I posted this in the school-specific 2028 thread but figured it might belong here as well.
CMU - up for one droid, down for the other
Both droids admitted, and we attended an admitted-students day (Turning Tartan day) on 4/7 which we mostly enjoyed.
We lucked out with spectacular weather. The clouds were clearing as we landed Saturday afternoon, then Sunday was completely clear. Mid 30s up to mid 50s by the late afternoon Sunday.
We enjoyed the Uber into Pittsburgh, especially coming out of the tunnel and then ‘bang’ seeing the rivers, bridges, and of course the city itself. Kind of a wild transition through that tunnel. Then the ride through the city, including U Pitt, to our hotel…tons of people out and about. Very lively.
The short of it: Linguistics droid (admitted to Dietrich) has ruled it out. The Dietrich presentation was…not so impressive? Kind of disjointed. No student panel. Not a lot of especially helpful info. Also a VERY unpleasant, extended exchange about suicides and depression on campus, lead by a parent who was very determined to ask about this. Bigger problem was the response from the school reps - not very confidence inspiring.
Ultimately though the bigger issue tbh is that it felt like humanities, and to a lesser degree social sciences, in general are somewhat of an afterthought at CMU. Maybe that’s unfair, but that’s how it felt to us. At least for linguistics and language study. We also felt that because in contrast…
…the school of engineering (CIT) presentation was great. Clear, helpful, specific info, lead by a dean of the school, followed by a student panel. Like they just had their collective act together in a way that Dietrich seemed not to. So for our ECE droid it’s very much still in play. He has some follow up questions to address with faculty in the next few days, both at CMU and his other main choice, before making a decision.
We did run into current students from our kids’ high school (tippy top BS) along with a couple other BS kids who recognized ours by a jacket ECE droid was wearing. So we got some great first-hand takes about the experience at CMU for kids coming from these sorts of BS. That was helpful.
Liked the ‘distinct campus in a city’ feel, though wish there was more ‘stuff’ immediately adjacent. The little stretch of Craig St was good, but other stuff definitely felt and was further off. Free bus rides help.
We’ll see from here. Hard to say no to CMU for their ECE program.
I asked a lot of students, as I try to do at every school we visit, about their least favorite aspect of the school. The winner by a mile was how the campus eateries are mostly closed on weekends. Some stay open of course. But not many. The silver lining is that it sort of forces kids to get off campus and eat downtown or in Oakland or the Shadyside or Squirrel Hill neighborhoods. But of course that cuts both ways if finances are tight.
One place that was open, for lunch on Sunday at least, was Capital Grains (lol) which multiple students told us was the best food on campus. The long line seemed to confirm this, and the food was in fact good. ECE droid really liked the vibe in the large atrium-like seating area just next to Capital Grains (it’s the main entry to the Tepper School of Business). By 1pm it was full and I mean full of students. Like people had to look around for open seating, and there was quite a lot of seating!
Another cool feature, there’s an app, student developed of course, that tells you which on-campus eateries are open, and when. You’d think this is simple, but apparently it’s variable enough that it’s a challenge to keep straight. The app dynamically updates.
Still more fun - laundry machines are free (BYO detergent) and there’s an app that tells you which machines are available, and once in use the app alerts you to when the wash or dry cycles are complete 
No standing around or setting timers required.