Why NOT to go to CMU

[mathmom]

CMU is not for everyone. My son was probably one of those weird CS types the OP didn’t like. He turned down Harvard for CMU btw. He would have gone to MIT if they had accepted him. At the convocation the Dean of SCS asked for a show of hands of who had been rejected by MIT, it was practically the entire class. Then he gave the pep talk about trying harder because they are number two (or three or four). Is CMU difficult? Yes, my kid who skated through high school had to work hard for the first time in his life. He was on the Dean’s List freshman year, but not again after that. I suspect because he works at what he cares about and is not motivated by grades. Did not sense from him any cutthroat atmosphere. But what pleased us the most was that are somewhat anti-social friend made lots of friends at CMU. His idea of fun is hanging out in the computer clusters, playing board games and talking about anime and video games, not going clubbing or to football games or whatever is more typically part of college culture. But it was a perfect fit for him. He found the SCS network incredibly helpful in getting jobs and internships. He graduated several years ago, and has his dream job.

The thing he disliked most about CMU? The food sucks.

[racetrack]

Similar to mathmom, my son found his people at CMU. He has said many times how great it was for him, and how lucky he feels that he got to go there. CMU taught him so much and he made strong friendships. I cannot believe all that he has accomplished. Graduation from SCS was symbolically perfect when the students and faculty marched in carrying laser swords. It’s an outside the box place, for outside the box people, and I thank my lucky stars for that. My son also has his dream job now, and I so thankful for CMU. Every school isn’t right for every person. When CMU is the right fit, it’s ideal. (He didn’t mind the food, either, if he ever stopped long enough to eat.)

[Waiting2exhale]

@racetrack: “It’s an outside the box place, for outside the box people, and I thank my lucky stars for that.”

Oh, man, I just want to plaster that everywhere. I love it. So happy to hear it.

[umbrella1]

I love it at CMU so far (generally lol, there are rough patches for sure) !! Would say I was pretty social in HS and that I still am in college. I’m studying CS and am involved in greek life, and orchestra (did dance last semester too). It is definitely very challenging… do not come here if you are not up for some difficult and stressful times, especially for those of you planning on taking programming courses (!!!) If you take it seriously, however, there are SOO many resources available, and there is a VERY collaborative community that my friends at other schools don’t say they have. Many of my classmates will spend the time to explain things to me when I get confused and sincerely want me to understand the concepts–I do the same. Although I would say most of the school does not party, people have their own social groups that do their own thing. For example, one of my roommates, who is also CS, will mostly hang out with her friends to eat, do HW with, and occasionally get involved with on-campus activities that CMU holds (which makes her happy). That being said, the school still has a party scene that I was actually pleasantly surprised by (tbh it can get really wild), and there are definitely parties pretty much every weekend, although some weekends they are more mellow. The weather really does suck though… can make a day significantly worse . Sometimes if I do poorly on an exam, going outside to a sunny day (RARE) cheers me up a little, while walking out to the usual gloomy days does make it seem a little sadder.

[cmuneuro]

In case any prospective students stumble upon this ridiculous thread and get scared I’ll adress a few things as a current student:

