<p>im a freshman here... it sucks... dont come....</p>
<p>but seriously... a lot of weird/immature techie kids. pittsburgh sucks compared to other major cities. </p>
<p>the huge statue that is right in the entrance of the campus is really ugly too</p>
<p>there is a beautiful park literally right across the street from campus that is always empty even on the most perfect days because that is just not part of the CMU mindset(enjoying parks/nice days, that is)</p>
<p>everything is very divided. art students talk to art students, business students talk to business students and so on. people quickly classify you based on which college youre in. the people are pretty ugly in general but there is a solid number of cute girls(but a low percentage)</p>
<p>forget about being friends with the asian(korean) international kids too... or any person in a minority for that matter.. unless youre in a minority in which case you can consider yourself to already be friends with any other member in your minority before you arrive.</p>
<p>i am still managing to have a good time at art parties and upitt parties, but it should not require so much work to look for normal people(it is possible if you work) and im getting sick of having to ignore these kids running around with capes and antennas sticking out of their backpack and these huge groups of only korean people etc</p>
<p>there are a lot of really(really) stupid people as well who i dont want to be academically associated with... there is a good number of very intelligent people but unfortunately those are the ones who run around with the capes.</p>
<p>unless you have nowhere better academically to go, like myself... or could see yourself fitting in with these kids... then do yourself a favor and go to a different school</p>
<p>Lbtg47 are u serious ? students have antennas sticking out of the backups and run around in capes? thats unbelievable .. or was it meant to be an exhageration ... sorry im an international student so dont really know whether places like these exist in the US</p>
<p>Your not having a good time. Did you visit and spend any time at CMU before you applied? I think you need to lighten up and try and make friends. You seem to have a preconceived notion about people before you get to know them. Do you think that could be a problem? Since you've got four years ahead of you, you might try to make the best of it. How's your roomate? Any friends in any of your classes?</p>
<p>haha ! this reminds me so much of my days at case western reserve!! i became friends with lots of art students and it was a great balance to all the math and science stuff i was doing. i really enjoyed them. there were quite a few asian internationals there also and i was disappointed i didn't get to be friends with too many foreign students. of course they were studying a lot also and we just seemed to go to different social events...</p>
<p>lbtg47, are you trying to transfer? You are only in your second semester and if you want to transfer, now's the time to do it. You say that CMU is academically the best school you were accepted to, but ratings aren't everything (as you now know). I would recommend some soul-searching and maybe filling out a couple of transfer applications, just in case you decide on making the move.</p>
<p>if you would have read my post, i AM having a good time... but that is because i am putting out a lot of effort to find the few kids i get along with around here. my complaint is that i really shouldnt have to put out so much effort to find normal people...</p>
<p>and yes. i have been here two months or whatever and already have seen a kid who has an antenna sticking out of his backpack everyday... hes in my econ lecture.</p>
<p>and i saw a kid walking around with a pretty expensive looking cape the other day on the street across from campus... i asked one of my junior friends and he says that capes are the hot item once it gets colder</p>
<p>and yea i plan on transferring. should be getting close to a 4.0 this semester so i hope to get into school that are even better academically than this one. i have all my stuff together and do not mean to complain- only want to warn prospective students</p>
<p>I know of two students who do regularly wear capes when it gets cold out. However, I've talked to both of them, and while I dont' know them very well, they seem like nice people who happen to like capes. There is some 'Anachronists' club or somesuch that dresses in Renaissance-y clothing for stuff (I'm not sure what), but I didn't know they existed until I saw them at the activities fair this year, and I imagine such a club exists on most campuses.</p>
<p>Yes, there are some international students who seem only to hang out with those from their own countries, but there are plenty that are very open. I've seem plenty of American guys out on the cut playing cricket with some of the Indian guys who play cricket regularly when it's nice out.</p>
<p>There are immature people everywhere. Many of them aren't very social, so you won't have to deal with them much.</p>
<p>I agree that there is some divisiveness between people in different schools, but part of that comes from the fact that art majors spend a bunch of time in studios with other art majors, theatre kids spend massive amounts of time together working on shows, and other students are taking classes in their majors with people in their majors. Somewhat generous AP-credit granting means that many students don't have to take many breadth classes, so there is more of a tendency to take classes mostly with people one's own major. However, I suggest taking a class that is in a topic without many people of that major, and you'll find a mix of people. My Spanish class has people from every school, and they all want to be in the class (very few foreign language requirements), so they're friendly instead of resentful about taking the class.</p>
<p>That said, CMU isn't for everyone, and I suggest visiting it (and any other school, for that matter), before deciding to attend.</p>
<p>In my S's case he was lucky to have a cohesive (though very diverse) freshman floor (Donner) that loved to party and probably did a bit too much of it, but S (who's very social and "normal") loved it. I think that helped a lot right from the beginning.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I'd suggest looking into joining a fraternity or sorority for anyone who wants a more active social life. </p>
<p>Although CMU sure seems to have its share of "characters" you may find that at a lot of top tier schools so research well.</p>
<p>Minor point but worth mentioning...the Park is quite nice, but you could also say it's virtually adjacent to Pitt too. Their library plus other buildings (I don't know which buildings but they are near the old Forbes Field) practically abut the park, and you don't see Pitt students there either. Pitt students hang out on campus, like near Heinz Chapel and the Cathedral. Similarly on any nice day you'll see plenty of CMU students outside hanging out or playing sports on the campus green areas or on the football field or next to it.</p>
