<p>I spoke to the Dean Provost of HSS at the Diversity Discussion dinner this week, and he relayed the information to me. As far as I know, it has not been publicized. He also told me that Carnegie Mellon has been invited previous years and has declined. The University is very proud of remaining an institution separate of the Ivy League Schools. I'm sure if you visited and spoke to one of the Deans or Faculty members they could tell you, but I was given the impression that the University does not necessarily want this information published for whatever reason. (Funding, who knows?) But the Deans are pretty friendly and I'm sure they would tell you if asked.</p>
<p>The Ivy League is a NCAA Division 1 sports conference. CMU has no sports programs at that level or close to it. Just look at the football stadiums Ivy schools have vs CMU's. CMU does not schedule games vs Ivy schools now. There is no reason for the Ivy League to expand or any rumors that they want to. CMU is a charter member of the UAA, the premier Div 3 conference in the nation. All UAA members are in the Top 40 USN academically - a fantastic conference in its own right, set up more for student participants than spectators. If there was such an invite, I would like to see the article too.</p>
<p>I should have known better than to share something like this on a public message board, skepticism is warranted in situations when you can't give clean cut proof, especially on the internet. CMU was invited and did decline, I can't prove it to you beyond my word. Like I said, feel free to visit the school and ask, I'm sure they'll share the information. The Dean Provost of HSS, Professor Devine, informed me of this last week. I have no explanation for why it isn't publicized. You can take it with a grain of salt if you like.</p>
<p>Regardless, CMU is an excellent school, whether it belongs to the Ivy League or not.</p>
<p>Doni... -I- believe you. ;-)</p>
<p>Cool--didn't want to freak anyone out.</p>
<p>It may be that one of the grounds for admission to the IVYs would have been based on CMU investing more money into athletics or whatever, but all I was told about was the need to change the research programs if they joined.</p>
<p>cmu or berkeley for ece?</p>
<p>As a current CMU (art) student, I thought that was an excellent review. The financial aid people at CMU are EXTREMELY understanding ( that being a massive understatement) and basically continued to award me money until I could afford to go there. I was accepted into pretty much any art school, but in the end CMU ended up being cheaper for me than even Cooper Union, which is supposedly free (minus board, etc). My SATs werent particularly hight either, 1400s). I will admit that the school <em>does</em> have a low endowment though, but I encourage everyone to DISCUSS financial options with the admissions and aid officers... it really does make a ($20,000/yr+) difference.</p>
<p>...and to respond to the question about the general opinion of Pgh towards CMU, they seem to view it almost heroically. We get into most museums and muscal events for free (while students from other colleges get small discounts), which im sure we must be paying for somewhere, but that also reflects the general attitude as well. If you say you are from CMU, people are nice to you. :P Upitt, the neighboring college (where I took some classes-- keep in mind, classes not offered at CMU are probably at the gigantic U. a ten minute walk away) is somewhat in awe of CMU as well, but very friendly too.</p>
<p>I'm going to be an engineering freshman at CMU this fall (so I'm a little biased). For anyone who said that the appearance of the campus was not spectacular, I would have to agree. The lawns are manicured, everything is well groomed and clean, but a campus made of yellow brick just doesn't appeal to me. The community immediately surrounding Mellon is nice, and the students are welcoming of newcomers and visitors. The parking situation is abismal. As to the cost, yes, it is outrageously expensive. I did not receive financial aid, so that is make an interesting four years for my parents, as I have a younger sister who will shortly attend college as well. The average cost per semester of CMU is 20,000 (this approximates food and rooming etc). The engineering and computer science programs are well-known and compete for top slots with MIT and CalTech. The musical theatre program is also excellent, but accepts only 12 freshmen. The food is acceptable though not great, but the dorm situation is pretty good. A large number of the dorms have "prime" rooms, which means that the residents share a bathroom with five or fewer students. While many think this is a luxury, several organizations that deal with sexual assault on college campuses suggest that central hall showers are a risk factor in that area. Overall, I give Carnegie Mellon an A. To give you an idea of comparison, I chose between: CMU, WashU, U Rochester, Case Western, Yale, Macalester, Syracuse, and Indiana University.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has the top Electrical and Computer Engineering program in the country. I would definitely say CMU.</p>
<p>not just limited to musical theatre...Carnegie Mellon has what is arguably the top drama school in the country which offers degrees in Acting, Musical Theatre, Directing, Design, and Management. There are about 200 students total in the Drama School (grad and undergrad).</p>
<p>Just to clarify. The Musical Theater program takes 10 freshman a year (usually) and the acting program takes 18 a year. And yes it is one of the top programs in the country.</p>
<p>I recently stumbled onto this site while looking for something else. I was glad to find out through reading most of what has been posted, that things at CMU haven't changed that much. We are very much a CMU family in that 4 members of 3 generations have gone to CMU for various degrees. Mine is an MFA in fine arts (painting), so I can only speak about that department. It's a tough school to get into, as anyone who has made it can tell you. All of the fine arts programs were incredibly competitive,lots of applicants and not a lot of slots to fill. When you do make it, you find that you are no longer "the best/most talented" one in the class as was probably true in high school. The hard thing to learn for me was to not compete against the other freshman, but only against myself. I was so busy trying to be a better artist than everyone else, as I was used to being in high school, that I wasn't learning anything. CMU was set up originally as a professional school. The best thing about it for me was not wasting time with lots of required courses that would take away from my studio time. I'm glad to read that that tradition continues. On the other hand, the studio courses required another kind of self-discipline which only helps you face the art world when you get out. The recuiters that fought over my brother and his PHD in Engneering, weren't waiting for someone with an MFA in painting. We had to make our own way.