1. Stop comparing CMU to the Ivy League when you are not applying to the liberal arts program. the people who chose cmu over ivys generally do so because they don’t want to be in a liberal arts program. CMU is great because in addition to engineering and CS, the science, buisiness and art programs are highly focused and specialized. If you’re not applying to Deitrich, schools like MIT and CalTech are better comparisons. I am currently working on a research project with CRISPR as a freshman for one of my courses. The reagents and equipment I get to use is extremely expensive, and I have gotten a lot of internship opportunities as a result of that experience. The ivys are amazing, but their process is different (frontloaded with gen Ed’s and lecture courses). I highly doubt a similar opportunity is available to all freshman bio undergrads at many (if any) other schools. It is true however that CMU is a lot of MIT hopefuls second choice.
2. Not everyone is ugly, unfriendly or antisocial. There are great parties every weekend hosted by frats. It’s pretty easy to get in—literally just ask someone in Greek life to be put on the invite list before hand (they don’t care who you are and they are usually happy to get an attendance estimate before hand). If you’re too nervous to do that then just wait in line at the door or show up later in the night after the initial rush of people. There are also a bunch of other colleges in the area. During my first few weeks I went to a lot of UPitt parties. They are much less strict about invites/where you go to college than CMU frats. However, I will say that I find the CMU parties to be a lot more fun. Interestingly enough—even tho the cmu parties get a bit rowdier in terms of serving drinks and dancing—the overall culture is much more respectful. For all my ladies out there I’d try to stick to cmu parties because they are right on campus (no walking through the city, and campus safety close by) and I have never felt uncomfortable/unsafe around my fellow students. Gentlemen— if you’re gonna go to a non-cmu party be ready to pay a cover charge. It’s true that for a lot of CMU students the ideal weekend involves staying in and working but who cares? I personally think that’s a great thing. I know a couple people at big state party schools who feel isolated because they don’t have any desire to go to a party. There is a community here for everyone—whether you want to go out or stay in and watch starwars…or go out in a starwars costume. Most people have to stay in on a Saturday to study at some point in their life anyway. As far as the ugly thing goes, I haven’t noticed it. It’s true that I am not entirely surrounded by athletes and preppy frat boys, but if that’s what you’re into they do exist at cmu. Anywhere you go you will meet someone who you don’t personally think is attractive and someone you do find attractive. Same goes for people you think are rude (but odds are they’re just shy or zoned out if they didn’t say hi to you on the path).
3. Competitiveness. That is a myth. People have too much of their own work to worry about how what their classmates are scoring comparatively. In order to succeed students have to work together and most people are willing and eager to do so. A big part of the weekday social life involves homework— which is great if you’re passionate about what you’re learning and not hung up on grades alone. This was touched upon by a bunch of other commenters so I won’t elaborate too much.
4. The academic grind. It’s hard. Can’t sugar coat that. But the professors are accessible and the academic counseling in MCS is great—especially the premed advisor and the dean. Even if you aren’t assigned to them you can still drop in and ask them anything. It’s tough that we don’t get pass/fail first semester like a lot of similar schools, but if you’re premed and have concerns talk to an advisor. You can drop a course up until the last day with no record up to three times, or if you didn’t do as well as you hoped the advisors might suggest you keep the course on your transcript but take it again to show growth/improvement. You can also lower your courseload if and take a course or two over the summer either at CMU or at a college close to you. Alsoooo— cmu is not only rigorous and renowned for ECE and CS. but it’s doable if that’s your priority. Dietrich and Tepper have climbed the rankings in recent years and the arts have always been fantastic. MCS had a 10% acceptance rate last year and the neuroscience track is very tightly scheduled and requires students to take multiple time consuming and difficult courses in the same semester. It’s definitely easier to get A’s in other places (see Ivy League grade inflation and a slower pace of course progression/less specialized majors) but it is doable. (And yes, you will still have time to eat and be social in appropriate ammounts, but you have STRICTLY limit time spent on unproductive activities like Netflix and stressing over assignments instead of being proactive). At the end of the day, you will have to prioritize the classes that are most important to you and not let grades get you down.
5. Weather. I grew up in the northeast so I’m used to it —try to look for positives. Appreciate the beauty of snow when it falls. Learn the indoor routes between buildings for when it’s cold or rainy (you can pretty much get 75% of the way across campus without going outside). There will be sun in the spring and fall—it’s not California but it’s enough.
6. The city. I think it’s great. There’s great food great culture and friendly people. Get out to the bridges or the incline or the rivers or the museums (you can get into them all for free) or go to the restaurants that take our meal plan. Noodle head and Mad Mex are my favorite places to go with friends for a celebration dinner. You will never get through the entire Carnegie museaum but chip away at it every once and a while, they have some pretty amazing stuff. There are college students everywhere and it’s always fun to be in a town with a strong sports fan base. Apply for an internship at one of the hospitals or museaums that are just a few minutes from campus. Buses to anywhere in the city usually come every few minutes and are free to students.
7. The food. I think the campus sushi is actually really good and always available. Also au bon pain is right in the student center if you like that restaurant. There are so many different food options from a lot of different parts of the world. As long as you don’t get stuck in a rut of eating the same thing everyday you’ll be ok.
   You get out of college what you put in. In that way, CMU is like every other campus in America. I’m personally not involved in Greek life or extracurriculars right now, but I don’t feel like my social life or connection to the community is lacking. If you’re on the fence, visit campus, reach out on Facebook groups, and don’t miss all the pros for the perceived cons. If you’re scared of computer nerds, need to be surrounded by attractive people and kegs to validate your college experience, and more concerned with your gpa than the valuable experience you gain from your classes don’t bother applying. I realize this post is a mess grammar-wise but I hope I cleared some things up

