<p>Flawless victory.</p>
<p>My son just enrolled, and I am not worried about job opportunities.</p>
<p>Worlds best engineering/IT:</p>
<p>U.S.News & World Report’s World’s Best Universities rankings, based on the QS World University Rankings, identified these to be the world’s top universities in 2009.</p>
<p>Rank Subject Score Citations per Paper
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States 100.0 4.2
2 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States 86.3 4.5
3 Stanford UniversityUnited States 81.5 4.2
4 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 77.0 3.3
5 California Institute of Technology (Caltech)United States 76.2 4.6
6 University of TokyoJapan 69.1 1.9
6 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 69.1 2.7
8 University of TorontoCanada 63.3 3.4
9 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States 63.2 3.1
10 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)Switzerland 60.8</p>
<p>World’s Best Universities logo</p>
<p>U.S.News & World Report’s World’s Best Universities rankings, based on the QS World University Rankings, identified these to be the world’s top universities in 2009.</p>
<p>Rank Subject Score Citations per Paper
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States 100.0 4.2
2 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States 86.3 4.5
3 Stanford UniversityUnited States 81.5 4.2
4 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 77.0 3.3
5 California Institute of Technology (Caltech)United States 76.2 4.6
6 University of TokyoJapan 69.1 1.9
6 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 69.1 2.7
8 University of TorontoCanada 63.3 3.4
9 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States 63.2 3.1
10 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)Switzerland 60.8 3.5
11 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 59.8 3.0
12 Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States 59.3 2.9
13 Tsinghua UniversityChina 59.2 1.2
14 National University of Singapore (NUS)Singapore 57.5 2.9
15 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 55.4 2.2
16 Kyoto UniversityJapan 54.2 1.9
17 University of British ColumbiaCanada 53.2 2.9
18 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)United States 53.1 4.2
19 Tokyo Institute of TechnologyJapan 51.4 1.8
20 McGill UniversityCanada 51.2 2.3
21 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & TechnologyKorea, South 50.7 2.1
22 Harvard UniversityUnited States 50.5 4.8
23 Princeton UniversityUnited States 50.3 4.4
24 Cornell UniversityUnited States 50.0 3.7
25 University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 49.5 2.9
26 Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyHong Kong 49.1 2.7
27 Seoul National UniversityKorea, South 47.5 2.2
27 University of WaterlooCanada 47.5 2.1
29 University of MelbourneAustralia 46.9 2.6
30 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)India 46.7 1.9
31 Peking UniversityChina 46.6 1.6
32 Technion - Israel Institute of TechnologyIsrael 46.5 2.4
33 University of New South WalesAustralia 45.3 2.1
33 Nanyang Technological University (NTU)Singapore 45.3 2.2
35 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)India 44.4 1.9
36 University of Texas at AustinUnited States 44.2 2.9
37 Purdue UniversityUnited States 43.7 2.5
38 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 43.5 2.6
38 </p>
<p>anselmo, your argument is useless. Discussion of IT/CS grads is different from Chem major.</p>
<p>You are simply taking CMU’s best major using that as evidence. </p>
<p>Surely i do not see chem or bio major CMU grads at google.</p>
<p>No, he actually disproved you quite nicely. You asserted that ALL CMU grads are useless, not just chemistry grads. You set yourself up poorly, because in order to be accurate, you’d have to prove that every single CMU grad ever was a “failure” financially. All he has to do is show you one CMU grad who did well and your argument is invalid.</p>
<p>This is what is called the Devil’s Proof. 
