I don't get it; whats a school within a college?

Colleges & Universities Carnegie Mellon University
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<p>Someone please help, im so confused.</p>

<p>What are different schools within a college?
Specifically at CMU, there are like 5 different schools. When I apply, do I have to pick one, or is there a default for incoming freshman? Im sure each college is a little different, but in general, do I have to pick when Im applying, or do I pick later, once Im a little more sure of what I want to study? If you do have to pick one at time of admission, is it possible to switch? Or do you have to apply as a transfer student and hope for the best? If you do have to pick one, what if Im not 100% sure that I want to do something in that school?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>rickportega, good question.
which school you apply to depends on what you want to study. Of course, many applicatns are undecided. At most colleges, it is pretty painless to switch between schools. Some schools have a one-door policy: if you get in, you can study anything you want.</p>

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<p>You can apply to all of them and decide in April. My son only picked Computer Science, if he couldn’t do that he didn’t even want to think about attending! Luckily he got in and it ended up being his first choice. CMU is pretty unusual in having so many choices. Even the School of Computer Science, which is the hardest to get into, has some kids who transfer out and some who transfer in every year.</p>

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<p>so if I apply and get accepted into, say, the CS school, but decide that I want to go to med school later and not into the CS field, could I switch to a bio major easily? If so, how long do I have to wait before they’ll let me?
Also, anything else that you think I should know on this topic that would be useful to me would be greatly appreciated.</p>

5

<p>I think so. My understanding is that some things are easier to switch into than others. You know you don’t have to be a bio major to go to med school don’t you? In fact most of the pre-meds I knew in college were music majors! The School of Computer Science requires a minor so if you have a secondary interest it’s not a bad place to land.</p>

6

<p>I was just using the bio thing as an example, but its good to know.</p>

<p>So what stops people from applying to the less selective schools (since you said the computer science is highly selective) and transferring in? Do they still consider you based on your profile?</p>

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<p>Nothing. But it’s not guaranteed you’ll get in nor is transferring easy.</p>

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<p>We were pointedly told at an info session there that it’s pretty easy to transfer either way between CS and engineering but very difficult between Fine Arts or Architecture and the others. This is the main reason my daughter decided not to apply, as she was unsure of major and considering architecture and engineering. Applying (and getting accepted) to all would certainly make it easier.</p>

9

<p>Apply to as many programs as you might be interested in, then you may be able to choose. Most programs are set up with a specific curriculum, so you must choose one upon admission. You can always apply to switch, but you may have to put in an extra year to make up all the classes you need for graduation. Unless you are an extraordinary Renaissance man the chances of getting into all schools are slim (most engineers are not incredible actors or artists and vice versa).</p>

10

<p>There are old message threads about transferring into SCS from the other schools. As I remember, it’s not easy but it is doable - I think it involves having taken and succeeded at one or more of the CS courses. CMU does not have a strong liberal arts flavor so it should be easy to transfer out of, say, SCS or MCS and into CHSS. If you go to the Academics link on the CMU home page it will show you the 7 schools and you can learn more about each of them.</p>

<p>To a certain extent, CMU is more geared to those students who do have a fairly clear idea of what they want to study. I’m not sure of the other schools, but I believe about 85% of the freshman who enter SCS leave with a CS degree. If you really want a college where you will be free to explore a variety of programs without having to be concerned with building up classes in your major, CMU may not be the best fit.</p>

11

<p>Ok. Nobody actually answered his original question, so I will.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon is a University, which has a President. That’s the highest level of organization. The next level down is a college, which is sometimes called a school. The colleges at CMU are the School of CS, Carnegie Institute of Tech (engineering), Mellon College of Science, College of Fine Arts, and the Humanities and Social Sciences college. Within each college are several departments, such as architecture, electrical engineering, and SCS has one department: computer science. Each College has a Dean, and each department has a department head. You must choose colleges to apply to. Admissions are decided on the college level, not the the university level. This is how it works at all large universities, with the exception that the big 10 schools will require you to choose a department as well.</p>

<p>As far as switching between fields, let me say that I can’t speak for anything in the College of Fine Arts, but it is very simple to switch between most departments within the same college. If you want to switch colleges (schools), you will have to jump through many more hoops, and you will need good academic standing in your original college before the 2nd one will accept you. I should note that the “special” admissions to ECE are artificial. Nobody in CIT has been denied admittance to the ECE program even if they weren’t admitted to it off the bat. So don’t worry if you get accepted to CIT but NOT ECE because you can still do ECE without any worries. Mind you, ECE is self-regulating, meaning that there is a high transfer rate to other majors.</p>

<p>If you want to switch into CS, this e-mail I received might be useful information:
"Attention Students:</p>

<p>You’ve been sent this message as you are currently taking 21-127,
15-100, 15-111, 15-123, 15-211, 15-213, or 15-251.</p>

<p>As approved by SCS Council, the Computer Science department is going to
require a grade of C or better in 21-127, 15-100, 15-111, 15-123,
15-211, 15-213, and 15-251 in order to move on to any subsequent
Computer Science course that requires these as a pre-requisite. In other
words, a D in any 15-1xx or 15-2xx course will be viewed as a
non-continuing pass and a student will have to repeat that class and
achieve a level of proficiency of C or better in order to take a course
that requires 1xx or 2xx as a prereq.</p>

<p>We are ANNOUNCING this change in the 15-1xx and 2xx courses both this
semester and next. We will be enforcing it in OLR for the Fall 2008
registration, not this upcoming registration cycle.</p>

<p>If you have questions or concerns about this change, you are encouraged
to contact:
Mark Stehlik
Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education
School of Computer Science
5103 Wean Hall
412-268-3609
<a href=“mailto:mjs@cs.cmu.edu”>mjs@cs.cmu.edu</a></p>

<p>Heather Carney
Freshman Program Coordinator
CS Undergraduate Program
School of Computer Science</p>

<p>5116 Wean Hall
412-268-6737
"</p>

<p>In other words, if you want to be a CS major, you must take CS classes and do well in them and have good academic standing. Although it may differ for each person, 15-211 is viewed as the cut-off class.</p>

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<p>I think that people have been denied entrance to the ECE program, but that was several years ago - interest in the program has been falling since the dot com bust.</p>

<p>Anyone admitted to CS can get a C or above in the listed courses - the people who don’t haven’t put enough time into the classes. Don’t let the email scare you. :)</p>