Are students unhappy at CMU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CMU is not unnecessarily hard. It seems hard because many universities artificially reduce courses rigor to accommodate the increased unreadiness of nowadays high school graduates. There are big portion of CMU students graduate with high honor. More importantly, CMU students are trained to get jobs done. The practicality and reliability is highly valued in work place, but disdained by many individuals as outdated qualities.

Examples? Most top colleges are still…well, really freaking hard. The difficulty of CMU just sounds like the difficulty of stem degrees. The honest question becomes why does it seem CMU’s education comes at a detriment to the college experience, while peers at other institutions can have both rigorous stem education and an amazing college experience.

Frankly everyone at top colleges “studies a lot”

Peers at other institutions with rigorous stem education don’t have “amazing” college experiences. If a program is known rigorous, the complains are similar. Though such programs can be small at many universities and thus overshadowed by the overall school experiences.

This simply isn't true. Stanford, Rice and Berkeley are very much STEM-oriented schools that no one would call "easy", yet they have plenty of happy students who have fulfilling experiences in college.

What sets CMU apart is a few factors:

1) CMU kicked off about 80% of its fraternities from 2003-2013 or so. A few have recolonized as shadows of their former selves, but without nearly a century of tradition you aren't going to get anything remotely resembling the same experience.

2) The lack of a D1 sports scene is a huge detriment. There's nothing to rally around or rejoice in on a regular basis, and school spirit is in the negatives.

3) Anecdotally, from the students I've known, CMU does not place a heavy emphasis on high school extracurriculars during the admissions process. Thus, it selects for a very one-dimensional workhorse type of student without social aptitude.

4) The amount of work CMU piles on is absolutely different than peer institutions, as is the grading scale. Professors are completely merciless in both regards.

5) The weather is godawful, which both discourages venturing outside and puts a big wet blanket over your spirits.

These aspects set CMU apart and aside from the nice surrounding city (which most CMU students will never venture more than a mile into, if that) the school basically offers nothing to counterbalance the brutal academics.

Pittsburgh resident here. Totally agree. My kid’s school sends a lot of kids to CMU each year and my kid’s stats are definitely good enough to get in and he won’t even consider applying. Former students from his school who went to CMU have universally stated that it’s a miserable place. It is just insane academics and nothing else that makes up college life and the campus sucks.

Yup--it was that way 30 years ago and has only gotten worse. I know 4 people who have attended in the last 3 years. 1 transferred after freshman year (to UMD). the other 3 graduated but were miserable the entire time and regretted their college choice.

You can find top academics without the grind and unhappiness.

Yes. Disclosure: I have a happy freshman at Pitt who knows students at CMU both from growing up in DMV and from meeting a few while going out.

One example is CMU’s sports stadium. There are only bleachers on one side. Many much smaller schools (heck, high schools!) have bleachers on both sides. Doesn’t seem like they could possibly have good attendance at football games with that set-up.

Not every student cares about football games, OF COURSE, but many top students are still hoping for a bit of the classic American college social scene. I’m sure there are CMU students who are perfectly happy there - but I think students should know what they are getting into.

DD has an acquaintance who picked CMU for non-STEM, because she was exclusively valuing prestige/ranking. She is struggling in many ways, and we think she didn’t know enough about the school before she picked it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell your CMU tales to Central Michigan, whihc also calls themselves CMU:
https://www.cmich.edu/offices-departments/university-communications/brand-guidelines/signature-marks/official-cmu-seal

WHO CARES. For all the talk on this board, CMU is known, to most it appears, to be Carnegie Mellon.

