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I would seriously kill to see a female applicant ask "how hot are the dudes at CMU?"... just once.
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<p>Don't worry, I've got your back.</p>
<p>I'm a girl and I'll be a freshman at SCS in the fall. CMU was my first choice and I'm positively thrilled to attend, but I'm really worried about all these unsubstantiated rumors I've heard about the guys at CMU. This being such an academically strong school, I'm going to generalize and say a lot of the guys are going to be pasty, stammering nerds who spend all their time holed up in labs, the library, or their dorm rooms. </p>
<p>Are there any hot guys? Are they outnumbered by a sea of the previously mentioned pasty, stammering nerds? What's the dating && relationships scene like? Please tell me people shower.</p>
<p>Alternatively </p>
<p>I'm actually pretty uncomfortable distilling an entire demographic into the stereotype of a socially awkward and aesthetically unappealing nerd. So what I'd rather ask:</p>
<p>How visible is the girl/guy gender disparity? Does it significantly affect the dating && relationships scene? (I think I heard someone claim that when you subtract the more socially shy guys who don't engage in dating the ratio evens out a bit more.) Is the campus full of people complaining about their lack of attractive options (essentially, is it a kind of negative woe-is-me type of dynamic)? Are the guys jerks about how girls look? (Are a subset of these jerks also incredible hypocrites?)</p>
<p>Is there a certain stigma associated with dressing up or caring about your appearance (for girls) seeing as I've heard it's a fairly laidback campus?</p>
<p>to be honest, there is a minority of people who do, in fact, fit the stammering, pasty, CS stereotype. But there are also plenty who don’t. Many computer science majors are actually well-formed human beings capable of carrying on a conversation (much to the shock of the non-CS majors)</p>
<p>The guy/girl disparity isn’t honestly that noticeable. The thing I would say that it most affects is the tendency at CMU for people to “couple up” in that there is a much stronger culture here for relationships over casual dating and/or hookups.</p>
<p>And yes, there is plenty of complaining (on both sides of the gender line). I personally feel most of it is done by people who aren’t really making an effort.</p>
<p>In SCS, the guy/girl ratio is definitely noticeable from the girl perspective. Even at the 121 and 123 level (more or less intro cs courses) I had only three or so other girls in my class out of 30-ish people. It’s definitely not anywhere near gender balanced. Then again, female enrollment in CS at CMU is something like 10-15%, right? So that’s to be expected. Also most CS guys are not creepers, so no need to feel worried about being outnumbered.</p>
<p>Outside of SCS-- for example, in the humanities and in CFA – classes are very balanced. Especially in creative writing the gender balance is reversed - there are maybe 10 guys in my year and I’m pretty sure at least a third of them are gay.</p>
<p>There is one thing at CMU that should make any girl happy: an abundance of the “I Was A Geek” stereotype. AKA the guy who was super awkward and nerdy in high school but somehow became enormously attractive in senior year and now thinks he’s ugly but is actually cute. Bonus points if you get his xkcd references and are willing to hang out at Boss house on a friday night playing Smash Bros. IWAGs tend to be extra chivalrous because they have never gotten laid. </p>
<p>Most of the time people shower. There is a minority of science types that do not. I almost passed out when taking my intro to programming final because the windows were all shut and the BO in the room was… beyond anything I have ever experienced before or since.</p>
<p>Haha, glad to hear you say that instead of me.</p>
<p>Anyway, you’ll definitely notice the gender disparity in your CS classes. My major (Materials Science & Engineering) was about 50/50, but I minored in physics and all the upper-level classes there had, maybe, three girls in a class of forty. I felt kinda bad for them being surrounded by the terrible BO that is a physics classroom.</p>
<p>Most people are pretty good about hygiene, and those that aren’t typically don’t show up to lecture and spend most of their time in their room (only bothering their roommate).</p>
<p>As for attractiveness, I’d say it’s about the same as the women at CMU. You’ll find after a year or two at the school your standards adjust a bit and you don’t even notice it any more.</p>
<p>Well, everyone knows my bias about the women at CMU-- they look fine to me!</p>
<p>From a parent perspective I see lots of young men who look scrawny and I think that’s sleep deprivation setting in and too much school work and no time to regularly work out. While young women tend to gain weight-- it appears as though the guys are loosing weight. </p>
<p>It’s said that at CMU you get to pick two out of four: Study, sleep, eat or shower. I cannot say I’ve smelled anything foul - but it does appear that lots of the guys are really underweight and many look like they need a shampoo and hair cut. But other than that, they dress in floppies, tshirt shorts/jeans. Some don’t appear to shave much either. Nothing looks dreadful-- just average college guys in terms of looks-- But again, I’m biased, I just don’t call people ugly – I don’t see ugly when I look at people ever. But they don’t appear to be too concerned about buffing up those muscles yet. No massive acne outbreaks on campus – people look ok in that regard.</p>
<p>I don’t know-- when you scan the FB thumbnails, it just looks like another college campus to me. Average young adults representing the age group.</p>
<p>My S thinks lots of people hibernate playing video games in their room when not studying. His freshman roommate rarely left the room. He is planning to join a frat-- ended up spending lots of time in one of the frats some of his friends joined. Their pictures look nice - but they are all in suits on the frat webpage.</p>
<p>I’d agree that males at cmu are pretty small. I have always found it funny that then the “studs” are often just tall, but overweight dudes. Few are legitimately huge and in shape, and it is nothing like my friends’ fraternities at state schools.</p>
<p>The campus meal plan honestly doesn’t help a ton in this regard. Limiting to one block per meal time is a ridiculous restriction on being able to spend your own money to get enough calories to bulk up.</p>
<p>I’m 6’1 and 170 lbs. so I don’t fit in either I guess. </p>
<p>Also, one of the best looking guys I’ve ever known, not just at CMU, went single his entire freshman year so I guess there are plenty of decent guys to go around.</p>
<p>The thing about the tall, overweight studs is exactly like my high school lol</p>
<p>Whether or not you notice the gender disparity will definitely depend on one’s major, as others have stated. I’m a MechE (80/20 m/f in the department), and while it’s not always as noticeable in certain classes, in others it’s very obvious!</p>
<p>Oh yeah. When I mentioned gender disparity not being that noticeable, I meant around campus/dorms/parties. Inside classes in CS, it is a decidedly male dominated classroom. </p>
<p>The freshman CS class this year was 75/25 M/F, but next year will probably be a little better (maybe 70/30). Even so, the gender difference is DEFINITELY noticeable inside your engineering and CS courses. </p>
<p>That said, social life has a more even ratio because while the “Stay In Playing Starcraft Instead of Interacting With Real Humans” crowd is a minority, that minority is mostly male.</p>
<p>^I’m not a ChemE, but while it’s true that ChemE has more girls than a lot of the engineering disciplines, I’m pretty sure it’s still not at 50-50.</p>
<p>I know MechE is 80/20, because that’s my department, and they told us so. CivE, I’m not sure - there are definitely more girls in CivE than MechE, but I can’t say quite how many - perhaps for along the lines of 60/40 or 70/20? </p>
<p>ChemE tends to have the most girls, then Mat Sci or CivE, then MechE, and ECE is like 90/10, I believe. </p>
<p>I didn’t really notice the gender disparity that much as a female in intro to MechE; we’ll see if I notice it more in my actual MechE classes.</p>
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