You can claim that no devils exist, but all someone has to do to prove you wrong is to show you a devil.</p>
<p>“The school is awful. All the majors there are terrible, it is the lowest of the low, and at the bottom of its pathetic tier.”</p>
<p>from OP…</p>
<p>This thread is hilarious. Such flawless logical arguments can only be performed at CMU. :D</p>
<p>This was fun to read</p>
<p>Just my observations of CMU as a parent after sleeping bag weekend:</p>
<p>Very stressed student body - body language was shocking - vast majority make no eye contact, walk with eyes on the ground - very little interaction between students.</p>
<p>Speakers all referenced a very regimented curriculum and stressed that you really should not come to CMU unless you were aready sure of your path. </p>
<p>My son was approached by 4 CMU students, separately and urged not to come here - one pleaded with him and the other admitted students - quotes were - four years of hell, no social life, solitary existance, no time for anything other than school work.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that this is what some are looking for, but it was very clear that my son does not belong here. Although he is brilliant, he is a well rounded young man and is looking for the whole college experience and will no doubt find it somewhere else.</p>
<p>I do urge everyone to go to CMU and observe the students before making a decision, there are many very, very unhappy kids there from my mother’s eye!</p>
<p>Mom, I don’t know if they were actually serious when they approached you and said that-- we tend to kind of have a morbid sense of humor about our work here. If they were serious, they were likely under stress because this is basically the last “push” of work before Carnival. Professors know that they’re not gonna get too much done in the two weeks after carnival and before finals, so they shove a ton of work on us. I’ve hardly been posting on CC this week because I’ve had three essays, two exams, a speech/presentation and several meetings with advisors scheduled, not to mention requirements for my extracurricular activities. </p>
<p>I can also say that I wouldn’t want to be judged on my social behavior by how I walk to class. I also tend to put my eyes on the ground and not talk to people around me unless, you know, I know them or something. I’m tired, I probably just woke up, and I may or may not be rushing to class in the first place. </p>
<p>Sorry your son had a bad time of it, though. All I can say is that that behavior is not typically the norm. 
I’m more used to seeing this side of CMU-- Sleigh Bells concert last week: <a href=“http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs466.ash1/25572_1429539540616_1296679087_1186495_2937490_n.jpg[/url]”>http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs466.ash1/25572_1429539540616_1296679087_1186495_2937490_n.jpg</a></p>
![http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs466.ash1/25572_1429539540616_1296679087_1186495_2937490_n.jpg[/url]](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs466.ash1/25572_1429539540616_1296679087_1186495_2937490_n.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>Dear mumof2boyz,</p>
<p>Sorry you had to have those observations about CMU. As a CS major, I can’t lie and say that the course work isn’t difficult. Everyone knows it is and that usually translates stressed faces, body language and daily interactions. </p>
<p>But I wouldn’t describe as “four years of hell, no social life, solitary existance, no time for anything other than school work.” That simply isn’t true, no matter who you ask. But obviously, as academics get harder, time spent on social life is less. Similarly, if the workload is less, social life increases. It really comes down to a balance of both.</p>
<p>Again, sorry you had to come to sleeping bag weekend and find our school this way.</p>
<p>“four years of hell” -this isnt true.<br>
“no social life” - not completely true, but social life revolves around working together with problem sets, but you do come here to learn. We also do projects together, and ECs.</p>
<p>I love my school. The thing about carnival is correct.</p>
<p>Also, you come to school to learn(not to get a piece of paper). CMU is the only school i have seen that DOES this. Other schools to me seem like a social party, and not a place to learn valuable skills.</p>
<p>As far as body language goes, I think it has to do with CMU being a “nerd school”. “Nerds” tend to do that. I do it but I have a great social life.</p>
<p>I do ask you to visit again (this weekend would be great!), before you make your final decision about CMU.</p>
<p>mum - how did your S like the person he was with for the sleeping bag weekend? </p>
<p>My S is currently a sophomore ECE major and I didn’t think he was interested that much in CMU until he went for the sleeping bag weekend 2 years ago. He said he was up until early in the morning (3am or so as i remember) talking about the school, movies, activities, etc. One of the first things he did his freshman year was join the Activities Board for Films. You can find many things to do and he has a close knit group of friends across the colleges (CIT, SCS, MCS, HSS). </p>
