Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

In a nutshell, CMU is a great place to go to school. It's located in Pittsburgh's Oakland region which is not-to-far but not-to-close to Downtown Pittsburgh. Oakland is also home to the University of Pittsburgh, among other colleges/universities, so it is in a pretty college-age friendly area. Oakland is also home to the Carnegie Musuem of Natural History, which is a fun place to visit from time-to-time since it is constantly changing -- and FREE for all CMU students. In addition to all the great aspects of Oakland, it is possible to explore the City of Pittsburgh (and its surroundings) with your CMU ID card since it grants you free and unlimited access to the region's public transportation system. So, you can head over to one of Pittsburgh's great sporting arenas/parks and see the local team play or to the Carnegie Science Center for a more casual outing. As for CMU itself, I cannot express how wonderful the atmosphere of the campus is. There are going-ons all the time -- all you have to do is find them. The size of the school is one of its best features. The smaller university setting gives you a chance to develop relationships with other students, as well as faculty and staff on campus. When people are told I'm a CMU student (at the risk of sounding egocentric and snobbish here) the reaction is usually along the lines of admiration. This is due to CMU's reputation of providing a quality education which helps to produce modivated students who are considered above average, in terms of quality. As for an unusual niche that CMU has, well it's just too hard to explain in words -- but at CMU we call it Carnival -- which comprises (mainly) of two things -- booth and buggy. Booth allows organizations/groups of students to literally construct massive carnival booths that are meant to inspire and impress (which they most certainly do). Buggy on the other hand is a racing competition that is truly one-of-a-kind, from what I can gather. Students build these "buggies" and race against one another in a soapbox-like, but oh-so-much-better manner. Young women are literally encapsulated in the buggy and pushed up and down hills; it sounds crazy, I know, but you'd have to see it to believe it and truly understand it.

People are often very impressed when you tell them you are a student at CMU. Of all the students I know that graduated this past year, not one of them does not have a great job offer or plans to attend graduate school after graduation. Fortune 500 companies and other hugely successful firms are not only visiting our campus, they are hiring our students. Pittsburgh, as a city, is a great place to go to school. The cost of living is affordable (while our tuition may not be) and the city has a lot to offer. Your CMU ID card gives you unlimited access to public transportation, making it easier to get around. There are reduced or free student tickets to museums and other attractions, beautiful local parks and a great feeling of pride for Pittsburgh's three professional sports teams. Sports at Carnegie Mellon are not the focal point so school pride isn't ovewhelming, but Carnegie Mellon has extremely supportive administration that never stands in the way of students and faculty pursuing opportunities, giving students a great appreciation for their experiences at CMU.

I think the size is just right. the classes are small enough so that you can be noticed if you want to be an over-achiever, yet big enough to fall asleep in the corner w.o anyone caring. I spend most of my time with my fraternity brothers, with my girlfriend, or doing work. i do A LOT of work. The administration wants to make sure bright, smart kids graduate and in the process the fraternities and people just trying to have a good time get shafted. There is not a lot of school pride, we are bad at sports. we have a new mascot though, which is muchhh better than a piece of cloth. Everyone complains about the workload.

the best thing about cmu is that it embraces intelligence--you can be exactly who you want to be because there is really a huge variety of people. its a little small so a lot of people know each other or at least know of each other--sometimes i wish it was a little bigger. i think the contrast between our engineering and computer science schools and our theatre and arts programs provides a nice variety of both students and values/points of view.

