Visit Report by taxguy (Member since August 19 2004 with 4268 posts) Visit Date - April 2005
Visit to Carnegie Mellon University in April 2005 by taxguy (Parent of Student, HS Class of 2006)
Visit Activities:
Campus Tour:
Yes - Campus is nicely arranged with academic buildings in quadrangle. Tour guides,however, were not familiar with my daughter's interest, design. They also were in a hurry to get back to class/work.
Carnegie Mellon University Campus:
Friendliness/Courtesy of Students: 4 - Very Good Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff: 5 - Excellent -
The staff, especially the head of design, was amazingly courteous, and gave us as much time as we wanted. However, there is a real supercilious air emanating from everyone we met.
Appearance of Campus: 5 - Excellent -
It was very neat and tidy. Even the bathrooms had scented devices. Moreover, bathrooms had two ply toilet paper,which we didn't see at other universities.
Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness: 5 - Excellent -
Although buildings seemed well maintained, the design school is in a older, historic building. Computer labs were in the basement with no windows.
Dormitories: -
Didn't get to see any
Security/Safety: 5 - Excellent Overall Campus Impression: 4 - Very Good
Off-Campus:
Area Immediately Around Campus: 4 - Very Good
Campus Visit Notes for Carnegie Mellon University:
Visit Description:
We had a tour of CMU, which was conducted by their admissions department. We didn't attend their open house, which gives a lot more meat about their majors. Our tour guides consisted of a business major and a computer science/engineering major. This is our reflection of our visit:
1. Academics: WOW is all I can say. Although we were there to visit with the Design department, I was especially interested in the fact that there is a LOT of interdisciplinary work conducted among departments. For example, senior design students had a project to design a new form of math teaching that will encompass different types of learners. Students from design, art, engineering and business all had components to work on in this project.
Also, CMU doesn't have a lot of specific humanities requirements and other requirements outside of the major. You only need to take English, Psychology and about 25 credits in other areas, outside of your major. Thus, you can get a real minor in another subject or can plan your humanities electives around any area of interest.
CMU is a very research oriented/ project oriented school. Everything is at a very high level of work. Also, because of this, the students take their studies very, very seriously. I saw many students studying over lunch. To give you an example of their high level of studies, business administration students need to know calculus, multivariable calculus,and statistics among other traditional courses of finance and marketing. Believe me, take any major that you think you know or majored in, and Carnegie Mellon probably takes it to a higher level.
CMU is a very wired campus. Wireless is omnipresent. Also, there are literally thousands of on- site computers that are constantly updated for their 5200 undergrads.
CMU has seven schools: College of Institute of Technology ( engineering), College of Fine Arts (which consist of design and art), College of information systems , College of Humanities and Social Science, Tepper School of business, where you can only major in business administration, economics and E commerce as an undergrad, College of Science, and College of Computer Science . They also have Army, Air Force and Navel ROTC.
Admissions: CMU differs from most other schools in that you apply to specific schools for admission. If you want to take a major in those schools, you must be accepted there, although you can take courses from other schools, on a space available basis. The schools of Computer Science and Engineering and are the hardest; however, musical theater and business have very tough admission standards. Easiest is the Humanities School, although I got the feeling that it isn't exactly easy to get into.
Since I know I was going to get questions about the average SATs for each school, here they are:
Math verbal
CIT (Engineering) 730 650
CFA(Arts) 640 620 and portfolio
Humanities and Social Science 650 680
IT ( Information Systems) 700 630
College of Science 720 660
School of Computer Science 760 690 (toughest school)
Tepper School of Business 720 640
These posted SAT scores are median scores provided us by Carnegie Mellon Admissions office in 2005.
Overall in quality of academics, I would give them an A to A+ ( But they do have limited majors. For example, the school of business does not offer accounting as a major) Thus, check out whether a particular school has your major)
This is one of the drawbacks of CMU. What they have is usually top notch. The catch is that they are a small school and their offerings can be limited. For example, the school of design has two basic majors: industrial design and communication design. Thus, if you want anything else such as animation, digital media, transportation design etc., you shouldn't go here. Even fine art is pretty much limited to painting and illustration. Accordingly, you really need to check out each major in order to see if this school meets your needs.
2. The campus: I really liked the campus. Admittedly, it didn't have the rustic beauty of a Cornell; however, it was very pretty and functional. All college are designed around a main quadrangle. Dorms aren't that far away from any school or any classroom, for the most part. Buildings are very nicely designed with plenty of facilities and ports for computers. If you visit the school, check out the fine arts building, which was wonderfully designed and has some amazing frescoes on the inside.