<p>That said, I know he LOVES the school and even the work. He is very driven. Last semester he took 6 courses (which he now admits might not have been that wise) and this semester he is taking some very work/programming intensive courses. </p>
<p>I think the big problem, like Kate said, is that this visit comes in the last stretch before carnival and there isn’t much time left before exams. Good luck to your S where ever he decides to go.</p>
<p>Kate, It was my son that was approached by other students, not me and I do believe they were completely serious. He was quite shaken by it and actually texted me in my hotel room about it - He is not someone who texts his mom often, so I know it really affected him. I am not judging anyone by the way they walk, I suspect that I have been a mom longer than you have been alive and I know kids and their body language. The CMU body language has a quality distinct amongst the many colleges I have visited, including Ivy’s - I was really quite taken aback by it. </p>
<p>It is my point exactly that the students are very pressured, so much so that they can think of nothing else and do not seem to “know” others they pass although it is a fairly small school.</p>
<p>I am glad it is a fit for you, but it is not for my son. My point in posting is not to judge anyone who does fit at CMU or to say no one will, but to make sure that anyone sending their deposit goes there and really really looks at the school and its students on a typical day (not carnival) and really make sure it is for your child. CMU is not the traditional college experience by any means.</p>
<p>Bosssr - I think this was part of the bad experience, the student who was assigned to my son met him then promptly blew him off as he had too much work to talk to him, so he and about 20 other kids who were also ditched by their “hosts” roamed around in a group all night. Basically his “host” saw his role as providing a place to crash and was not a host at all, leaving a very bad taste in his mouth - It happened to a good number of kids so perhaps CMU needs to take care when selecting their “hosts”</p>
<p>“The CMU body language has a quality distinct amongst the many colleges I have visited, including Ivy’s - I was really quite taken aback by it. It is my point exactly that the students are very pressured, so much so that they can think of nothing else and do not seem to “know” others they pass although it is a fairly small school.”</p>
<p>You may have been a mom longer than I’ve been alive, but you definitely don’t know my own school better than I do, especially not after one sleeping bag weekend. This is not the typical school atmosphere. I am frustrated that your son was dumped with a host that didn’t care - honestly, the school sends us a link to sign up to host if we want to. The reason there isn’t an advanced screening process is because the school really needs hosts, and beggars can’t be choosers, right? If the screening process were more difficult, odds are good your son wouldn’t even have had the chance to attend a SBW in the first place - there would be too few hosts.</p>
<p>I wish he’d joined up with my pack. We went to the museum and Gingers for dinner, then went to the underground arcade and some other stuff that the tour doesn’t show you. :p</p>
<p>I’m sorry your son received a negative image of the school, but I have a feeling that a large part of it was due to the time of the year you two chose to visit - it was possibly the worst weekend you could have picked, to be honest, and the fact that several other CMU students have backed me up on this is nothing to be ignored.</p>
<p>If you go to Disneyland on the fourth of July, then you’re going to wait in lines for hours with nothing but awful heat, and the rides will be broken down. Then you will say, “Disneyland sucks.” However, it is not the place you visited, but rather the time you chose to visit it in. You did not visit CMU on a ‘typical day’; you visited during hell weekend.</p>
<p>Kate, Sounds like you are a wonderful host. I have apparently offended you and certianly did not intend to. I am very glad you are thriving at CMU and I am sure many will. It all depends on the student and what he wants out of his college experience. </p>
<p>Perhaps as a dedicated CMU host, you might suggest to admissions that they not schedule their admitted students sleeping bag weekend at such a bad time for their student body - it certainly is not showing the school at its best!</p>
<p>Well, I am signing off this site as my son has crossed CMU off his list, so good luck to everyone and please make sure you spend time at whatever school you choose to make sure the atmosphere is right for you!</p>
<p>I’m sorry my post came off as rough, haha. I didn’t mean to sound so abrasive. I do wish your son the utmost happiness at whatever college he ultimately selects, and I hope his experiences with overnight stays are much, much better elsewhere :D</p>
<p>Those hosts that you described sound horrible. I really hope CMU gets its act together regarding admissions, tours and sleeping bag weekend because the behavior of those “hosts” were unacceptable.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and your son.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s because getting in isn’t the hardest part of the school. ;)</p>