Good things: urban area with a lot of relatively close activities and things to do, both in daytime and night; the student body has diverse interests and talents; lots of international students; CARNIVAL; greek life; food is improving a LOT; good student body size Bad things: hard to get around Pittsburgh quickly without a car; administration is kind of detached from the student body (though this seems to be changing); not a lot of school pride (though this has significantly improved); not a ethnically or socioeconomically diverse student body; the different majors tend to break off into cliques

Best thing about CMU - The people. Everyone is really nice, and you'll have no problems going up to someone and asking what they're interested in and making friends. Also the quality of academics is really good here. Worst Thing about CMU - Tie between workload and food. With just 5 classes, I'm usually pretty busy, spending a significant amount of time on school work /every day/ of the week. Note I'm an electrical and computer engineering and computer science major, so if you are a different major then this may be different. Also the food sucks. It's unhealthy and it tastes terrible to boot. You really have to try hard to eat healthy on campus. Is your school too large, too small, or just right? - I think it's just right for me, there are like ~7000 undergrads perhaps and it takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end of the campus to the other, so everything is close by and a reasonable walking distance away. How do people react when you tell them you go to CMU? - Some people haven't heard of it, but the people who have are almost always impressed. Where do you spend most of your time on campus? - Wherever other people are doing homework, or if I'm working alone in my dorm. College town, or "what college town?" - Uh Not really sure what you mean by this. CMU is right in the middle of the city of Pittsburgh but at the same time, when you are on campus it's not much like a city. What's your opinion of CMU's administration? - Don't really know, I haven't encountered them before. What was the biggest recent controversy on campus? - Maybe the TBA events where they show pornography to the public for a small fee. Most people don't attend. Is there a lot of school pride? - Maybe not as much as a college like Penn State but sure, there is school pride. Is there anything unusual about CMU? - Each individual college is pretty stereotypical. It's funny to see at orientation because the new students are grouped sometimes by college (like computer science, engineering, humanities, drama, etc) What's one experience you'll always remember? - Playing piano at the freshman talent show. It was a lot of fun and met a lot of people because of it. What are the most frequent student complaints? - Probably what I already said, workload and food.

Pittsburgh is a great college town- there is always plenty to do with bars, restaurants, sports teams. CMU is a little bit of a bubble, but you have to break out of that bubble and explore Pittsburgh. CMU is also a very good school that is not as recognized as it should be, especially outside of Pittsburgh.

When I tell people I go to CMU, they are very impressed because the school is held in high esteem.

Carnival is amazing. Being in a sorority, i love building the booth and watching the buggy races. I love the academics. It's challenging, but I truly learn alot. It's just the right size. When people here i go here, they either have no idea what it is, or they think its one of the best schools in the country. I picked this school because of its intense academics, but also because of its quirks (carnival, buggy, the fence, etc).

Pittsburgh is a good place to go to school. The atmosphere at Carnegie Mellon is nice - informal, but scholarly. There are a couple of nice places to hang out and meet with friends on campus if you have a quick break in the middle of the day, and oddly enough the library is often a social hot spot.

One of the most telling things about CMU is its motto. Harvard's is veritas, "truth," Princeton's is Dei sub numine viget, "Under God's power she flourishes," Colgate's is Deo Ac Veritati "For God and Truth," the motto at Carnegie Mellon is "My Heart is in the Work." It is straight forward, practical and in English. It is also telling of the attitude here. Carnegie Mellon is an environment that is charged with two prevailing themes. The first is passion. People here love what they do and they are excited about being here to learn what they love. The second is work. In 2006 a survey came out saying the CMU had the second greatest work load of any university in the country, and no one was surprised. The combination of these two things means that we don't spend lot of time on things that are not school related. We still party, but I've been told by friends at other schools that going out one night a week as opposed to 4 means that we don't actually party.

The best thing about CMU is the quirky traditions. Whether it's carnival, the fence, or the Kiltie Band, CMU has strong traditions that are unique to this campus. The blight of this campus (in my opinion) is the hideous sculpture ("Walking to the Sky") that's on the front of campus. I really wish they would get rid of it... but apparently it was some donation or something. One of the great things about CMU is it's location. It's in Pittsburgh right next to the University of Pittsburgh and in Oakland (district of the city) there is no shortage of college folk. Downtown is a simple bus ride away. Did I mention the city bus is free with your CMU ID?

CMU is hard, no doubt, but it's also exhilarating and exciting, if you love academia and you love learning. The people are fabulous: friendly, bright, and diligent, as well as true movers and shakers. Pittsburgh can be good fun, it's a matter of knowing where to go that counts.