I also read with interest people talking about the lack of a beautiful campus. No one can deny that if you want a great tree-lined, ivy growing campus that you'll have to look elsewhere. Unless things have changed drastically since I was there, you still have Schenley Park as your back-drop. Maybe it's no longer the safe haven it was many years ago, but it was always a great place to go to be alone with your own thoughts. When it comes right down to it though, aren't you spending that close to $200,000 on getting the best education possible? I know I'm prejudice, but If that's the criteria, than CMU is the place.</p>
<p>yes help me plz
i am a prospective student (senior) and i will be applying to the tepper school of business at CMU. However, i am not taking physics, and physics is a requirement (i read it on the CMU website). Will i be disqualified from getting in to CMU?
thks a lot</p>
<p>We just attended a Carnegie Mellon portfolio review at the School of Design. Frankly, it was "interesting." </p>
<p>First, the ass't admission's director , who lectured to the parents while porfolios were being reviewed by professors,couldn't answer most questions posed by parents. For example, she didn't know how many kids apply to the School of Design, and she didn't know what the acceptance rate was. She even didn't know what the average SATs were for design kids and didn't even know how many kids were in the School of Design altogether. She was very inept, and it was very frustrating.</p>
<p>Secondly, The process involved an hour review by several professors, who privately reviewed over 25 kids pieces. They then had personal interviews for 6 minutes.</p>
<p>The facilities for communication design were in the bottom basement of an old building. The program seems very print oriented; however, they did do most of their work on computer, with the exception of freshmen year. It seems like a good, tough program. In fact, kids were in the studio on Saturday afternoon, which says a lot.</p>
<p>Contrary to my Overview of the School, CMU no longer has those wonderful pretzels. In fact, the food seemed a bit dreadful. If anything, the food got worse.</p>
<p>Overall, I think that the kids work REALLY hard there,but my daughter didn't like the print emphasis in the school of design. She preferred a more "New Media" or digital emphasis. In addition, she really didn't like having all studios in the basement of an old building. </p>
<p>Finally, I should note that the School of Design is a very small department. It only takes around 50 kids a year, which includes BOTH communication design and industrial Design. My daughter felt that this was just too small and perhaps too insular for her taste. At OVER $32,000 a year in tuition alone, I wasn't too thrilled with the price either.</p>
<p>Contrary to my Overview of the School, CMU no longer has those wonderful pretzels. In fact, the food seemed a bit dreadful. If anything, the food got worse.</p>
<p>Having not eaten any CMU food ever, what was so bad about it? tasted like plastic? undercooked? too salty?</p>
<p>Monkeegirl, The cafeteria had some poor choices during the time that we were there. They served mostly greasy or fried food.</p>
<p>CMU does, however, have little restaurants sprinkled throughout the campus. These are very "fast food"oriented. There is a mexican place that served rather greasy food. There was a nice salad bar,but you pay for the entree by weight, which could get pricey. They had a fast food place specializing in hot dogs etc. I think you get the idea.</p>
<p>Frankly, from what I saw, the food choices and quality was very underwhelming. If you visit the school, you will see what I mean. Evaluating food and choices of food is very subjective. You need to evaluate it for yourself. However, there is no question in my mind that the quality of CMU's cuisine isn't one of the better reasons to study at CMU.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, where is the cafeteria? The only thing resembling a cafeteria I could ever find was on the second floor in the corner of the student union building, and it seemed to be more for faculty.</p>
<p>When we visited, it did turn out to be pretty expensive for my son to eat from the food court places. He does better at the all-you-can-eat cafeterias! A girl with a smaller appetite might be fine, though.</p>
<p>Erm, I remember going downstairs of Morewood, I think it was called the O... if I am not mistaken. The food there was admittedly unimpressive, but would poor tasting food truly turn anyone away from this campus? I am so entirely glad I got into CMU, and I got in knowing the campus isn't the greatest of beautys and the food is clearly not 1st rate. But in the end, I think its the feel of the campus that really grabbed me. Anyone considering a Sleeping Bag Weekend, DOSO! Really!</p>
<p>My S's a freshman at CMU. Apparently the longer you have to live with it the worse the food seems. There are relatively few good choices and we had to send our sone a protein "care package" because he wasn't able to get enough protein on the food plan to keep him healthy.</p>
<p>One of his greatest irritations is that first year students have no choice but to take a food plan. Given a choice he would never eat on campus again.</p>