CMU also maintains their campus and buildings really well. In addition they aren't cheap when it comes to maintenance. For example, their bathrooms had 2-ply toilet paper and little scented devices. This may not seem like a big deal,but you won't find either of these things at most other schools.
I also checked out the student center, which is only 7 years old. It has a large food court, a dining room racquetball and squash courts and a room for tread mills and elliptical machines. Also, there are other weight machines. However, I got the feeling that there weren't enough exercise machines for the whole campus. The school also has a number of tennis courts for the nice weather, which is few and far between during the year.
Overall: I really liked the campus, and gave it an A-.
3. Parking: This is where CMU has a BIG problem. There was one parking lots and some assigned spaces where you can buy a pass. Amazingly enough, the parking lot was full when we arrived and had to park in a city space that had metred parking. Every two hours we had to put money in the meter, or we would get a fine. If you are coming here as a student: Don't take a car unless you live off campus.
Based on other schools that I have seen, I would rate the parking at CMU a D- and I am being kind.
4. Dorms: Sadly, I wasn't able to see a dorm due to security. I was told however, that the school has 4 types of dorms: quads, suites, on campus apartment housing and off campus apartment housing. Most students didn't complain about the dorms so they may not be that bad.
5. Food: Everything that I read told me that CMU food was going to be horrible. I will admit that the dining room served mediocre fried food with very little choices. However, CMU has a number of restaurants in a "food court." This included a good salad bar with great grilled chicken, pizza and one of the best pretzels that I have ever had. Also, there are all kinds of restaurants scattered throughout the campus, such as a decent Indian restaurant. Frankly, we liked the food,but found better in other places. I would give the food a C to C+.
6.Students feelings about CMU: We stopped a number of students and asked them about the school Not one gave a negative response. They seem to really appreciate the school However, make no mistake: all of them said that you will work very, very hard. Also, most students were very nice, helpful and talkative. I didn't get the same snooty attitude that I saw in Princeton and Yale, although I did get a bit of a supercilious attitude from the top administrators. Also, CMU is a very diverse school,but not as to normal minority students. There are lots of Asians and a fair number of international students. The male- female ratio is about 3:2. Thus, if you are a minority (Black, Indian {maze eating kind}, or female), you may find admission easier.
7. Tuition: Here I have to gulp. CMU tuition alone is OVER $39,000. In fact, for 2008, it is a whopping $39,150 PLUS an extra $600 in fees. Yes, you read this correctly! Room and Board averages around $10,000. This makes CMU, tuition wise, one of the most expensive schools in the nation. I suspect that being a relatively small school with a relatively small endowment, kids have to pay a lot more to amortize many of the normal college operating expenses of marketing and admissions and maintenance than those that attend a big school. Although I really liked CMU, I have to really question whether it is worth four to five times what a state univesity would charge.
If you are studying computer science, you should make this up fairly quickly; however, if you are studying art, or design, or humanities, it will take a long time to make this investment back.
There are two other considerations that I should note. First, CMU doesn't give a lot of merit financial aid UNLESS they REALLY want you. Thus, if you are a standout kid ( which is hard to do there), they will give you a lot of aid. We met a sharp Asian girl in design who was given enough merit and need aid to make CMU equal in cost to her state university. However, this is relatively rare. Most kids will tell you that they got a lot better aid elsewhere. I should also note that if you get aid from a comparable school, CMU will negotiate with you, especially for comparable need-based aid
Secondly, if you are accepted off the wait list, you will be treated as a second rate student. For example, not only will you be given last choice in housing ( which was foreseeable due to the late acceptance),but they will not negotiate with you for aid regardless of what was offered elsewhere. Students who were not wait listed can negotiate for aid. Be aware of this.
Overall impression: CMU is hard to classify due to its tremendous variety of students. Not only do you get MIT caliber students in their computer and engineering schools but you get some of the best art, design and drama programs in the country. It reminds me of a combination of MIT and Juilliard or Peabody Conservatory plus having a top notch art school.
There is also lots to do. The drama school alone does 15 programs a semester (seems like a lot doesn't it). The kids love the school and works them like dogs. The school has a sterling reputation among employers too because they have a top notch job and internship placement record.
Again, my impression my be different from yours. You may want to check it out.
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:
For nearby hotels, go to this site:http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/orientation/hotel.html
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):
Pittsburgh is a fairly inexpensive place to fly into and out of, at least from where we live.
-
The staff, especially the head of design, was amazingly courteous, and gave us as much time as we wanted. However, there is a real supercilious air emanating from everyone we met.
-
Didn't get to see any