The classes, homeworks, tests, etc, are structured to teach you how to think, not just mindlessly memorize and regurgitate. The teachers are very accessible and there are lots of other ways to get help, too. I think that people are too single mindedly focused on their specialty area and the social aspect is drab, because everyone is always doing homework. People think of CMU as very prestigious and always say, oh you must be so smart (which is embarrasing..). Everyone is overly logical at this school, even down to the humor.. One thing unique about this school is that the computer majors get a care package upon arrival..with soap included. They also take a class where they get points for being social.

The best thing about CMU is the Spring Carnival. Students spend endless hours working to prepare for booth and buggy, and in the end, it is so worth it. Students just relax and have a good time. There is always so much to do.

Carnegie Mellon doesn't feel like real college to me. Sometimes I walk down to UPitt just to get a feel for what real college students experience. CMU is like a summer camp. Everything is taken care of for you as a freshman. You have to work hard, but at the same time everything is planned. It's not until spring when you really see kids come out of their shells and when the majority of the campus hangs around outside. There's hardly any support of the athletic teams... I've never been to a college sports game here. The food on campus is awful, and the freshman meal plan is worse. Housing is alright, most students stay on campus all four years... I'll be leaving after freshman year. The plus side to this school is that it's a great college town. Anything you need is just a free bus ride away. Most of the good shopping is walking distance, and the fun areas are also where most students live off campus. The resturants are fantastic and unique and not to pricey. The biggest complaint about Pittsburgh in general is the weather. IT IS ALWAYS GRAY HERE.

When I tell people I go to CMU, they either say that they've heard of the name but not much else, don't know that it exists, or they exclaim, "Oh, I'm sorry, which school rejected you, MIT or Stanford?" CMU is a university with high reputation among certain circles, but most people don't seem to have heard much about it, if anything. It's just shy of an Ivy League, but being Division III makes all the difference for its profile as a university (CMU's endowment is definitely shy of an Ivy League). For most of the students I've met (definitely not all) CMU was a 2nd or 3rd choice or lower, and the only reason why they're going here is because they got rejected from their top choices (in engineering most people seem to indeed fall into the two rejection camps: MIT and Stanford). Maybe that and CMU's lack of emphasis on sports is what contributes to CMU's low sense of school pride. CMU has a small campus (I can walk from my dorm to my farthest class in less than 10 minutes) and a relatively small number of people (5000 undergrad, I believe). The ratio of students to space is almost right, except that CMU doesn't have enough housing for its undergrads (There was a room draw fiasco in Spring 2008 when a third of the current freshman class didn't get a room. CMU has been reserving more places for incoming freshman on campus but doesn't have enough housing to guarantee for everyone).

Carnegie Mellon is a really tough school for the first couple of years, but the atmosphere is really nice and it is very collaborative. What's great is that it's not competitive and the students all help each other to get by. Spring Carnival is the huge event on campus. You get 2 days off in the spring, we bring in a comedian (Mitch Hedberg, Dimitri Martin, Human Giants, etc.), a band (The Roots, The Shins, Spoon, Incubus), and then there are small acts either from around the campus or around the country. What's really cool is that lots of different organizations build "booths" that are all themed & have games, primarily geared towards kids. They are very elaborate and people put in a lot of time. There are, of course, carnival rides, too. Finally, we have an event called Buggy, or Sweepstakes. Organizations build vehicles called "buggies" that are similar to box cars, although they're very aerodynamic & expensive (we are an engineering school). We find the smallest girl we can on campus, stick her in the buggy, then push her down a hill that reaches speeds of up to 35-40 mph! She's then pushed up several more hills to the finish line. It's pretty intense. CMU is located just outside of Pittsburgh. The public transportation is amazing, so you can get anywhere you need. You can easily go to baseball games, hockey games, but not so much football games (good luck getting a ticket). Although Pittsburghers love their sports, so it's fun to just watch a game in a bar. There are also a lot of museums, gardens, & parks. However, it may take a while to be able to get out into the city given academic demands.

