<p>Hello, College Confidential. I'm a high school senior and am planning on applying to CMU as a CS major. I've read that SCS actually requires students to minor in something, and I was wondering if it is possible to do so in another schoolminoring in Communication Design (CFA) or Creative Writing (H&SS).</p>
<p>Writing & design are both interests I have cultivated for a good many years (I've been a writer much longer than I've been your standard-issue computer geek) and I would love to be able to continue my creative pursuits in college. I know CMU has an interdisciplinary double-major program (I am planning on applying for BCSA) but I am a self-taught artist and unsure how strong my portfolio will be), so I'd like to know if minoring outside of SCS is an option. (I have Googled the topic and information has been unclear.)</p>
<p>Related: how separate are the students of different majors and schools? Do you generally have theatre kids in a group and science kids in another group, for example, or do people socialize across majors and departments easily?</p>
<p>Yes. You can. Also, it’s really super common for students to have interests across several disciplines that aren’t at all related to each other.</p>
<p>@completelykate, possibly, but I really am not sure. It does sound like a kind of CMU thing to do, though, in line with making non-CS kids take a programming class.</p>
<p>^I think it varies a lot. My son’s social life seems to revolve around the Linux cluster - so he doesn’t get out of his comfort zone much, but when he visited the group he stayed with was 3 drama school students and one comp sci guy.</p>
<p>In my opinion, I think the artsy/techy students are quite separated socially.</p>
<p>You may make friends through Orientation week, on your floor or through mutual classes but most students make friends within their major. After the first half-semester or so, you pretty much have a clear idea of who you’re going to be hanging out with. </p>
<p>I made several friends during my orientation who were of an artsy major (I’m a techy major) and nowadays, we rarely see each other since our schedules and group of friends are so vastly different. </p>
<p>That being said, it’s not impossible to do. It depends on the person and the types of organizations they join and people they like interacting with.</p>
<p>I have friends in both departments, but I tend to lean towards the tech end of things. Art students usually fit into the “attractive, works very little compared to other majors, doesn’t really think about the future” stereotype, whereas techies tend to fit the “sex factor not a priority, internship-focused, busy at all hours of the day” category.</p>
<p>I still am a little fuzzy on how clubs, &c work out in college, but hopefully this might give me a way to stay connected to artists and writers, whatever university I end up in.</p>