Carnegie Mellon University Visit Report by sciencefrenchie

Visit Activities:

Admissions Interview: No - I was just there for the Open House.

Information Session: Yes - It was a little on the long side (1.5 hours), but they did a good job of covering everything. Not anything you couldn't find around the internet, though.

Campus Tour: Yes - The tour was a bit more geared towards the history and the programs in the buildings, less about being a student at CMU. Some funny little anecdotes and snippets of humor thrown in.

Classroom Visit: No - Again, just there for the Open House.

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Campus:

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A guy we asked for directions seemed a bit caught-off guard, as if it was obvious where the building was, but not unfriendly. Tour guides were very engaging and seemed to really enjoy being at CMU.

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Only really had any interaction with adcoms, but they were warm and welcoming. When questions were asked more than once, they didn't seem impatient or annoyed in the slightest.

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Liked how the campus had a more suburban feel, and you're in Pitt. I have to say the buildings weren't to-die-for, but there were lots of green spaces.

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No sign of litter, green grass... Can't really say much more.

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Didn't see. The outsides didn't really make too much of an impression, but I liked how you could pick what style (suite, etc.) room you want.

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Couldn't really imagine anything too major happening. Only reservations is that CMU is in Pitt, but even that doesn't seem bad at all.

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Loved the people and the easy-going (maybe just because it's summer?), but intellectual atmosphere. The physical campus itself is nice and compact, but nothing to drool over.

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Off-Campus:

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You're in Pittsburgh, so you have the conveniences of any large city. Lots of little restaurants downtown, but didn't have much time to explore. Seemed like a good place to go if you need a

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See above.

Campus Visit Notes for Carnegie Mellon University

Visit Description:

First ever college visit! We left in the wee hours of the morning, 8 or 9 o clock, for the 2/2.5 hr drive to Pitt. Stopped by an outlet mall about an hour from the city, at mom's request. When we arrived in Pitt, we were a bit pressed for time, so we took a quick bite in some Chinese buffet - it wasn't bad food, but it had a very small selection. Guess there's always going to be something lacking when you get a meal for such a cheap price.

Took a few laps around the main area (forget what it's called), looking for the door of the student center. We were soon joined by about 5 other families, all searching for the same thing. We stumbled upon a few students and asked where it was. He wasn't unfriendly or cold about it, but it did come off as if he were thinking that it was "obvious"... He directed us to the right place, though, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining.

There were a LOT of people in the auditorium. The presentation itself was 1.5 hours long, and it definitely dragged. I started tuning out a tad after a while (whoops). Can't say it wasn't informative, though. Academics, the different schools, admission, student life, the city of Pittsburgh, financial aid, famous alum - it was all covered. The majority of it could have been found in various other sources, but the same could be said for many other info sessions. By the way, if you're thinking about changing schools within CMU once you find out you're not cut out for engineering, I wish you the best of luck. Let me know how that goes for you.

A quick, optional, 20/30 minute Q and A session followed, in which we were allowed to get out of our seats, use the facilities, get some punch or water, and talk one-on-one with adcoms outside of the auditorium. The adcoms we saw outside were bombarded with question after question, but they never looked as if they didn't want to be there and talking about their school. The adcom/finaid officer inside the auditorium was asked the same question twice, which kind of annoyed me, but they seemed to understand that we were in a large auditorium with a lot of people and that people were coming and going. They never seemed irritated or annoyed.

We were introduced to the student tour guides, who were all very enthusiastic and had a great sense of humor and kind of livened us all up a bit. The two tour guides we had tried accommodation our very large group as best they could. When we were walking from location to location, they would walk in front and talk to each other, leaving a slightly awkward silence behind them as we shuffled along after them. They didn't really engage any of us in conversation, but we probably had around 10 families in our group, so I could see how that might be difficult.

Most of the tour was concerned with the history of the buildings and the programs house within them, rather than student life. However, little anecdotes here and there were added. The library, constructed entirely of aluminum and glass, donated by some guy and bearing his name, was apparently constructed in the spot that it was because he didn't want any buildings blocking his (and his competitors') view as he stopped at the traffic light during his morning commute. We also learned about Spring Carnival, the only weekend in which "the entire student body is up before 9 am on a Saturday morning" (in the words of the tour guides). I thought the buggy racing was really cool, it showed that the students liked to let loose and have a little fun every now and then. I also found it slightly funny that they practice for it, some at 4 in the morning?!?

The fence was also an integral part of student life. It originally was part of a bridge over a ravine that connected the men's college and the women's college (back in those good ol' days). Once the ravine had been filled and the bridge torn down, the students kept the fence as a memorial. Over the years, it has developed into a large "billboard", of sorts. If you paint it and you want to keep it painted the way you paint it, then you have to camp out in front of it and fend off any intruders.This continues into winter, as well. Apparently, there have been 2 marriage proposals on the fence - both accepted. :)

Over all, you definitely have to be a certain kind of person to want to attend CMU. You have to be willing to work hard, and you need to have a slightly quirky sense of humor and fun. There is a lot of an "intellectual" environment though, even during the summer. However, none of the students I met or saw walking around were high-strung or stressed (then again, that might be because it was summer). I definitely plan to visit again, hopefully during the school year when there are more people on campus. CMU is definitely a place where I could see myself spending 4 years. And the Civil War Re-enactment Club, in which people use cardboard boxes for various deeds, seems like a great place to release some of that tension that will undoubtedly come with such strong academics.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

Day trip - we drove down there.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

There's a lot of restaurants downtown. Pick whichever suits your fancy.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

Parking was decently easy to find. Some of the garages are a bit sketchy, but I guess you're going to find that in any area of a large city.