Improve your chances of getting into college,

Carnegie Mellon's awesome power is the intellectual environment fostered by the faculty and sustained by the diversely talented students. On campus, a common thread of comment is that we are undervalued as a school; we're the campus tomorrow's leaders are going to come from, but no one knows us yet. Engineering and CS are major powerhouses in their own right, but MCS (the science college) commonly garners excellence in research. Additionally, MCS prides itself in undergraduate education. We are the school of socially competent geeks; we know how to walk the walk and talk the talk, but at heart each and everyone of us is a big, huge, obsessed nerd about our subjects of interest (and this isn't just limited to our majors).

Academics are hard; really, really hard. Don't let this scare you though; if you're a cmu'er at heart, you'll be kind of excited about this. We will challenge you to dig deeper, try harder, work faster, work better -- in every possible way. In particular, the Biology and Chemistry departments are know for their laboratory instruction, which consistently places us as some of the best trained undergraduates available to graduate schools and industry. You WILL have the opportunity to preform significant research, and you should. It will both cement your place in the academic culture of CMU and make you extremely competitive for the future. As for accessibility of professors and personal attention, I believe CMU can rival small liberal arts colleges. Professors are ALWAYS available, advising is superb, and you will never want for more support.

CMU is pretty apathetic, really. There are religious groups, political and LGBT groups on campus that are active, and you will find people that will support whatever interests you have, but in general most people are focused on their studies. The campus leans to the left, but it is far from "super liberal". Also, the student body is generally affluent, but there are many exceptions and it isn't assumed that everyone has strong financial resources in their parents. The only people who would feel out of place on campus are people who aren't passionate about life -- about their major, about the world, about their place in our future. I'm not going to lie -- disengaged, undirected people will not like it here.

You won't have time for a non-stop social life, but you will meet and interact with people who you will love for the rest of your life. We work hard, and we play hard (ish). We're not a party school, but we're also not prudes. There are parties, and friends provide entertainment amoung themselves. There is also a greek life option, though this is not my domain and not something I see as very prevalent/necessary to a good four years. Expect to work on the weekends, and schedule friends around exams/projects. Also expect to spend time in labs late at night and early in the morning. However, know that free time will be worth that much more to you.

Everyone is brilliant, everyone is a geek, everyone is driven, everyone is awkward, everyone is a work-a-holic

Yes. Don't come here if these don't interest you.