[Anonymous]

OP’s kid is not getting into CMU anyway.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from CMU 20 years. For the core classes like math, physics and programming people worked independently. But the engineering majors all did our problem sets in groups. We had plenty of socialization and fun while also doing our engineering work. There is so much opportunity to put the work into action with research projects and also great traditions like buggy and booth. all very time consuming and I have life long amazing friends from my time there but can’t speak to how things are now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

And he apparently dropped out after two months to film Dead Poet’s, kind of lame that they would try to claim any credit for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

😂 Talent? I mean, maybe. But truly they’re nepo babies whose parents bring enormous star power to attract STRIVERS like OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

😂 Talent? I mean, maybe. But truly they’re nepo babies whose parents bring enormous star power to attract STRIVERS like OP.

Did PP mean Ben Stiller's kid? Ben Stiller's kid went to Julliard.

I don't think either school is "unknown" in the theatre/acting world. The CMU drama acceptance rates are sometimes as low as 0.5% and as high as 2%.

It's a bit silly to claim that someone that wants to attend an acting program at Julliard or CMU is a striver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

😂 Talent? I mean, maybe. But truly they’re nepo babies whose parents bring enormous star power to attract STRIVERS like OP.

Did PP mean Ben Stiller's kid? Ben Stiller's kid went to Julliard.

I don't think either school is "unknown" in the theatre/acting world. The CMU drama acceptance rates are sometimes as low as 0.5% and as high as 2%.

It's a bit silly to claim that someone that wants to attend an acting program at Julliard or CMU is a striver.

Ben Stiller IS Jerry Stiller’s kid. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

😂 Talent? I mean, maybe. But truly they’re nepo babies whose parents bring enormous star power to attract STRIVERS like OP.

Did PP mean Ben Stiller's kid? Ben Stiller's kid went to Julliard.

I don't think either school is "unknown" in the theatre/acting world. The CMU drama acceptance rates are sometimes as low as 0.5% and as high as 2%.

It's a bit silly to claim that someone that wants to attend an acting program at Julliard or CMU is a striver.

Ben Stiller IS Jerry Stiller’s kid. 🙄

He didn’t attend CMU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

😂 Talent? I mean, maybe. But truly they’re nepo babies whose parents bring enormous star power to attract STRIVERS like OP.

Did PP mean Ben Stiller's kid? Ben Stiller's kid went to Julliard.

I don't think either school is "unknown" in the theatre/acting world. The CMU drama acceptance rates are sometimes as low as 0.5% and as high as 2%.

It's a bit silly to claim that someone that wants to attend an acting program at Julliard or CMU is a striver.

Ben Stiller IS Jerry Stiller’s kid. 🙄

He didn’t attend CMU

Neither will OP’s kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to high school with Ethan Hawke, he already had made more than one relatively successful movie before going to CMU.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act."

Are you trying to contradict me? Ethan started appearing in local professional theater in middle school and made another short film that was released in 1988, when he was a senior in high school. Short break or not, he had made a well reviewed movie with River Phoenix while still on high school. Dead Poet’s Society, which launched his career, was released less than year after he graduated from high school. CMU had nothing to do with his success, he was already a young star when he arrived there..

+1

He was also heavily recruited by CMU.

As was Jerry Stiller’s kid and Tom Cruise’s kid

Great...one would think that much like athletics that a theatre school would also look to recruit talent.

It's kind of missing the forest for the trees when the list of successful and known CMU alumni is fairly extensive.

Check out the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Mellon_School_of_Drama

Not to mention other Tony award winning actors, writers / producers, etc.

Though it is safe to say as is with any Arts program, there are far more folks that don't go anywhere due to the nature of the industry. Again, no different for Julliard.

😂 Talent? I mean, maybe. But truly they’re nepo babies whose parents bring enormous star power to attract STRIVERS like OP.

Did PP mean Ben Stiller's kid? Ben Stiller's kid went to Julliard.

I don't think either school is "unknown" in the theatre/acting world. The CMU drama acceptance rates are sometimes as low as 0.5% and as high as 2%.

It's a bit silly to claim that someone that wants to attend an acting program at Julliard or CMU is a striver.

Ben Stiller IS Jerry Stiller’s kid. 🙄

He didn’t attend CMU

Neither will OP’s kid.

Luckily for them.