<p>Have you ever thought that the reason you might need to work so hard to make friends has something to do with your personality? I'll bet if you were friendlier and didn't pass judgement so quickly, you'd have more froends by now. Not sure if transferring will solve this problem. Good luck.</p>
<p>It is interesting to note that on some other forums, there were a number of kids who posted their dissatisfaction with CMU for the same reasons that you gave. Perhaps, there is something to your complaints. </p>
<p>However, you do live in a dorm, right? You probably have access to kids from other disciplines who you can make friends with.</p>
<p>That said, CMU isn't for everyone. It is a very academically oriented school without strong sports programs and strong school spirit. Each department works their kids like dogs. Thus, there probably isn't a lot of interaction among majors. Thus, people need to evaluate CMU carefully before enrolling.</p>
<p>We liked the overall academic atmosphere of CMU, but there were some troubling issues. For example, we HATED the food and the food choices. The cafeteria had very limited selections and most of it were fried. They even had fried vegetables. We also didn't like their lack of financial aid. People think that every school will give everyone some aid. This is NOT the case.</p>
<p>I should note that you should still try to see if you can fit in somewhere there and be happy. My daugher joined her school's marching band and is a happy clam. She has met kids from a wide array of majors. CMU has a kilt band, and I know they have a plethora of clubs that you can join. Perhaps you can find a way to enjoy your experience with a more open mind and by joining some organizations.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you decide to transfer, I wish you a lot of luck. I don't think, however,that you will find "the grass much greener elsewhere."</p>
<p>[Taxguy] As I said before, judging from my experience having eaten on-campus everyday for over 4 years, I strongly disagree with your opinion about CMU food. CMU dining locations actually offer a wide variety of menus (Italian, Asian, Mexican, Indian, vegetarian, seafood, you name it !). A few locations like Schatz even have gourmet-style menus and there is always a choice of low-cal, low cholesterol food. Believe me, I come from a family with a genetic history of high blood cholesterol/premature heart disease and therefore I cannot eat anything deep-fried or fatty. Nevertheless, I always had baked fish or chicken, pasta, steamed vegetables, different kinds of salads and grains, and skim milk while at CMU. I haven't been back to CMU though since 2005, so I can't tell if menus have changed over the past year.</p>
<p>When we visited, I felt it lacked normal, well-balanced meals served on plates rather than in styrofoam or plastic. You know, a relatively leisurely meal with all of the food groups. Not a food truck, not a fast food court. I was also disappointed that there was no central student cafeteria to serve as a meeting and socializing place. Maybe these things aren't important to the CMU population, but I was against paying $40K+ for my kid to eat out of a truck.</p>
<p>CMU's opening of the new "Carnegie Mellon Cafe" is supposed to create more of a meeting place. The food is primarily sandwiches, wraps, and subs, and there is a large amount of comfortable seating, including some tables that seat 8-12 like exist in the typical college cafeteria. In a room next to it there are "gaming pods" which are supposed to have games created by CMU students (not sure, I haven't been in there yet), which will theoretically attract studnets. It's near the trucks, too, so that students eating truck food can sit inside and not take all the seating at Ginger's, which was previously a problem.</p>
<p>The food isn't great, but I would rather be able to eat whenever I want between the hours of 8 AM and 2 AM than go to a school with very strict cafeteria hours. One school I visited had cafeterias that closed between 6:15 and 6:45 PM, which seemed weird to me; at another it was impossible to get food on campus after 9, and the nearest non-campus food was too far to walk to at that hour. Last night I was able to get a fairly well balanced meal at 10:30 PM- it turns out that the veggies that come with the "meal of the day" at Skibo are both fresh and correctly cooked.</p>
<p>i kinda agree about the food thing...i am fortunately in a position to only eat 5 meals a week on campus (usually lunch during the week) but it isn't all that bad once you figure out which places you'd rather go to</p>
<p>ltbg's complaints are not entirely invalid from what I have observed - and it does take more effort for me to find "fun" also...the academics are worth it though imo and most people seem to be happy and/or content</p>
<p>i haven't yet seen anyone running around with a cape (granted I do live off campus) nor do I wish to</p>
<p>that would be quite the sight....</p>
<p>oh and if you want a "minority" friend you could pm me lol</p>
<p>I am a freshman at CMU and am really enjoying myself. As with anything in life, college is what you make of it. Pittsburgh is a big city and Carnegie Mellon students are able to use it in anyway that they see fit. There are tons of college students in the city and I haven't experienced any shortage of interesting people to talk to.</p>
<p>There is no problem finding adequate food here, if you know how to look.</p>
<p>The salad bar is a great choice for lunch and dinner. The vegetables are fresh and there are hardboiled eggs, grilled chicken strips, etc that you can use to make your salad more substantial. There is balsamic vinegar and olive oil available so you don't have to use the typical dressings available at the other dining areas. The vegetarian chili as well as a few other soups are tasty and healthy, too.</p>
<p>There are myriad sandwich shops on campus that offer healthy meals. If processed lunch meat isn't your thing, there is always grilled chicken or grilled vegetables. Just avoid the pasta and rice salads, chips, etc when you can, if you are worried about nutrition. </p>
<p>I don't imagine anyone who isn't entirely spoiled to not be able to find food on campus. There is plenty of quality food to eat, regardless of your taste or nutritional demands. I haven't ordered ANY fried food yet. </p>
<p>Taxguy- I'd like to know what types of food you couldn't find on campus?</p>
<p>This might be irrelevant but financial aid gave me my most generous financial aid package. This was also true for my girlfriend, who also attends.</p>