[Cicebro]

Hi! I’m currently a student at CMU, and I’d like to share my twopence about my experience here.

1. The misconception about “ugly people” is really false. Sure, we don’t attract models, but we clean up pretty well. I’m pretty sure any college has their share of sweatpant-wearing tired humans.

2. I agree that there are a lot of people who at first seem aloof and awkward. I think even I can be aloof and awkward at times. But doesn’t everyone? This isn’t a defining characteristic about the school. In fact, pretty much every person I’ve walked up to here has been kind, friendly, and helpful. Sure, there are some people who aren’t, but that’s at any school. You just have to find the people that you vibe with, and I guarantee that in such a diverse environment like CMU you will.
   Friends don’t come to you on a platter. Contrary to what everyone says about “college being the best 4 years of your life,” I’d say freshman year SUCKS. Everyone thinks they’re God’s Own Creation at first and it takes a while for them to realize that they need to make an effort to be social if they want that experience. Don’t discount CMU just because the social experience will be hard, because trust me, even among my friends at Duke, Madison, MIT etc. it’s just as hard.

3. The workload is rough, not gonna lie. But it is NOT cutthroat if you don’t want it to be. Sure, if you want to be friends with the top few of the class and constantly compare yourself to them you’re gonna have a tough time. But realize that it is OKAY to be average at CMU because it already took a lot to get here in the first place.
   A defining characteristic of students at CMU (at least in my eyes) is that everyone is really passionate about their work. They give whatever their major is (CS, math, drama, design, whatever) literally EVERYTHING they can because they truly love it. That’s not to say they don’t love other things: I know students thriving who are athletes or are in Greek Life and they know how to have a good time non-academically as well. But the baseline is that they care a lot about everything they apply themselves to.

4. NOT TOXIC. AT ALL. Again, like I said, if you choose to put yourself in a toxic friend group that’s your problem. The nice thing about college is that you get to choose who you hang out with (unlike high school) and you can use it to your advantage. I personally love CMU because I have great, understanding, helpful friends and equivalently helpful teachers. For example, I’ve been sick for a while and my professors have been great about getting me the appropriate extensions so that I can manage my stress, illness, and workload appropriately. Likewise, my friends have been looking out for me healthwise and academically.

@elloraa , I’m sorry you had a poor experience, but I don’t understand how you are uniquely attributing these problems to CMU. Maybe it’s the pre-med issue? I wouldn’t come to CMU for that.

Personally, the supportive environment I’ve experienced here has been great, but I had to make a serious effort to seek out friends, get to know my professors, and use resources like academic development to succeed. Sure, my GPA isn’t a 4.0, but I’m at college to learn and I know that the academic challenge here is going to be worth it for my future.

[hdkhdkhdk]

My daughter is CMU, BC, BU, Brandeis as a premed, biology major. She got into MCS biology at CMU.

