@PentaDad I’m jumping in here. I have daughters both at CMU and Cornell. CMU is so intense, and that is an understatement. If you can survive the undergrad life in CS at CMU, then your professional work life will be easy! CMU is tough on its undergrads. Awesome profs. Zero grade inflation, (which all the kids complain about) tons of stress, not very collaborative at times (but there are reasons for this), but its grads are highly sought after. My daughter got a very prestigious internship for the summer that pays big bucks. Seriously big bucks. Take my word for it. I’m sure other CMU parents can relate to this. My daughter at Cornell is a freshman and also feels stressed at times, but I think at Cornell there are more outlets to manage the stress. Tons of clubs, the beauty of the surrounding area, etc. Pittsburgh is a great city, but most of the time there is not enough time to get to explore it unique neighborhoods, restaurants, pro sports etc.
@TiggyB62 Has your D ever commented how many people dropped out from CS during the Freshman year?
I think it is an interesting pointer since if the students persist even with all this intensity and stress, then I would assume the support provided to them at CMU is as intense as the stress they are facing in their coursework. 
@PentaDad I don’t want to hijack this thread, so you can PM me if you want. Well a few here and there drop, but it’s certainly not a mass exodus. These kids get extremely high paying jobs with just an undergrad degree. You can go on CMU website and find out where all the grads have taken jobs, the pay, or if the student decided to go to grad school and where. They have a top notch career office as does Cornell, by the way. In one interview my D had with a big consulting firm, they told her they like to come to CMU, Cornell, MIT, etc because they have the quantitative skills they require.
Some students would argue that CMU doesn’t provide enough support…but take that for what it’s worth. For as many kids that say they need more support, as many say they don’t. I’m sure it’s similar everywhere. My daughter is an Academic Peer Counselor (strict application and training process) and she advises students on time management, workload stress etc. Currently she is having to turn kids away because her caseload is full and she has tons of work herself.
Is creative writing good here?
@writer80 I can’t speak to the entire program because I only took the Intro to Creative Writing class, but I had a very positive experience with that workshop! I took a lot of creative writing classes in HS (poetry, creative non-fiction, etc.) and wanted that coming to Cornell. I think most of the seminars are taught by grad students, but they’re usually capped at less than 20 people and everyone gets adequate workshop time during the semester.
You can get a sense for the creative writing minor here: http://english.arts.cornell.edu/undergrad/minors/
Thank you! Do you think I have a shot at Cornell, having taken Global History instead of AP World?
My daughter visited and didn’t get the vibe that she could find really corny geeky nerds there…she isn’t into partying,etc… what’s your take on that? Also…all the buildings seem locked up, even when a student was showing us around his building (Saturday late morning)…is that typical? She’s admitted for computer science…wants to do video games or virtual reality…wasn’t getting feeling that Cornell Univ was very cutting edge…thoughts on that?
@Writer80: I don’t know your other credentials, but I don’t think that one class should matter. Obviously for Cornell, you should be taking rigorous classes, but if AP History just isn’t your thing that’s ok. I had taken no AP Sciences when I applied, but compensated by taking a wide array of writing workshops and AP Macro since I was applying for Communication and Business.
@IowaMom66: Not sure about academic buildings being locked up… some may require card access during non-academic hours but if you’re a student you should have access to most of them. Some of the Engineering buildings require this. All dorms require card access as well.
What college was she accepted into for CS, Arts and Sciences? I’m not sure about the core curriculum for A&S (which you can view here: https://www.cs.cornell.edu/undergrad/csmajor
I will say that doing Video Games or VR is something that a lot of Information Science majors are interested in. They do offer courses in game design/development that are cross listed as CS and IS. I think with the addition of Gates Hall, Cornell is very much becoming innovative when it comes to new media and technology. This may be an interesting read: https://gdiac.cis.cornell.edu/
You can definitely find people like that at Cornell - it’s a huge school! I think perception of that culture depends on who she was talking to and what other schools she was accepted to.
Thank you for your help! I wish you well in your success!
She was accepted for CS through engineering, I believe. She didn’t see anything on campus for VR,etc. but maybe has been looking wrong dept. Thanks!
CS department at Cornell is definitely one of the best in the country (obviously not CMU level but nothing to scoff at either). I can almost guarantee that there are professors/researchers at Cornell in CS that are doing things in every field, cutting edge or not. It is not hard to get involved on campus, whether its through research with professors or joining project teams (engineering based and also various options for CS as well).
No one can predict acceptance to Cornell (or any top school). Just apply and see what happens. Grades are only a small part of it. Even if you have 4.0, no guarantee whatsoever.
How would you compare your coursework to your AP classes? Or if you’re a transfer, your old university classes?
Also, how hard is it to get into research at Cornell? And how hard is it to get an internship with no work experience. specifically for CHE students?
@HereToTransferr - workload was about the same for first-year classes and some second-year classes, but junior level classes that are 3000/4000 are definitely more rigorous than AP classes. I was in Business/Communication and I would say I wrote more essays and did more problem sets in my upper-level classes than in any AP Econ or AP English class I took.
I was a research assistant in the Comm department. It can be as easy as having a good relationship with a professor to as competitive as interviewing. There are lots of different labs and programs on campus. If you just want to join a professor’s project, that’s pretty easy. If you want to join a specific lab then you may have to apply as they only have a certain number of spots. If you want to do your own, you will have to get an advisor and a grant - people do it and there are a lot of resources in each undergrad college to help with the process.
I can’t speak to CHE because I was in CALS. I had zero work experience and only did extracurriculars (one of which was the student paper), and that was good enough to land me a chill paid internship my freshman summer and a corporate internship my sophomore summer. I will say that as you get older, internships are kind of expected, so definitely try to join clubs early on to build experience and have an internship before the start of your junior year. Also, even an 8-10 on-campus job/tutor position/teaching assistant position can definitely help when you are searching for internships. Overall, a lot of places will be lenient when you’re an underclassman, they just look for good work ethic, ambition, and professionalism.
@lichte94 Ahhh!!! Thank you so much These were really helpful tips.