Tell me about Carnegie Mellon (for non-STEM majors)

[Anonymous]

Tell me about Carnegie Mellon in general, and if possible, for non-STEM majors in particular.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

There is a nice community of design and performing arts majors, but they are in the minority on that campus for sure. Pittsburgh is a great city and it is a nice area. Cute campus, that isn't overwhelming like Penn State or something. The thing is, there aren't many non STEM majors. It can be a rough place for some kids. THere are a lot of very driven international students there. It can be depressing b/c of the pressure. THere are a lot there that find out shortly they aren't the smartest kid in the world and that sudden sense of failure is tough to swallow. It isn't a super happy campus that is very social, but certain kids just fit in there. These are kids that wouldn't fit in in other places or schools. It is hard to describe. If you have specific questions I can try to answer.

[Anonymous]

it is very underrated for finance/business IMO.

It isn't Wharton, but Tepper has a really great UG program that's small and high quality.

CMU gets amazing recruiting as well. Bulge bracket banks, trading companies, etc. They have a really elite quant. finance program that you can apply to in your soph or junior year that's very rigorous (though its mathy so not sure if that's what your kid would be into).

Regular business is still strong and because of the huge draw from the cs/tech programs, all the SV companies come and will pick up business kids for their finance/marketing arms.

CMU is also known for a very strong acting/drama school that quite well known. a number of actors went there...ethan hawke, ted damson, Zach quinto, aaron staton, George romero, matt bomer.

Downside? Stingy in aid compared to ivies. I guess it stems from very low endowment compared to peer schools.

Not a happy campus- QoL is low. And it is an ugly campus. Very High stress, hard grading.

the acceptance rate (minus school of CS) is kind of high compared to the institution because of the factors I just mentioned above. It's not a sexy school with great QoL reputation. Lots of indian/Chinese foreign students.

[Anonymous]

Blair Underwood attended CMU for drama. My DS is at Pitt (adjacent to CMU in the city's Oakland section of town) and he loves Oakland and Pittsburgh.

[Anonymous]

CMU has amazing theater, musical theater, and technical theater programs, some of the very best in the nation. I believe their music programs are also fantastic.