1. Any advice on where she should go? We are narrowing down to BC and CMU but they are different - one is a liberal arts type of school and the other is a specialized tech school.
2. How is the premed program at CMU? What is the med school acceptance rate?
3. How hard is it to get A’s in science classes and a GPA over 3.8 at CMU MCS? Are the grades graded on a curve or not (i.e., A = over 90%, etc.)? What fraction of premeds self select out due to low GPA? What options do they have as a biology major if not go to med school?
4. Seems like it is hard to change majors at CMU. If you are in MCS biology, what options do you have to change colleges (CS, business, engineering) or do you have to stay within your college and major in something offered by that college?
   
5. Is there a core curriculum at CMU? How many electives can you take? Can you take classes outside of your college, say in humanities, art, music, business, or computer science colleges?
6. Can one double major in bio at MCS and art or music once they are in MCS?
   
7. When you take the premed required sciences classes at MCS, are the students only from MCS or do students from other colleges (e.g., engineering, comp sci) join in?

[hdkhdkhdk]

Correction:

My daughter was accepted to CMU, BC, BU, Brandeis as a premed, biology major. She got into MCS biology at CMU.

1. Any advice on where she should go? We are narrowing down to BC and CMU but they are different - one is a liberal arts type of school and the other is a specialized tech school.
2. How is the premed program at CMU? What is the med school acceptance rate?
3. How hard is it to get A’s in science classes and a GPA over 3.8 at CMU MCS? Are the grades graded on a curve or not (i.e., A = over 90%, etc.)? What fraction of premeds self select out due to low GPA? What options do they have as a biology major if not go to med school?
4. Seems like it is hard to change majors at CMU. If you are in MCS biology, what options do you have to change colleges (CS, business, engineering) or do you have to stay within your college and major in something offered by that college?
5. Is there a core curriculum at CMU? How many electives can you take? Can you take classes outside of your college, say in humanities, art, music, business, or computer science colleges?
6. Can one double major in bio at MCS and art or music once they are in MCS?
7. When you take the premed required sciences classes at MCS, are the students only from MCS or do students from other colleges (e.g., engineering, comp sci) join in?

[atxfather]

The pre-med list is really just a mailing list and an advisor you can talk to the first couple of years. They do advise students on course selection to meet med school expectations. Starting junior year there is a little more as they help with interview workshops, generate a “committee letter”, and help with applications/expectations. Google pre-health and CMU and it should get you the info you’re looking for.

As for the Bio major, it has more than enough flexibility to get in the expected courses. Check the course catalog (google it) and you’ll find the Bio requirements. There’s about 6 free electives + 6 general ed. That’s more than enough for the non-technical requirements and on the technical side, the major requires everything on the pre-med list as a requirement for the Bio BS but a Physics lab class. There is a simple Physics Lab that they actually have a special version of just for Bio majors so that solves that. Take that one elective and use the Gen Eds for English, Psych, etc and you have everything on the pre-med checklist covered.

There is enough elective space for a minor or possibly a second major if you have AP credit. One possible issue with a second major is using AP credit to skip the freshman courses doesn’t always get you to sophomore courses immediately. There are required sequences (Chem before O-Chem, O-Chem before labs, Ochem before Bio-Chem, etc, etc) and most courses are only offered once a year. They’ve got it set so most freshman can’t get into many of the sophomore classes both for space reasons and simply to avoid them getting in over their heads. Bio has some 100 level elective classes that are actually pretty interesting to keep those advanced students “feet wet”.

The downsides to CMU for a pre-med are discussed in this thread. If a 3.8 for getting into med school is the ultimate goal, there are definitely easier and less expensive places for that. The basic science/math classes are taken by all science and engineering majors. Not everyone will get an A or a B. Many are shocked by their first C (or worse) in their entire life in a course they thought they would Ace. A lot of the intro classes aren’t curved very much. The professors have been teaching them a long time and can set the difficulty so that the distribution is close to what they want without a big curve. There are some curves but nothing like when I was in school and a 45 on a test might actually be close to an A.

