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<li><p>Are sports teams only for recruits, or can others try out?</p></li>
<li><p>Is the campus diverse and inclusive...and do black students seem to be welcoming and accepting to one another? (the percentage of black students seems very low).</p></li>
<li><p>Is the feel of the school in general welcoming or hard to break into?</p></li>
<li><p>For a student who hated a preppy, 'sports are the world' high school but who does enjoy physical outlets, diversity and having some fun and school spirit (along with hard work) should this school be on the list to visit and consider?</p></li>
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<li><p>You can join a lot of the teams - for example, Ultimate Frisbee. Teams like Football, that start before the school year, are probably a no-no.</p></li>
<li><p>Definitely, and there is actually a fair share of Afrian Americans in all the schools is actually not that low. CMU is definitely diverse; people come from many geographic areas (including out of the country), socioeconomic backgrounds, races, religions, etc. I think we pride ourselves of that fact.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s definitely welcoming. If you’re close enough you should visit and have an admissions interview. Those people are super nice.</p></li>
<li><p>Not everyone here is a stereotypical geek; don’t worry! Definitely apply :)</p></li>
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<p>I’m gonna add to the second one because you seem like you’re black and since I’m black I could provide some insight. The black students are very welcoming! You’ll come to realize that you know each of them by name and hang out with each of them. I personally was afraid I wasn’t going to find a group of them, but I was able to quickly! We all tend to hang together, we have outside friends but we normally stick together. I guess that can be good, but also bad depending on how you look at it. We also are willing to help each other and spend nights studying and having fun!</p>
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<li><p>The school is extremely open and welcoming as long as you make an effort. This means going to the events during orientation, going to the activities fair and signing up for anything that remotely interests you, and experimenting with different student groups, academic teams, intramural teams, fraternities, etc. until you find your niche. If you do that, you’ll be set. In addition, one good strategy that worked for me was that I resolved never to be in my room alone during the whole first month of school unless I really needed to concentrate, which led me to meeting a bunch of really cool people that are now my best friends even though we will probably never have a class together. The more open you are to stepping outside your comfort zone, the more open the school will be.</p></li>
<li><p>Definitely visit, and come do a sleeping bag weekend if you can. CMU does have the physical outlets, diversity, and school spirit that you want (and more than enough of the hard work), but just not in the way you’re probably expecting. For example, the physical outlets tend to be intramurals and club sports (in which a majority of students participate), as well as pushing for buggy. Diversity comes not only from African Americans, Latin Americans, etc., but also from the huge number of internationals here (you have no idea how cool it is to have friends from Mexico, Ukraine, Canada, Singapore, France, England, India, and Ethiopia. It makes for some awesome conversation.). Lastly, a lot of the school spirit comes from things like booth, buggy and robotics competitions.</p></li>
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<li> I’m pretty sure varsity sports are recruits only, but I’m not 100% positive.</li>
<li> The percentage of black students seems about average, and they definitely are accepting (as is everyone else). Diversity at CMU is decent. There are many international students, mostly from China, but I’ve met people from Peru, Ukraine, India, Singapore and the UK (and Puerto Rico if that counts). It’s really cool to get to know them. The diversity here is more one of peoples’ interests, hobbies and personalities rather than a racial/cultural one.</li>
<li> This is a VERY welcoming school, and it is very easy to break into the whole social scene and to get to know people.</li>
<li> CMU is about as far from preppy as you can get, and it’s centered around student activities and interests more than sports. However, IM sports are really big and that’s a great physical outlet. You will certainly have some hard work, but contrary to the numerous rants from people who lock themselves in their rooms all weekend and then whine about not finding parties, there is very much fun to be had. I’ve had no problem whatsoever partying and having fun most weekends, yet still keeping up with my work.</li>
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