Marilyn

Our son's first visit was during his spring break so classes were in session - he set up a morning meeting with the SCS admin, had a tour of the CS department buildings, met with one professor, and sat in on a programming class. If your son has specific departments in which he's interested, I highly recommend seeing what they might be able to arrange in the summer.

In terms of campus, definitely explore the entire University Center. Students can easily be there several times a day for various activities and meetings (including movies and student performances), to eat, to get their mail (all students are assigned a PO box in the UC for all time at school), and to meet friends and hang out. Go upstairs and downstairs; in addition to what KrazyKow mentioned there are several dining places plus gym facilities. If at all possible try to eat at least once on campus; food is one of the major complaints from some students and freshmen have to go on a meal plan.

Tours don't include going into the dorms but try to walk around those areas, both on the Hill and across Forbes Ave on Morewood (see campus map). You can then get a sense of what they're like and how close most of them actually are to the classrooms. It's a compact campus compared to most.

If the Waterfront in Homestead is on your route, I suggest stopping by and driving around to see what's there. Students can take the bus from campus (I think it takes less than half an hour to get there) and it's a major shopping destination (the Target is totally geared to students in the fall).

My son goes to Squirrel Hill by bus (5 minute drive by car up Forbes) both for weekend breakfast (at either Pamela's or the Bagel Factory) and to shop at the Giant Eagle on Murray. It's the closest grocery store off campus (the GE in Shadyside is much bigger but slightly more complicated to get to). There's also a good deli in Squirrel Hill.

We've stayed at various places in downtown Pittsburgh but near campus only at the Hampton Inn University Place (check for a student rate) - they offer a free shuttle to campus every hour and from campus when you call.

rlm919

Also be warned that unlike many of the states surrounding it, Pennsylvania still permits smoking in restaurants. We are from NY so it is like going back in time (and not in a good way since I am allergic) There is a web site that lists the places that are smoke free so we try to visit those.

dsultemeier

My D and I are planning a visit to CMU in late May. We will be flying into Pittsburgh International Airport (I'm not sure if there is more than one airport) and staying at the Holiday Inn Express near campus. I read on the internet that we could take the 28X Airport Flyer bus to the campus. Would you recommend doing this? Does anyone know where it picks you up and drops you off? It looked like the cheapest way to get from the airport to campus.

Otherwise thanks for posting all the great suggestions above since we can use them all also.

mathmom

28X is very easy way to get to campus - it takes about an hour and costs $3. There's a stop near University Center on Forbes. I was at the Holiday Inn last night. It was fine, though it has a lousy exercise room. It's a very easy walk to campus, easier walk to Pitt if you are interested.

rlm919

Did you see the tents and displays at the Cathedral/Pitt lawn near Bellefield? I was curious about what it was all about, saw no information but lots of security.

RacinReaver

Pitt should be getting ready for graduation soon, so things might be in preparation of that. They're usually a week ahead of CMU in finishing in the spring, so the time seems about right for it.

And, yeah, the 28X is great. I took it a bunch of times when I was flying out of Pittsburgh to visit grad schools, and it's a pretty reliable bus. They run something like every 20-30 minutes, so you don't have to worry about waiting forever for one. If you're not sure where to get off the bus, you could call the hotel and ask which stop, or ask the bus driver to let you know when you're nearby. If you get an a-hole bus driver, ask the people on the bus that are on it when you get up to Oakland (you'll know you're up there because you've gone through downtown and you'll be able to see one of the rivers on your right for a little bit).

mathmom

My husband got a bus driver who made bad puns about all the street names. "If you're inclined to be let off, I'm inclined to let you off. (At Incline St.) or "What's the opposite of Small and Tall?" (Bigelow St.)

I don't know what the was going on near Bellfield, it looked like Carnival stuff. Of course Google maps had sent me down a closed street there, so I had to detour!

dsultemeier

That's funny about the puns. Thanks for all the information. Our flight gets in at 11:50 am and my D's interview is at 3:30 (actually I need to double-check that the time was confirmed) so we should have enough time to walk around campus before the interview. I am strongly encouraging her to pack light in case we are carrying around our luggage. (this was a problem last time we went on a trip)

Does anyone have advice on preparing for the interview?

Thanks.

mathmom

Only the usual advice. Read the Carnegie website so you don't ask dumb questions. Try to figure out some smart questions to ask, when they inevitably say "Do you have any questions?" Look your interviewer in the eye, practice a firm handshake. Remind your child to say "thanks for taking the time to talk to me" at the end of the interview.

dsultemeier

That sounds good. Thanks for the suggestions.

Marilyn

The interview is as much for your D to learn about CMU as it is for CMU to learn about her. I don't think an informational interview even factors into admission. I'm not sure what department interests your D, but in SCS they want students who will take advantage of the unique opportunities. So that would be a good subject to raise, in effect, "What can I do here that I can't do at other schools?" This could include research, organizations, classes, etc. I assume you've been through the prospective students section of the CMU website: Prospective Students - Carnegie Mellon University . The Carnegie Mellon Experience section is particularly informative to get a feel of the university.

dsultemeier

I was thinking that the interview counted somewhat on admissions. On the Common Data Set it is checked off under the "considered" column along with extracurricular activities and things like that. On the prospective students website part it says with regards to the interview: The Office of Admission is interested in discussing senior year courses, long-term extracurricular activities and potential student majors at Carnegie Mellon.

Your suggestions are very helpful and would fit well into the part about discussing potential majors and activities. Having to declare a major on the application seems to be my D's main worry related to CMU since she is thinking about computer science but is also interested in engineering. Another concern is how easy it is to change majors.

I have to admit to getting a bit frustrated with the admissons website. My D can't call during the day from school so I went through the process on the website to schedule her interview time. After you enter all the information it says to wait for them to email you back with confirmation. It's been three days and they haven't emailed. A few months ago my D emailed the admissions office with a question and got back a form letter that didn't answer the question. So I am planning to call on Monday and make sure D actually has an interview. If it doesn't work out I guess she can ask for an alumni interview.

BTW my D also plays the harp and she emailed a harp teacher she found on the CMU website. The teacher emailed her right back about getting together when we visit. So that was exciting.

Thanks for the help.

mathmom

Your daughter can apply to both CIT and SCS and then see what happens come spring senior year. By then she may have decided which way to jump. SCS requires students to have a minor and I believe those minors can be in engineering fields. As an SCS major she could also minor in Harp if the harp teacher likes her.

dsultemeier

Thanks mathmom. I am hoping D can narrow down her interests this summer when she goes back to math camp. Quite a few of the senior counselors there are college students majoring in some variation of computer science so they should be able to give her advice. I'm not sure where she wants to go with the harp playing. Right now it's mainly for fun and stress relief. Thanks.

dsultemeier

Just in case anyone else is scheduling an interview - I was waiting for an email confirmation of the time and date we requested through their online form. I called admissions a little while ago and they said that they send out the confirmation via a "hard copy" through regular mail. The website actually says "written notificaton" will be sent and I jumped to the conclusion this would be an email. Our regular mail often arrives at a snail's pace so I won't be surprised if we get the confirmation after we have already left on our trip.