[Likebikes]

@hdk I have read several times that CMU is not an ideal pre-med school for various factors including rigor. I would recommend you do some searches outside of CMU thread as well. I recall another thread recently that had good information about this. It may be in the UF forum IIRC.
You should call the school counselors(NOT ADMISSIONS) to get first hard facts on options. I too was concerned about the proper path and any constraints and these were resolved with counselors with the College.

[CougarCatClan]

Hello,
I’m a student (currently at CMU), and as much as I bash and sh** on this school (who likes working hard?), I completely disagree with you 100%.
Also I am a Bio Major (pre-med) w/Minor in CS.

Overall, I think my workload is pretty bad, but honestly at any reputable school doing pre-med is going to be hard work especially when you throw in a CS minor. Also all the other colleges you envy (aka the Ivies) have about the same or worst weather so weird for you to factor that in? I mean you will be inside a building most of your time here at CMU (college for that matter) so what? Even if the weather is nicer I doubt any student would have time to lounge out in the grass everyday for hours on end. Actually one of the best things about some CS courses is their TA fleet, to be frank with everyone, the TAs are basically holding up my CS grades because their explanations rock! And they are always available like 24/7, which makes I think some CS courses 1000X more doable than courses with TA support. I think one issue CMU does have is the quality of professors, some professors are really passionate about TEACHING whereas others see it as an afterthought, and I wish they do a better job at finding who really cares about teaching versus those who don’t. I’ve mostly had professors who like teaching, but even with the small minority it hurts greatly when a teacher tells you upfront they don’t have time to meet with to talk about concepts/get extra help on their class whereas in another class I had a professor sit down with me (3 days a week, 1 hour sessions, to go over topics with me, and it was a CS course). (* I can talk about this issue for hours)

Before I start, I think it is weird to make fun of people’s gait (?)

I think the social life here is what you want it to be but as being an URM I do feel that people (in life generally too) usually form friends based on race/who looks like them. It’s unfortunate but that is the vibe I get looking at various friend groups, and heck thinking about some people I know on campus and how they would only associate with people who look like them. (a bit off topic, but had to point it out for my URM peeps out there).

Also with social life, I’ve made fantastic (and meaningful) connections with people on campus. I’m not going to lie, one thing I found on campus is how people love talking about whatever for a huge chunk of time for fun (which I like doing). And for the most part getting a good group of friends is such a variable I don’t think you can compare that against any college (no matter which type). I know plenty of great/wonderful people on campus, and that is who you want to connect with (naturally in life). I guess you should pick up some social skills?

Also joining a club is the easiest way to make some tight friends (FYI), met some cool cool* people through clubs.

I think getting good grades at CMU as a Bio(pre-med) student is actually pretty obtainable I think so because I constantly go to OH/excel meetings to keep up with the classes, I’ve noticed the more Academic Development stuff I go to/use the less I study on my own/stress out on. I completely disagree with everyone saying CMU is the wrong school for pre-med, when I think it is a pretty good fit because A) no one is pre-med so less cutthroat-y ness and plenty of pre-med opportunities are offered since it isn’t saturated with them and B ) generally people want to get the material right because they like learning so overall better experience with working on classwork with people who don’t see you as competition.

Also which classes did you take?? All classes I’m taking the averages are depressing I have friends in Orgo 2 where the average was a D, and another friend in a stat class where a 50% was considered a B (80%) ?? Like, I’m really blown away by you saying that because CMU definitely humbles you, but teachers are pretty fair with grading (god bless curving upward).

And weird for you to say CMU isn’t anyone’s first choice school. Legit almost everyone I know ED’d here, and plenty of people rank CMU as their top 3 easily. Weird for you to say that, I’ve never heard people complain about not getting into X, Y, Z after setting foot on campus. A lot of people are very proud of CMU and what it can offer.

~ sorry in advance for long post but this post on why NOT to go to CMU isn’t really helpful, and it sounds like you were struggling at CMU and didn’t reach out for help. I am sorry it happened but for the most part people are pretty satisfied with going to CMU despite its downfalls

[hdkhdkhdk]

CougarCatClan - thank you for your insights. How hard is it to get a GPA >3.5 if majoring in bio and minoring in cs?