What do I like? Really...everything. I know this is the best place for me. Tt's small but i can meet someone new everyday and I always see someone I know walking to class. Its soo diverse I can meet poeple who are good at the violin (my best firend) or people who are good at the bongo drums (kid down the hall) or people who are good at indian dance (girl next door)...its just so random I love it. I also love how chill it is here and how you just feel so at home. Everyone is so nice and welcoming because EVERYONE comes from out of state so noone is snobby and people don't really come in with a group of friends to kick you out of.. thats what really amazed me during orientation. Also, people say orientation is the best time of your life at CMY. You can take that the way you want. Some people dont go to any events and just sleep all of orientation (my guy friends). Some people go to all the events and get really into this summer-camp-like week we spend here (my girl firends). And some people go to some events but dont like ice breakers but love going out every night of orientation and having fun (me and my roommate). So I loved orientation but I just love being here overall. Also, dont beleive what you hear or read on like College Prowler, there are lots of hot guys here (the football team is soo hott!!--therefore all the guys in Beta Theta Pi (the football frat) are tooo!!) But probably my favorite thing here is the people. No doubt. Especially my sorority sisters. Rush and being in a sorority is not the norm here. People party and take you out and have fun but they are not rude, exclusive, coke addicts. I dont know, it seems all stereotypes are broken here. I just love it

CMU is the perfect size. I never feel lost in the crowd yet the student body is large enough to offer amazing diversity. Pittsburgh is a great city. There are plenty of unique restaurants and shopping districts.

CMU is a school that feels smaller than it is, which is nice. There are a ton of different departments and things that the school is involved in that I might never hear about, but I'm always associated with them, which is cool. The best part about CMU is the job opportunities. I'm a junior business major, and I had probably 6 or 7 offers for internships in New York City this summer. I'm doing investment banking with a bulge bracket firm, and I never would've gotten even an interview if it weren't for the network I've built here at CMU. These opportunities come at a bit of a price - there is definitely a very real workload here. Classes can be really challenging and they make sure you know what you're talking about by challenging you with group work and projects that can take a lot of time. But this is actually a blessing in disguise as it gives me a TON of great stuff to talk about in interviews. Also, at my internship last summer with Goldman Sachs, I stood out becuase of the work ethic I had built at CMU.

The best thing about CMU is being in the city but having the park in our backyard and alot of open green space on campus. The school is a little small but I like it. If people know about the school they'll open there mouth and say wow but for those that dont know how good the school is often ask me why i didnt go to a good college because i'm smart. I tend to spend most of my time in the ChemE cluster or in my room when i'm working. When its nice out I'll spend the time on the cut just relaxing or reading. School pride varies. We're not a huge sports school only DIII but we do root for are teams. The unsual thing about CMU is carnival and what takes place during it. The second to last weekend of April we have off Thursday and Friday. We have carnival rides come to campus and the student body builds carnival booths with games for little kids in them. The booths range from 8ft tall to 24 ft tall. All are built by the students to a specific theme. The main event that happens during carnival is Sweepstakes, informally called buggy. The easiest way to think of it is a 5 person relay race with a human as the baton. There are 2 uphill portions and 1 downhill. The baton is called a buggy and it has a small college student (5'2 or smaller) laying superman style inside of it stearing. The buggy is pushed up the first hill by 2 pushers and then is shoved down hill. The driver than navigates the course reaching speed of 40 mph then it reaches the bottom of the hill and 3 pushers push the buggy up the last hill. The buggy is only driven by manpower or gravity no motor. All the buggies are built by the student organizations and is ultra competitive. my favorite moment was being there when a new course record was set after 20yrs.

