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Carnegie Mellon University Visit Report by Keilexandra

Visit to Carnegie Mellon University in April 2009 by Keilexandra
(Student, HS Class of 2010)
(Member since May 08 2008 with 3097 posts)
 
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Visit Activities:


Campus Tour: No - Self-guided tour.

Campus:


Friendliness/Courtesy of Students:
2 - Fair
2 - Fair
None of the people we passed by said hi or even smiled. They may have just been busy.


Appearance of Campus:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
Surprisingly collegiate feeling, given the urban setting. Adequate green space.


Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness:
3 - Good
3 - Good



Overall Campus Impression:
3 - Good
3 - Good
I was surprised by the cohesiveness of the campus.

Off-Campus:


Area Immediately Around Campus:
2 - Fair
2 - Fair
Bordered by UPitt and busy streets.


City/Town/Community:
3 - Good
3 - Good
Pittsburgh is a decent city for those who like urban, and not unusually unsafe.

Campus Visit Notes for Carnegie Mellon University


Visit Description:

I visited on Good Friday, so no tour or info session was available. I'm not really interested in Carnegie Mellon because of a poor academic fit--I was visiting Pitt and my friend IS highly interested so I took pictures for her--but I ended up liking the campus more than I liked Pitt's campus. Architecturally, he buildings match well and are elegant to the eye; the green is also well-kept. One annoyance was the signage: instead of putting the building name AND function on signs, CMU lists only the building name and no function until one is INSIDE the building. This includes the admissions building, which we stood outside but then walked away from and got lost because we didn't realize it held admissions. (Whence we acquired a campus map and took a brief self-guided stroll.) Quite a petty annoyance, but you would think the engineers might have learned something from their fine-arts peers about communication.

My unique irrational hallmark of all my college visits is the "feel" of the library; CMU's was uninspiring inside and out.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

Stay outside Pittsburgh for the cheapest rates. Greensburg area is good; we stayed in New Stanton.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

Panera! (No surprise there, but it was my first time and quite yummy.)

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

Parking will cost you; this is a city, after all. But the visitor's parking garage was clearly labeled.