the truth about CMU-- all prospective students should read

carnegie_steve · 08-27-2009, 02:36 PM

So we're nearing the college application process and I'm reading a number of threads asking questions about CMU social life, workload, etc. So I decided to clear up any questions that anyone has. As a new member of the Carnegie Class of 2013, I came into orientation having no idea what to expect of CMU. But I'm going to do my best to try to detail my time here so far.

In high school I was the social type-- I went to parties, had girlfriends, and overall I had a great time. When I was accepted at CMU I decided to enroll immediately because of the school's outstanding reputation in nearly every field. But as orientation approached, I began reading threads on CC and other sites talking about how terrible CMU's atmosphere is, how antisocial everyone is, etc.

Everything you've read is most likely the work of an overworked, introverted loner who wants to make himself feel better by venting on the internet. Let me tell you the truth about Carnegie.

Let's start with social life. I came in expecting to have a very difficult time finding parties. But so far, my only issue has been deciding which parties to go to-- it's pretty difficult trying to decide between 4 different parties on a Tuesday night. You can find pretty much whatever you're looking for here at Carnegie. If you're looking to drink, you can definitely find that. If you're looking to just hang out with friends, you can do that. There are plenty of parties to be had, and they're not too difficult to hear about by word of mouth. This year during orientation week, the administration banned freshman from stepping foot inside the frats. And yet, there were still parties every single night at houses all around Pittsburgh.

This brings me to my next topic-- campus life and the surrounding city. There is so much to do in Pittsburgh it's a little bit overwhelming. Just a short walk down Forbes will take you to Oakland where you'll find a huge collegetown, as would be expected with UPitt right next door. There are places to eat after 11 that give students half off food, and it's great to be walking around at 3 am and seeing students everywhere.

So with all this stuff to do on campus, it leaves just one issue- the workload. Obviously, this is a top tier university so the workload will definitely be high. But if you were a good student in high school, you can definitely handle it. It's nothing impossible and a lot of students do very well. I know a lot of kids in difficult majors such as CS, MechE, etc. who maintain consistent 4.0s.

This is all I can think of right now; if anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask.

NuclearTide · 08-27-2009, 09:06 PM

How bad is the male:female ratio? I read somewhere that it was 7:3?

LongPrime · 08-27-2009, 10:20 PM

It's worse. The girls are smarter than the guys.

yjs1210 · 08-27-2009, 11:13 PM

well i dont care about the ratio
are the girls as ugly as ppl say they are?
i heard it ranked like #2 ugliest girls in some magazine

carnegie_steve · 08-28-2009, 11:48 AM

The male to female ratio is improving every year and I believe the ratio for the class of 2013 was somewhere around 55% guys and 45% girls which really isn't that bad. In fact, walking around campus you hardly even notice it. There are definitely some good looking people around campus, albeit there are a few people who probably don't fit under that category. But the talk around campus this year has been about how much better the girls have gotten, and I would imagine that 4 years from now the guy-girl ratio will be very close to 1:1.

completelykate · 08-31-2009, 05:11 PM

I dunno how valid my opinion is, because I'm a straight girl myself. However, as my tour guide put it when I was a prospective applicant last year, "Every successive freshman class is getting hotter and hotter, I swear."

I've seen a few girls where it was kind of like, "Whoa. Man? Woman? Yeti? I'm not sure." But for the most part there are lots of cute, friendly chicks around. And they're all quite intelligent too in my short experience.

carnegie_steve · 09-04-2009, 11:30 AM

Very true. There are lots of pretty girls of all ethnicities.. probably not something that's true at most other schools.

In any case, UPitt is right down the street and there are plenty of pretty girls there.

Tony Montana OST · 10-18-2009, 10:37 PM

You will definitely notice a difference when walking around UPitt's campus vs. CMU

also guys in H+SS or CFA might complain less than students in CIT or SCS when it comes to girls

naturally if you are coming here for a major that CMU is particularly well known for it might be worth it to have to work a little harder for an active social life for 4 years

plus if you make the effort you can meet students from duquesne, carlow, chatham, etc...even la roche....though this is increasingly difficult these days

Crazyshow · 10-30-2009, 02:23 AM

The easiest way to meet people from Pitt, Duquense, etc. while at CMU is through the Greek system. In that case, its downright easy (I say that in complete seriousness). Once you meet a bunch of people at, say, Pitt, you'll be able to hang out with them on their campus and meet more people that way. It's really not hard so long as your sociable, nice, and easy-going about it.

I'm a CS major, and I have no trouble having an active social life with people from CMU, Pitt, Duquesne. All I can say is get out there. Go after clubs/groups you are interested, meet new people, listen to what they have to say. Most of all, don't be afraid to try new things and don't let yourself go through college - much less your freshman year - holding on to all those preconceived notions you made about college or CMU during high school.