I liek school

I'd say the best part of CMU is the people, definitely. There are sooo many people from different backgrounds, ethnically and culturally, I love it! Also, the networking capabilities, this is the best place to network and realize how many opportunities are out there for you, from faculty/staff/guest to the wide variaty of majors available. I would definitely change the number of people smoking!! I never realized how big smoking was until I came to CMU, international students are the major smokers but are not the only ones. If I could some how convince people to stop smoking, I would do it immediately!:) I also would definitely change the cost, everything about CMU is so expensive, from tuition, to food on campus, dorms, etc. I feel CMU is the perfect size, it's just right, not too big, not too small. Its big enough that i can see a new face everyday, but small enough that I can still recognize familiar faces each day. What's frustrating is that most people have never heard of CMU so when I tell them I go here they have no idea what I'm talking about or how amazing (academically) this school is; but CMU's name is getting bigger so in the future I know that won't happen anymore. I spend most of my time in my room doing work, or in the library/ meeting with friends to do work. Pittsburgh is a collegetown, but being an engineering major, i barely ever interact with anyone from another university; also I hear that when you're over 21 the city/nightlife is amazing; if you're into that. The administration is pretty cool, they're not stuck up for the most part and its very normal to interact/have a good relationship with your dean of your school for example. The biggest controversy on campus I can remember was my freshman year (3yrs ago) when the on campus movie organization wanted to show a porno for that weeks movie...which they did and it was all over the news! As an athlete, I would definitely say that there is not a lot of school pride, its mainly other athletes cheering on other athletes or close friends of athletes. This is very unfortunate because a lot of our teams are REALLY good, for example the volleyball team:)...also, we have a new director of athletics who is amazing and she has done so much in the short 3 years that she has been here and i think school pride has definitely increased!...What is normal about CMU should be the question and I'd say nothing:)...CMU is sooo quirky and has so really cool traditions which really makes me love this school even more because it isnt like the rest, from Buggy to the fence to Holi to Mobots and so on, this school is really cool. Volleyball is an experience that i can never forget, if you have the opportunity to play a sport, i would definitely suggest you do so. The most frequent student complaints is about the food (on campus) and the work load.

A very unique tradition at Carnegie Mellon is the Carnival that happens every year. It is my best annual experience at CMU. Big name performing artists are invited every year for a large concert. Student organizations all compete in two large competitions. The first is called Sweepstakes races, where we all build buggys, which are small missile-like vehicles with a small driver inside, no motor - but a handle attached for pushers to keep the buggy in motion until it gets to the downhill part of the course. It is a very competitive event that ignites student pride in their organizations as it takes dedication, engineering skills, and athletic ability for a team to be successful. The second activity is Called Booth, where a theme is given out each year and the and student organizations have to construct large structures that are fun, creative, appeasing to the eye, and have an interesting activity that accompany them. The Booths are a part of the actual carnival itself where families in the community come out for the rides and famous carny culinary delights. One thing I would definitely change at CMU is the lack of school pride. My junior year the football team was undefeated and maybe 10 percent of the school was aware or cared. The basketball team is also good, but few people care or know. The largest controversy's on campus are always centered around race issues. For instance in 2004 there was a series of distasteful racial jokes in the student newspaper that resulted in protest from several student organizations, especially the minority groups on campus, as well as minority greek organizations. The year following that a Nation of Islam racial extremist was invited to campus to speak by a minority organization on campus, which resulted in a large controversy where many students complained of reverse racism being promoted by the incident. The racial tension is present on campus and proves to be problematic from time to time.

For me, the campus is just the right size. I think this is something that is different for everyone and I just happened to find the right place. I would caution that if you love a large campus, such as a state school, then CMU is probably not the place for you. I think its just a matter of knowing what is right for you and seeking out a school tht meets your needs.

