I Dropped Computer Science at CMU: Here's Why

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

It's definitely appealing to men age 18-25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's important to find a good fit. Not everyone is passionate about CS, and not everyone is passionate about partying and dating a lot of women/men.

Plenty of people are passionate about CS and don't choose CMU due to its atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD (TJ grad) was waitlisted at CMU CS. Now she studies CS at a T20 college and although considers herself the best CS student in her college class, she knows how far ahead CS-wise her ex-classmates got by studying at CMU and MIT. Their CS classes are much harder than hers, and she has to self-educate in her spare time.

OP, what amount of money are they making?

It is possible that MIT manages the stress in a better way. CMU has very hard grading on a curve...so it is difficult to get an A or a B. At the same time, Stanford CS (as example) basically says everyone will get an A or a B. Having the threat of a C (or lower) hanging over your head can cause massive anxiety vs. knowing that as long as you are trying, you won't get less than a B (and most will get As).

When I was at Mudd, freshman year was "pass / high pass / fail" but it was still pretty stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

DP.
The number of people who enjoy dating women is not small.

An adult doesn't flag this as a reason for teens to attend a specific college.

This reads like the frat version of "Why you should attend the University of Florida". It's out of place on a parenting forum. Go post this on College Confidential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

It's definitely appealing to men age 18-25.

Lots in that age group party a lot, too.

Their parents don’t usually brag about either one, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did not watch but have seen 2 or 3 of the videos describing the absolute grind of CS programs at places like CMU, a Canadian college - forget the name, a few others. The problem is you have no idea how the kid on the video stacks up to your own kid in terms of intellect, persistence, motivation/drive, tolerance for rigor vs. the "need" to party, etc.

Might be Waterloo (Canadian university). At Waterloo at least...CS is out of the Math department not the engineering department. I think any CS coming out of the Math department tends to be way more theoretical and difficult.

My kid met several CMU kids when evaluating colleges and they were miserable. That said, their comment was if you want to be the next Linus Torvald (creator of Linux) then CMU is the kind of place you want to be.

Yes, it was Waterloo. I just watched a little of the CMU video linked and the Waterloo student had a similar problem: It was a complete grind, studying/working virtually 24/7, no time for socializing, decided to quit stressing over grades and focus on preparing for job interviews. It's too bad this kid had to go through 2-3 years of high stress resulting in anxiety/panic attacks to reach the conclusion that he just wanted to get a coding job.

I do think these videos can be instructive for potential CS majors (mine included) who may want to evaluate programs based on whether they are more theoretical vs applied CS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

I have met a mom like OP, who takes inordinate amount of pride that her son is sleeping/slept with a lot of women. I have never understood the appeal of that information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

I have met a mom like OP, who takes inordinate amount of pride that her son is sleeping/slept with a lot of women. I have never understood the appeal of that information.

ew.. How does a mom know how many girls her DS slept with?

[Anonymous]

CS is a lot easier than engineering by definition. All this drama about CMU or MIT CS is not necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD (TJ grad) was waitlisted at CMU CS. Now she studies CS at a T20 college and although considers herself the best CS student in her college class, she knows how far ahead CS-wise her ex-classmates got by studying at CMU and MIT. Their CS classes are much harder than hers, and she has to self-educate in her spare time.

OP, what amount of money are they making?

DS is currently at 150K and his cousin is 155K; however, his cousin has 100K in student loan while DS has none due to in-state at UF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

I have met a mom like OP, who takes inordinate amount of pride that her son is sleeping/slept with a lot of women. I have never understood the appeal of that information.

ew.. How does a mom know how many girls her DS slept with?

Who says anything about sleeping with lots of women? I only said a lot of dating and partying which is perfectly normal for college students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CS is a lot easier than engineering by definition. All this drama about CMU or MIT CS is not necessary.

+1

Much easier. Also, some parents want their kids to be doctors or lawyers for prestige and/or money, and think that CS is "third best" (still socially acceptable, in their head).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a gross post, OP. "Partied a lot and dated a lot of women"? You think this is appealing? Your circle must very small.

Hmm. That's the typical college aged male.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD (TJ grad) was waitlisted at CMU CS. Now she studies CS at a T20 college and although considers herself the best CS student in her college class, she knows how far ahead CS-wise her ex-classmates got by studying at CMU and MIT. Their CS classes are much harder than hers, and she has to self-educate in her spare time.

OP, what amount of money are they making?

It is possible that MIT manages the stress in a better way. CMU has very hard grading on a curve...so it is difficult to get an A or a B. At the same time, Stanford CS (as example) basically says everyone will get an A or a B. Having the threat of a C (or lower) hanging over your head can cause massive anxiety vs. knowing that as long as you are trying, you won't get less than a B (and most will get As).

+100
Most of the kids in a program like CMU SCS have never gotten a grade below an A on any high school assignment. The transition into an environment where C's (and below) or 50% & below are handed out freely, and following what the kids believe is "intense" studying (relative to their history), can be soul crushing for them.

It makes you wonder about the kids who are crushing it in these high level classes vs this kid, who seems intelligent enough, but obviously was in a program not suited for his interests. What did these other kids experience in HS that this kid did not?

Although in the beginning of this video, I think he said that anyone at CMU can double major in CS and take the high-level classes. But why he continued taking high- level classes, one he even described as "phd level", if they were causing so much stress for him is another unanswered question here.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the student who dropped CS in CMU. CS is harder than most people realize and you need to also be wired in a certain way to do well in it. And, it is not only the education part that is hard. Every day of your tech/programmer job can be hard if you do not have an interest and flair for it, because you have to continue to learn and keep up with new technology.

My kid is doing CS in UMD. He had applied to CMU for CS but did not get accepted. I fully admit that my DS's immaculate and exceptional academic record maybe did not give the whole picture to the school. They had to rely on other data points to make a determination. But, I feel none of these things - academic record, ECs, demographics, essays - actually clued anyone to the fact that some kids are preternaturally good at CS.