<p>I’m the kind of guy that I’ll always be like the top 5% or 10% of the student body. I’ve attended terrible public high school and then transferred to a top ranked private school. Same thing happened during my middle school time too. And I was like always top 5% to 10%. Couldn’t do better, but not worse either. So I guess that if the students at the school are better, I’ll do better. I know that CMU and U-mich both have like the smartest kids in the country, but, any difference?</p>
<p>Also, I heard that U-mich is more for like middle class families, not only tuition wise, but just the atmosphere, like people work really hard, they don’t spend much money on fancy meals or clothes, you get the idea. On the other hand, CMU is a private school that has a relatively high tuition, so kids there work hard too, but, (how do I put this), they know more about using money to enjoy life. I’m from a middle class family, so will I fit in CMU?</p>
<p>Please dont take anything above personally, I just never visit the two schools since I’m an international student, and I want to know about the student body. Besides, I’m gonna do engineering wherever I end up with.</p>
<p>You just lost 10 points.
Think about your question.
How would anyone know?
and if someone would be a position to know, would the answer be meaningful to you?</p>
<p>You are going to a school of higher education. Money status is immaterial. It will be challenging for everyone.</p>
<p>If you’re planning on engineering, you can pretty much kiss your top 5% of the class status goodbye unless you plan to stay in your room 24/7 studying. CMU is not like high school and if you think you’ve worked yourself to the bone to do well before now, you’re dead wrong. ;)</p>
<p>That said, I don’t know about money status at UMich, but at CMU there’s a mix of both. A lot of kids do have mommies and daddies who throw 100k at them and say, “pay for tuition and buy yourself seven ponies an Urban Outfitters on the side if you want.” International students are often notoriously known for this, as they get zero financial aid and are usually wealthy enough to cover the total cost of CMU without worrying about it too much, which means they tend to have plenty of money for other things too. (This is of course not true of all internationals, just some.) </p>
<p>But there are also kids like me, who are just lucky we got enough financial aid to come here in the first place. We’re middle class, but you wouldn’t call us rich. I hold two campus jobs to pay for the things I like, like going to breakfast at Pamelas for $8 per plate on Sundays. So do many, many other kids. We buy our own books and pay out of pocket for the things we need rather than charging it to daddy’s AmEx. So don’t worry; you’ll find students who you’ll jive with here, regardless of your monetary situation. :)</p>
<p>Dear completelykate, your comment has just released lots of doubts and worries about CMU. Thanks. FYI, since CMU does not provide fin aid to international students, lots of them are using most of their family savings to pay the tuitions. so I guess the majority of international students are not as rich as you might think</p>
<p>@RewindYouLostMe
Most American private universities do provide fin aid to international students, though most of them are need-based. So requesting fin aid might BADLY hurt your chance.</p>
<p>I agree with RewindYouLostMe I always thought private institutions give no FA to international students regardless of how rich or poor they are.</p>
DS would say exactly the reverse, ie., the reason most, if not all, internationals are here is because their families were rich enough to pay for it in full, while many of the locals hold jobs to make ends meet.</p>
<p>Dad of 3, people like me would have been qualified to receive 30k/year fin aid if I had a green card or an american passport. And to be honest with you, I know a lot of "me"s. Their parents put most of the family saving to send their kids to America to receive better education. And they think it’s all worth is because once the kids graduate, they are gonna find jobs in the US(which is not likely today) and get paid with big money. I guess those kids who attend college with $10k pocket money a year were those from the mideast, or maybe Europe. But in case of China or India, I bet most of them are like me.</p>
<p>From my observation, it seems to be lots of Indian, Japanese, and European students who fall into the category I described. You’ll see the Japanese girls with huge Gucci and Juicy bags and fuzzy Dior boots and decked out in bangles and baubles to the nines, and the European guys are… well… European. Lots of flashiness and racing jackets. The Indian kids are a spread group, but there are definitely some who have money and show it.</p>
<p>From what I have been told by an Indian student in my interp class, the school is expensive enough that even a middle class family would not be able to save enough to afford it. Either you’re upper-class and you’re just barely saving enough to cover CMU, or you have plenty of money and can easily afford it.</p>
<p>That doesn’t explain why I saw more BMWs and Mercedes being driven by foreign students than faculty members.</p>
<p>Also, I’d say most of the Americans I knew tended to be middle class who were attending because they got lucky with a good financial aid package. I had a few friends with $$$ and would eat every meal out, but most of them were understanding for those of us with less money.</p>
<p>I don’t know, my friend that was working two jobs (one of them as a stripper) to pay her way through college was probably at a bit of a disadvantage compared to my friends that didn’t have to even think about getting a job.</p>
<p>I also agree with Racin. I’m sure I could have a lot more time to study if I didn’t have to work 15-20 hours a week so I could afford to buy myself winter attire and cover the parts of my tuition that I am responsible for paying myself. (I’m from California, so I had to pay for my own winter fare once I got here-- I’d never needed a coat, scarf or gloves before, let alone a windbreaker.)</p>
<p>I’ve very rarely seen Japanese students on campus, not that many at CMU, but yeah otherwise this is fairly accurate - though I haven’t seen many Indians wearing flashy stuff</p>