Is Materials Science the easiest major to get into for CIT?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

Self explanatory. I know that ECE is the hardest. Does major within CIT make a difference?

2

Hi anon,

Only applying ECE makes a difference. Otherwise you are considered for general CIT. Note that even if you apply ECE, you can be rejected ECE but accepted for general CIT.

-Josh

3

What does “General CIT” mean? Can the student major in EE or CS? I do understand the CS has a separate college but I do not understand how the engineering college works. Does CMU actually BLOCK students from majoring in what they want? Why would they do that? Most other private colleges do not block students from choosing a major why would a very small private college like CMU try to master mind a student and not allow them to choose a major?

4

@Coloradomama General CIT just means that the student is not guaranteed the ECE major. Because ECE is such in high demand, the students who did not get accepted into CIT for ECE are not guaranteed spots in the classes required for that major. CMU doesn’t actually block students from majoring in ECE, and it’s definitely possible to transfer into the ECE track, but it’s just a little more difficult. I believe the process is that non-ECE majors have to take 3 or 4 of the required ECE courses and maintain a 3.4 GPA (no small feat) in those courses.

5

@jyinsanity Thanks, thats very helpful. My son wants ECE or CS and now I understand just how challenging that will be to get into those majors at CMU. I had hoped that the engineering college was one admission, but many schools do have quotas for CS or EE majors, even with mechanical being very popular major too at many colleges. Illinois and Berkeley have quotas too, as do many of the top tier state schools. MIT, Case Western, Georgia Tech and Colorado School of Mines admits students to the entire school for any major and allow easy changing of majors between CS, EE or Mech E in the first year and a half to two years. Son just got into Georgia Tech, though so we are happy and less worried about CMU now. Still CMU has one of the strongest EE and CS programs in the nation, so it will be a hard choice if he does get into one of the CMU programs.

6

If I applied for ECE as my second choice. Is there a possibility that I might be considered for General CIT also?