Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

The Computer Science majors are nerdy, geeky, and extremely uncommunicative, though not necessarily for other majors. A very small percentage of CMU students are attractive; this is a much smalle percentage than other campuses.

Yes, for the most part. Although we do have Carnival where everyone lets loose.

HELL NO. 1. I am not a nerd, and I study a good deal but we all do it because we care about our classes and our future. However, I spend WAY more time going out and having fun doing whatever I want than I do studying. Don't tell my parents that, though... 2. There are lots of good looking people. I might be biased, but my sorority is full of some very very pretty girls. And the football team is littered with hot guys and hot bodies. Usually people involved in sports are pretty good looking and I have never had a time when I didnt think 4 or 5 guys I know are "hott" or "sexy" 3. We definately party. There are lots of things to do. It's what you make of it. If you WANT to just stay in your room alone, that's on you. But if you are like me, and can't sit still...there's always something to do with friends. 4. I came from sunny and beautiful Florida, but I still love Pittsburgh. The weather is not bad. I love playing in the snow, seeing leaves change color, and spring...thats a beautiful thing. And since Pittsburgh is the 2nd biggest college town in America, hell yes there is always something to do in the city or at one of the many schools or in the adorable bouroughs that your ID gets you the bus to for free! Again, it's what you make of it. There's so much here, but you have to WANT to go out.

Generally no, there are tons of fun, outgoing, attractive students at CMU.

For maybe, 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body, yes. There is definitely the element of the student body that are just incredibly smart but anti-social math, science, or engineering students. However, it's not really fair to assess everyone like that. CMU has about 5000 undergrads and there is really never a shortage of people to go out with on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or even Tuesday night.

Are we nerds some of of but we do know how to have fun and relax. We dont work 24/7

Yes

...:)...some of them, everyone definitely isnt ugly and antisocial...but for the technical/science majors, the rest is pretty accurate:)

To an extent yes, the average Carnegie Mellon student is compelled to spend very little time socially to offset the consistent pressure that results from the school workload.

I believe these stereotypes are inaccurate. Concerning the social scene, I think its important to highlight the differences between a small, private university and a state school. Our social scene is just different, not non existent. Also, our school is diverse in many disciplines. As engineering and computer science are great programs, CMU also has a great reputation for the fine arts.

Because CMU is a computer science school (among other things) we are right up there with MIT as far as people who avoid eye contact with anything but a computer screen. However, because they are usually so quiet and introverted, they aren't around a lot. In fact, most of the people you see on a day to day basis are normally neither unattractive nor introverted.

There definitely is a significant population of East-Asian students. There is also a large number of female students especially in non-engineering and science fields.

Mostly. There are alot of different majors other than engineering and computer science, there are cute girls--but there are a precious few and they are quickly snatched up. plenty of people have sex--as long as they aren't too busy playing World of Warcraft. There's alot of studying for alot of people--but if you can bullshit you'll get by just fine. There's not much to do -- if you have an ID you can go to the bars, you can go to the fraternities, or house parties on the weekends--most extracurricular activities involve getting drunk, and hopefully getting high.

Yes.

Most commonly.

somewhat

To some extent-yes. This school isn't a party school, people come here to study hard and get an amazing job after college. I believe that people focus too much on academics and don't think about the community that they live in, that being said...I am somewhat of a hippie. I think that this school is amazing if you give it a chance.

Well, these are somewhat accurate, but there are some people who care about more things than books and are attractive. I would say that most of the time people over-emphasize this and also have unrealistic expectations for themselves.

I say the only thing that is really true across the board is that fact that Carnegie Mellon is very difficult. While you will find people who would rather spend a friday night in their room on their computer, there are plenty more who go out and have a good time. People here are incredibly intelligent and I am constantly blown away by other students, but everyone is so involved with so many things that usually their academic record is not even close to their only accomplishment. Some people dont sleep. Personally I think that is crazy and get at least 7 hours of sleep on school nights

I think most people at CMU are huge nerds--but this is something that we celebrate. Also, our nerdiness is more defined by the fact that we all care a lot about what we do. At the commencement speech my freshman year, the speaker talked about how great it is that we're all nerdy because it means that we're all passionate about something. It's what links us all together. Some people play World of Warcraft, I guess. It's not an incredibly common activity, though. And I have yet to see anyone with a pocket protector. As for the attractiveness of the student body, I think CMU is probably comparable to our peer institutions. Fact is, most people here just care more about their homework than spending several hours primping in the mirror before class. Personally, I think that's a good thing.

I think for the most part we are a school of workaholics. Everybody here is very smart and very dedicated to whatever they're studying. We are also almost always stressed out. The one thing people don't realize is you can have a pretty good social life. There are lots of parties on the weekends, a fair number of attractive girls and even though a lot of guys have no idea who Peyton Manning or Tiger Woods are, there are still a fair number of normal college guys who like to drink beer and watch sports and go to parties to meet girls.

This stereotype is incredibly true for some people. However it does not represent the majority of campus AT ALL. Most people are active in a couple organizations and interested in the world around them.

Basically, yes.