The best thing about CMU is that it is not a liberal arts school. If you go to this school for one thing and decide you want to work with computers, we have one of the best computer schools in the nation. Architecture instead? We have that, design, art, and performance major, all of which rate within the highest programs in the nation. Engineering, business, and psychology each are some of the best programs you can be in, so if you go here unsure, and decide what you want to do, there is no reason to move. The size of the school is fantastic because every day you will meet new people, but you will always see a familiar face around campus. When I tell people that I go to CMU, many don't seem to know that such a college exists. Recently it was rated to be up there with the ivy league schools, but obviously it's reputation is not. People familiar with the school either are very impressed, because of our academic program, or very put off, because of the stigma attached with "the CMU student". Most of my time on campus is spent either in my lovely on campus apartment or in the gym working off some stress. What college town? We have neighboring cities, sure, but it is definitely not just CMUers. If you want a college town, youve gotta go to UPitt's neck of the woods further into the city. Its not too far of a walk and almost nothing of a busride, but in the immediate vicinity, there isnt very much. There is no school pride at CMU. The people that attend sporting events are mostly fellow athletes. Since we don't have a big name, and that name is marred by a poor student body reputation, people don't put it out there too much. There is a huge horrendous statue right in front of the school. Its a long pole sticking out from the ground at an angle with people walking up it. Occationally students will climb it, deface it, or take pictures with it, but it's really not worth the millions of dollars we spent to get it there. Students complain that there arent enough parties, though there are as long as you know people. The problem with parties at CMU though, is that they can be hit or miss. There is little way to tell if it will be a good time or not, so the best bet is clubbing somewhere else in pittsburgh. Clubs can be rented out by organizations and will host parties throughout the year, to which there is transportation, and under 21s are allowed.

CMU gives a large amount of possibilities for students. There are a lot of opportunities to join research projects, clubs, or even take part in individual projects. The student culture is very education-oriented and makes it easy to join clubs and pursue goals. The 'party scene' may not be that large in CMU, however since it is in a big city, there is always a lot to do and it is easy to meet people of various interests, backgrounds, etc.

I came to CMU a happy kid who liked making friends, but CMU taught me during my first semester to hate. I walk around campus and pretend that I'm crazy so no one will talk to me because so many people here are idiots, or assholes, or both. people are very territorial, even in public areas, and you'll learn to be that way too. there isn't school pride--the closest thing to that is the bonding that occurs over the hatred of CMU itself--it's like anti-pride.

When you tell people who don't go to CMU that you go to CMU, they think you are really smart. When you tell people at CMU that you go to CMU, they think they are smarter than you. The sports suck. The big monument sucks. The facilities are ass.

The best thing about CMU is the facilities, the computer labs are really good. I'd change the girls at CMU if I could change one thing, they're all too ugly. The people who know about CMU think its sweet but about half of them don't know about it. Most of my time is spent at the fraternity house. This isn't a college town... its a college block. CMU's administration is ok but they could be a little more open to fun. There is no CMU pride, but reasonably so.

The opportunities after graduation. location. size is just right. impressed. dorm or fraternity house. college town. snobby and stuck-up. no school pride. weather.

The best thing about CMU is that it is easy and possible to change things. The truth is that people here never seem to care about the community, and here is the only school, where you can grab coffee with the Deans or have lunch with the President. The school is just right in size, big enough to see everything. But small enough to get to know a group of people that have similair interests as you. The college town is great, but CMU doesn't seem to utilize it. There is not a lot of school pride, most people got rejected from their first choice and are pissed.

CMU is a great school if you like different people and cultures you may not be familiar with. There is a lot to do in Pittsburgh, and people that say there isn't are usually those that love to complain. A good amount of people here are snobs from rich eastern seaboard towns or an international hub. This is what I'd want to change the most. People here have huge egos but not all the skills and talents in order to make it plausible. There are many brats here spending their parents money and acting as if they have earned something. It is a very big problem at CMU. That rant aside, it is a great place to go for the academics and you can meet smart, well rounded people. Some people here do have extraordinary minds, both analytically and creatively, but everyone at CMU also claims they do as well so finding the truth can become difficult.

