Carnegie Mellon University

You MUST know what you want to do when you enter CMU as a freshman. Although there are not many gen-ed requirements, many majors have required classes that are only offered once a year. If you are not sure if you want to do engineering, computer science, or science, decide before you get here. Also, not a lot of majors are offered here. For instance, there is not education program or education classes at all.In general, people here are WEIRD. Diversity is key- not only ethnically but academically as well. From design, art, and drama majors to CS majors, just about everyone is "different." Some people like this, others don't. We have a large population of Asian students, and the ethnic groups can be VERY clique-y, especially the non-native speakers of English. Students are very competitive here and a lot of people are really brilliant- the problem is that they know that they are brilliant and can be very arrogant about it.

1st Year Female -- Class 2007

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Social Life: C-

I was a fairly good student in High school. In my HS there were always easily accessible help from the counselor or teacher. I have been here for 3 years and am doing terrible, grade-wise. The faculty/staff do not seem caring for individual students. Resources for help in academics is not easily avaiable. Professors are too engrossed in research esp. CS and aren't open/enthusiastic about discussing advanced topics outside of class with interested students. Although there is lots of research projects going on, it is really hard to get involved in one. The students are friendly but are very competitive.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2005

Scholastic Success: A+, Education Quality: D