[caz0743]

@CougarCatClan
Your insight is very valuable as S19 is considering MCS for pre-med (he was also admitted to Music). Couple of questions:

0. Was CMU your top choice school?
1. Do you know CMU’s placement rate into med. schools and which one’s have you heard grads have gotten into?
2. Do you feel that you are prepared or being prepared for the MCAT?
3. How difficult would a pre-med track be with BXA?
4. Is there serious grade deflation(honestly) as you know top grades do get you into med school–it’s reality (we know of a girl who was summa cum laude at another school and only got into 1of 8 schools!)
   5)I am interested in the above question as well… How hard is it to get A’s in bio/chem/math classes if you study to your best ability and were a straigtht A kid in high school? Please be honest.
   6)Why or why not did or did you not consider University of Pittsburgh for pre-med? Might be a weird question but if you are local and I know CMU does collaborations with Pitt.

Thank you if you have time to answer.

[awaitingoffers]

ANyone know about the Architecture school and those peeps? Arch wasn’t mentioned once in this whole thread and my son got accepted and it’s his first choice at the moment…although probably won’t work out since they’re not offering any Merit or Financial aid, like his other choices…all of which rank higher on the list of Best Arch schools. However, I am curious if ARCH students even mix with anyone since it seems like everyone is CS or a science/premed student. Arch is also a grueling course so maybe the whole school is just one big stressfest! But It’s very hard to find any info from anyone with this major. So if you are out there, please let me know how CMU is for Arch.
ANyway, thanks.

[oniongrass]

“4) Is there serious grade deflation(honestly) as you know top grades do get you into med school–it’s reality (we know of a girl who was summa cum laude at another school and only got into 1of 8 schools!)”

If that other school has easier grading or less stringent freshman admission, getting into “only one” US MD med school could be an argument that the school matters as well as the grades received there. Or maybe it’s because of her MCAT score, which is also important. How many people get into more than one med school?

[oniongrass]

I think Civil Engineering + M. Arch. is an interesting combination to consider, if he’s willing to handle freshman engineering mechanics and statics. It would avoid some of the studio work of undergrad architecture if he doesn’t want so much of that. Then he could become a licensed engineer and sign off on the engineering designs (because he could ensure they would not fall down) as well as having the artistic / architectural background.

[CougarCatClan]

@hdkhdkhdk
Uh not going to lie, I pretty much get Bs on my CS courses since it is near impossible to get an A no matter how hard I try (might try harder next semester), getting A’s in my pre-med courses are way easier/achievable if you stay engaged with the courses like going to Office Hours (OH), going to tutoring services, and talking to classmates about topics/ideas. And courses in pre-med also get curved up, and have opportunities for easy extra credit!

@caz0743
0) Was CMU your top choice school?
Weird question people ask, it was one of my top choices, honestly when I applied I just wanted to go to college with a good reputation. I didn’t really rank colleges until after I got in and CMU was #1 for me personally.

1. Do you know CMU’s placement rate into med. schools and which one’s have you heard grads have gotten into?
   I think their placement rate is like 86% ? IDK, honestly it is pretty high. Lots of people go to UPitt (wonderful med school), UPenn, Mt Sinai, Albert Einstein, Drexel, Baylor, etc. Pretty good med schools.

2. Do you feel that you are prepared or being prepared for the MCAT?
   Eh, MCAT is a different beast to handle, however I think the classes in Chemistry is really top notch to be able to do Chem+Orgo+Biochem on the MCAT, and their Physics really go way beyond the MCAT if you ask me. I haven’t checked out the biology section, and by taking reading intensive gened classes CARS would be decent to tackle. I think the pre-med courses are a strong foundation/starting point to study for MCAT.

3. How difficult would a pre-med track be with BXA?
   BXA? Depends on the combination, but overall I think difficult because you essentially will be double majoring in another area which isn’t STEM.

