remembered - you should check out steelersngators’ post history. He was a freshman this past year who posted on CC and was worried about finding a social life. He rushed a frat, made some good friends, and hasn’t been online since. Case in point. :p</p>
<p>Must’ve heard wrong about Michigan then. Yeah everyone tends to say that social life there takes initiative, probably that way at most non-party schools. Maybe when I go there I should start a “stop the whiners from scaring away prospective students” club :P</p>
<p>Don’t listen to online reviews. They can be so inaccurate and misleading. Had I listened to them while applying, I probably would have been scared to apply anywhere.</p>
<p>Haha, but didn’t steelersngators drop concepts or 251? Too much fun can be dangerous (and expensive) at this school.</p>
<p>Also if OP is platinum blonde barbie, I’d wager people WOULD congregate at her dorm and start partying. Still, it’s training for the rest of your life — well at least until middle age</p>
<p>“Also if OP is platinum blonde barbie, I’d wager people WOULD congregate at her dorm and start partying. Still, it’s training for the rest of your life — well at least until middle age”</p>
<p>I’m a guy As long as I’m not coming somewhere where I’m a social outcast for not being able to quote star trek, I’m cool with coming here.</p>
<p>I think this might be the first time in history someone has worried about becoming a social outcast for NOT being able to quote star trek haha</p>
<p>Out of the five people from my school attending CMU:
Four girls, one guy.
Two people deeply interested in fashion (that I know of).
Two people who have done or continue to do sports (that I know of).
Perhaps only two might be classified as “nerds” (e.g. good grades, shy).
All either fairly gregarious to quiet but extremely sociable once approached. They all have friends. They all dress on the spectrum of average-teenagerish to quite well. They all shower, et cetera, et cetera, what do you expect?</p>
<p>I want to say that the girls (excluding me) are quite lovely and sociable and beautiful and also incredibly smart and interesting. And this comprises one CFA, two SCS, one HSS, and one CIT. I realize the class of 2015 is not adequately represented by this sample, but I wanted to note that—at least for my school—the CMU attendees defy all the stereotypes.</p>
<p>I am so serious! The one kid that most fits the usual stereotypes is still a really funny and sociable person, even though this kid sort of checks off the “unathletic geek in love with Star Trek” stereotypes.</p>
<p>Ok so I’m getting the sense that CMU is more geeky in the way of “quirky people with unique interests” (i.e. a perfect match for me) than the definition I grew up with i.e. “unhygenic and interested in nothing but technology and counterstrike”. </p>
<p>One more thing, I figured having the Steelers and Penguins around would make up for the less popular sports scene at CMU. Does it feel like a missing piece and a hole in the experience, or is it really not noticeable?</p>
<p>It definitely does feel like a missing piece. I grew up having college gamedays on saturday be the thing to look forward to. At CMU there is no tailgating, and unless you are good friends with somebody on the team, you will likely never go out of your way to be at an athletic event. </p>
<p>Sure the Steelers and Penguins are there, but you will probably go to at most one or two games all year and then watch the rest on TV. A party-like atmosphere only really picks up for NFL playoffs / Superbowl and to a much lesser extent, march madness.</p>
<p>I’ve heard some students and administrators say that Buggy replaces the big sports as the cool athletic thing to do on the weekend. Ya, no. Sorry, 7-9am (and that’s for the ones who get to sleep in) on weekend mornings is not cool.</p>
<p>I found myself going to way more Pirates games than Penguins games, mostly because you could hop on a bus for free to get there, buy a ticket at the window for $6, and then sit almost anywhere in the park because the ushers didn’t care.</p>
<p>Athletic spirit is definitely lacking a bit at CMU, though I still found it fun to try and eat my lunch on Saturday out by the track to watch the football team play.</p>
<p>Pirates tix are $6 b/c that’s all they are worth! Pirates suck.</p>
<p>Penquins won the stanley cup in 2010 – tix unaffordable to students.</p>
<p>Steelers tix? Too damm cold in the winter-- besides, the riots are more fun post superbowl!</p>
<p>Yeah-- I wondered where steelergator went-- he was very very very busy here from the time he was ED admit until after he arrived on campus. A tepper student-- ha, he doesn’t need to take concepts or 251 or any CIT class. not to undermine tepper-- but those courses are probably half the level of difficulty and workload as a typical CS, MCS or CIT or ArchY student will have to deal with.</p>
<p>Pirates might suck, but it’s a cheap way to see some good teams. ;)</p>
<p>(Figures they only time I ever saw them win was against my hometown team, though.)</p>
<p>Their fireworks nights are worth the ticket price alone. The view from PNC Park with the skyline of the city, the rivers, and fireworks is definitely not a sight to be missed while you’re in Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>A splurge once every 1 or 2 years wouldn’t be too big of a sin though if you want to see a Pens or Steelers game.</p>
<p>mom2012/2014, don’t be bashing on TSB. I’m not really full of “rah rah” Tepper spirit myself but you’re only perpetuating a painful stereotype. For every dumb**** football idiot in the class there are two or three quieter, hard working ones who do just as much work as the “harder” schools.</p>
<p>You can add Northwestern, Duke, Wake Forest, USC, UVA & UNC to the list of other smart, athletic, div1 schools (list is shorter than it could be). My anectodal evidence shows that CMU has a self selecting pool of matriculants who knew they would like it…and do. If you’re a legacy and have visited, your eyes should be wide open.</p>
As long as I’m not coming somewhere where I’m a social outcast for not being able to quote star trek, I’m cool with coming here.</p>