Wow, CMU the big picture. I dont even know where to start with this... Carnegie Mellon is, in my opinion and of course I'm biased, the greatest place in the world to go to school if you want to learn, work hard, meet amazing people, and do things you never thought you would ever get the chance to do. For me, coming from a pretty small town to a pretty big city was a little bit of a shock but the relatively small size of Carnegie Mellon makes everything seem closer to home. There are so many things to do here (like shows and sporting events and museums) that I have never had the chance to do. That being said though, Pittsburgh is not a college town. You kinda have to know what is going on and when, but there is always some party going on. Mostly people can't believe that I go to Carnegie Mellon. My friends make fun of me because I'm not good at video games and people that I meet for the first time are always surprised I go here. I get mixed responses from people such as "Wow I didn't think you guys ever left your rooms" to "That must mean you are really smart". It's always fun to see people's reactions. If I could change one thing it would be the school spirit on campus. I love all sports, both playing them and watching them, and I really wish more people shared the same view. Sport events are fun to go to here though especially if you can get some rowdy people to join you! The most common complaint is that CMU is killing their students. It's a really hard school to get in to and unlike most difficult schools to get into, it gets harder when you get here. If you can put the time in and the work it's doable.

CMU is not a cookie-cutter university, and students here do not have a cookie-cutter experience. This is a quirky place. We stay true to our Scottish roots. We are proud to be the Tartans, even though a piece of cloth is not a particularly intimidating mascot. If for some reason we feel the urge to have a conversation with a robot, we can satisfy that desire. On the weekends, we can watch musical theater performances put on by future Broadway stars. We have a fence and we like to paint it. A lot. But only between midnight and sunrise. Due to a recent art installation on campus, CMU is the only school where you will find students asking "is that a real person, or part of Walking to the Sky?" We put tiny people in small, aerodynamic vehicles and race them. Saying the word "carnival" within earshot of a CMU student is likely to result in stories of debauchery and the discovery that everyone here is capable of being a successful carpenter. All in all, CMU is a pretty unique place.

The best thing about CMU is that when you graduate you know you will have a job, especially if you're an engineer, but employers just seem to really like our students in general. If I could change one thing it would be the workload -- it really can be too much at times. The school size is about right, though by the time you're a senior you will feel like you know everybody, which is sort-of nice but it can feel a bit like high school again. We have Pitt next door and a few other colleges around but it still doesn't feel much like a college town. CMU's administration is really concerned with helping students cope with the workload, I haven't given it a lot of thought but I'd say they do a great job helping kids enjoy their college experience. Most frequent student complaint: too much work. No big controversies on campus that I'm aware of, that is one unique thing about CMU, students are pretty self-absorbed so there's not a lot of campus-wide issues that really dominate discussion. An experience I'll always remember is singing karaoke at one of the campus cafeterias on Friday nights -- I don't know if they still have that, but it was a lot of fun.

The best thing about CMU is the diversity. Our school is a melting pot of international students and students from every state in the nation. Furthermore the diversity of the academic colleges allows for a student interested in policy making to see fantastic shows from drama students while working on a project that somehow includes robots! I would change the perception that CMU doesn't have an engaged student population. The size of CMU is small enough to not feel overwhelmed and to be able to know a lot of people while being large enough to still see random people who you have never met before. Since it is located in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh I wouldn't call it a college town but rather a college city. With five universities in one neighborhood you are surrounded by a lot of students and the amenities that goes along with that. If you want to about anything unusual about Carnegie Mellon it's summed up in four words, Booth, Buggy and Greek Sing. I will always remember the feeling of winning Greek Sing after practicing for 4 months for a fifteen minute show with my fraternity brothers and a sorority.

CMU is a great school as a whole. Like most schools it has it's ups and downs and one of the "lacking" qualities of CMU is its student involvement. We have a huge international community which adds to the cultural flare on campus but at times the sensitivity of these segments can get overwhelming. CMU has a very devoted passion toward diversity and individuality. They are building campuses and university relationships across the globe and the opportunity to work at or attend one of these programs is fairly easy if you know who to ask. Stress is high, however, leading to an environment where the week is completely devoted to school and Friday night is almost always an excuse to unwind...if you're not in the library finishing the paper that's due at midnight.