Home / College Discussion / College Visits / College Search / Carnegie Mellon University Report Bookmark and Share

Carnegie Mellon University Visit Report by mathmom

Visit to Carnegie Mellon University in April 2007 by mathmom
(Parent of Student, HS Class of 2007)
(Member since February 18 2006 with 6692 posts)
 
2 of 2 people found this visit report helpful

Visit Activities:


Information Session: Yes - More below - we were there for accepted students weekend and they do separate info sessions for each school. SCS and MCS. Can't remember a general info session.

Campus Tour: Yes - Tour was very interesting for Mom the architect, less so for son the computer scientist. A lot of building history and traditions, less about academics and social life.

Classroom Visit: No - Yes. Attended one computer science class - it was interesting enoug he decided to attend.

Campus:


Friendliness/Courtesy of Students:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
Lots of outgoing students, especially the young women engineers at our table for lunch.


Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
They were great, overnights were booked up, but they found space for every kid who was there anyway.


Appearance of Campus:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
Clean well kept up, some gorgeous old buildings. Nice central lawn. Nice surrounding neighborhood.


Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
It all looked very good to me.


Dormitories:
3 - Good
3 - Good
I've only seen the brand new LEEDs building from the tour which is has nice common areas, but small rooms. My son got housed in an old apt bldg which is not very beautiful, but has huge rooms.


Security/Safety:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
It's a city campus, but it feels safe. Neighborhood is very good.


Overall Campus Impression:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
I really liked the looks of it. Green roofs, yellow brick, lots of grass. Buildings looked used, not too pristine.

Off-Campus:


Area Immediately Around Campus:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
Middle to upper middle class residential. Nice park across the street with a golf course, greenhouse and lots of trees.


City/Town/Community:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
Pittsburgh is a big city, you have to want that. Weather is lousy, but there's quite a bit to do. Many colleges in town.

Campus Visit Notes for Carnegie Mellon University


Visit Description:

My son ended up attending Carnegie Mellon and has no regrets. The School of Computer Science info session was fabulous. They had all the numbers about who applies, how they do and where they go. They made it clear that they accept both students with and without previous experience.

The Mellon Science presentation was more about curriculum and research opportunities.

CMU is an interesting place, while it offers both arts and technology plus a pretty decent liberal arts school, the set-up (including rooming assignments) means that there is less mixing up of people if you don't make the effort. My son is happy socializing with people who hang out at the Linux cluster.

Lots of food courts scattered around campus with small tables inhibits socializing. It doesn't help that most kids find the food pretty bad and get off the meal plan.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

I like the Holiday Inn Select at University Center. It's right next to Pitt and about 10 minutes from CMU. Hampton Inn is ok. They provide a shuttle to campus, but neighborhood is less nice.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

Indica Indian Bistro at 257 N. Craig St., Oakland. 412-605-0500 excellent Indian food. Try the campus food too, might as well be warned!

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

Convenient airport bus.