4. Is there serious grade deflation(honestly) as you know top grades do get you into med school–it’s reality (we know of a girl who was summa cum laude at another school and only got into 1of 8 schools!)
   Yup, top grades get you into med school, I know someone who got into UPenn med and he wasn’t a 4.0, had an meche GPA that was really good for engineering but pretty bad for medical school, BUT he pretty nailed the MCAT and is now in the top residency program for orthopedic surgery. I really really do think med school factor in your major and other things you achieved but his overall GPA was definitely at minimum a 3.5, science GPA higher than 3.5.

5)I am interested in the above question as well… How hard is it to get A’s in bio/chem/math classes if you study to your best ability and were a straight A kid in high school? Please be honest.

I can’t answer that. Like once again college is hard as heck. To be real compared to my CS courses I do think pre-med classes are extremely more straightforward if you throw yourself at the work. You can definitely get A’s, it depends on how much you want it. I go to the extra tutoring stuff, and the people who lead the sessions work with the professor and typically tailor the practice packets to the exam & HW’s so I was able to score A’s in those courses. Uh, people complain about how hard CMU is, but I think the pre-med courses are pretty manageable/bearable, like it doesn’t feel like end of the world impossible (once again that is the CS courses). Like if you attend lectures, go to OH, stay engaged you are easily at a high B grade, just push a little more and bam at an A.

6)Why or why not did or did you not consider University of Pittsburgh for pre-med? Might be a weird question but if you are local and I know CMU does collaborations with Pitt.
Uh, Pitt gave me really really shi**y FA, like the FA I got from CMU was 2X the COA at UPitt. So I think UPitt is an excellent education for pre-med too! I think a lot of schools are for pre-med, CMU has some really good tutoring services and I’m guessing UPitt would have good tutoring too since it is a bigger school.

[elloraa]

@oniongrass I knew a few Architecture students during my time at CMU. They spent 90% of their time in the studio, and yes it definitely is a stressfest from what I hear. My advice, as expected, is not to go to CMU. I would suggest doing civil engineering in-state. If your son is smart enough to get into CMU, he’s definitely smart enough to do civil engineering at a state school. Architecture is a 5-year committment at CMU. On top of that, the employment and salaries are not so great. I would really consider whether it’s worth the money, and more importantly, whether its worth paying for 5 years of stress only to end up with a mediocre job if any. If going to CMU has taught me anything, its that it’s all about the student, NOT the school. CivE is a more respected degree, takes less time to earn, and will get your son a better job (or the same job!) than if he did architecture.

[shortnuke]

@awaitingoffers @elloraa @oniongrass I spent my first two years in the Architecture program at CMU many, many years ago before transferring to CivE. The benefit of the program is that it’s a professional degree program (B. Arch) compared to a 4-year BA/BS program that would still require an M. Arch degree to work professionally. Students spend a lot of time in Studio…most of us had our own 12-cup coffee makers next to our drafting tables since 1-2 all-nighters nights per week finishing renderings or models for review the next day was pretty common.

The transition to CivE after my Sophomore year was pretty painless. I took Physics I and a Math elective that summer and was able to graduate 5 semesters later (so a total of 9 full-time semesters plus two summer classes at CMU). The Civil Engineering program at CMU is fantastic, but I don’t think the full freight cost is worth it compared to undergrad programs at other schools.

D just finished her freshman year at Pitt’s Swanson College of Engineering (she has selected Industrial Engineering). Based on the rigor of her coursework and the opportunities that the college offers, I don’t see any real disadvantages for her going to Pitt vs CMU.

[ellababy]

Hi, I am going to be a freshmen this coming fall pursuing a pre-med track. What would you say were the most difficult pre-med courses you took? Can you approximate the average gpa of pre-med students at cmu? And I am taking 09-105 Intro to Modern Chem, and 03-121 Modern Bio this fall and was wondering if you could let me know the difficulty of these courses as well as the average grade? Thanks!