Are students unhappy at CMU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran into a third freshman from CMU home for fall break and each one separately said it’s okay/meh/so-so. This really surprised me. One turned 3 ivies down for cmu’s CS program, one is a recruited athlete who really wanted to go there, and one had it as her first choice.

Is this typical or atypical and just a coincidence?

It’s known to be a pressure cooker and not a very happy place.

+1

It's been like that for years. Did grad school there 30+ years ago (a specialized Masters program and not your typical EE/CS MS/PHD program). The undergrads were rarely smiling (then again I wasn't smiling in Distributed Systems either) It's always been a pressure cooker and quite frankly the campus is not that "pretty/nice" like many other campuses are. Pittsburgh is much improved now, but not the campus really

[Anonymous]

We're a family of Hopkins alums and it has changed quite a bit over the past 25 years as they've expanded wholistic admissions, DEI initiatives, etc. It is not the slog it once once.

It's fascinating because as college admissions have become more difficult, schools like Northwestern, Duke, Cornell have become more of a grind (full of geeks), others like Chicago and JHU have become less so. Now they're all very similar---they've met in the middle if you will.

I don't know much about CMU or where it currently stands on the grind scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're a family of Hopkins alums and it has changed quite a bit over the past 25 years as they've expanded wholistic admissions, DEI initiatives, etc. It is not the slog it once once.

It's fascinating because as college admissions have become more difficult, schools like Northwestern, Duke, Cornell have become more of a grind (full of geeks), others like Chicago and JHU have become less so. Now they're all very similar---they've met in the middle if you will.

I don't know much about CMU or where it currently stands on the grind scale.

CMU has gotten worse if anything. During the mid-late '00s the administration went on a rampage and kicked most of the fraternities off campus.

The biggest problem is that students have very little to look forward to in the short term. The party scene is abysmal and you get maybe 100 people showing up at football games. When you combine that with busting your ass day in, day out to not even break 3.0 it's very difficult to stay motivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran into a third freshman from CMU home for fall break and each one separately said it’s okay/meh/so-so. This really surprised me. One turned 3 ivies down for cmu’s CS program, one is a recruited athlete who really wanted to go there, and one had it as her first choice.

Is this typical or atypical and just a coincidence?

It’s known to be a pressure cooker and not a very happy place.

+1

It's been like that for years. Did grad school there 30+ years ago (a specialized Masters program and not your typical EE/CS MS/PHD program). The undergrads were rarely smiling (then again I wasn't smiling in Distributed Systems either) It's always been a pressure cooker and quite frankly the campus is not that "pretty/nice" like many other campuses are. Pittsburgh is much improved now, but not the campus really

+2. Literally was told that on tour there and didn't even apply after everyone basically spent my entire visit going on and on about how people disliked it. I mean...when the students running the tour are making gallows humor jokes about the place instead of doing the typical bubbly "I love my school!" thing, you know it's a place for just a certain type of student. And that student wasn't me.

But my co-workers who are CMU alumni loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD suffered through 4 years. She did not enjoy college and was happy to graduate. With that said, she got a job and is excelling. Most of her friends felt similarly. It’s just a really hard school and the location isn’t great. She will not make the same mistake for grad school.

I thought people live Pittsburgh? Is it CMU’s particular neighborhood that is bad?

Pittsburgh is a nice city but very gray and depressing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD suffered through 4 years. She did not enjoy college and was happy to graduate. With that said, she got a job and is excelling. Most of her friends felt similarly. It’s just a really hard school and the location isn’t great. She will not make the same mistake for grad school.

I thought people live Pittsburgh? Is it CMU’s particular neighborhood that is bad?

Pittsburgh is a nice city but very gray and depressing

It's beautiful during the summer...sadly, that's when college students aren't there.

[Anonymous]

It’s not called Shittsburgh for nothing…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not called Shittsburgh for nothing…

Nobody calls it that.

[Anonymous]

just dont get why parents send their kids to places like Cornell, CMU.

all downside.. weather, hard academics, no life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just dont get why parents send their kids to places like Cornell, CMU.

all downside.. weather, hard academics, no life

People get attached to the brand name, and don't consider that 4 years is a big chunk of your life (and at schools that difficult, maybe 5-6 years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:just dont get why parents send their kids to places like Cornell, CMU.

all downside.. weather, hard academics, no life

People get attached to the brand name, and don't consider that 4 years is a big chunk of your life (and at schools that difficult, maybe 5-6 years).

I am from Europe and I somehow ended up at CMU as an undergrad without really knowing anything about. I loved it. I had the greatest time. The education was top notch, so many interesting classes and amazing professors. I thought all American schools were like this because they this is what college is supposed to be like. It's certainly like that, except much less fun, where I came from.

Later I realized Americans expect some kind of intense social experience from college. Fine. But, this being a very large and diverse country, I am sure there are others like me who have no problem with "bad weather, no life" etc so they are choosing CMU because of it and not (only) because of the brand name. My oldest is like that, for sure, and I would definitively send her there, but it's quite pricey. But reading here how terrible CMU is because it is focused on academics, it's starting to look like a good deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just dont get why parents send their kids to places like Cornell, CMU.

all downside.. weather, hard academics, no life

because a lot of people are brand whores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:just dont get why parents send their kids to places like Cornell, CMU.

all downside.. weather, hard academics, no life

People get attached to the brand name, and don't consider that 4 years is a big chunk of your life (and at schools that difficult, maybe 5-6 years).

I am from Europe and I somehow ended up at CMU as an undergrad without really knowing anything about. I loved it. I had the greatest time. The education was top notch, so many interesting classes and amazing professors. I thought all American schools were like this because they this is what college is supposed to be like. It's certainly like that, except much less fun, where I came from.

Later I realized Americans expect some kind of intense social experience from college. Fine. But, this being a very large and diverse country, I am sure there are others like me who have no problem with "bad weather, no life" etc so they are choosing CMU because of it and not (only) because of the brand name. My oldest is like that, for sure, and I would definitively send her there, but it's quite pricey. But reading here how terrible CMU is because it is focused on academics, it's starting to look like a good deal.

+100
1 relative and 1 coworker graduated in the last 8 yrs (EE, CS)and they loved it but would be the first to say they worked their tails off. It was hard, absolutely, but they each thrived there and met friends/spouse. One went on to grad school at cornell and thought it was great too! Part of this depends on the individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not called Shittsburgh for nothing…

Nobody calls it that.

A vapid "semi-famous actress" famously once did and subsequently issued a performative apology. Her film (which was a mutilation of wonderful novel) rightfully flopped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:just dont get why parents send their kids to places like Cornell, CMU.

all downside.. weather, hard academics, no life

People get attached to the brand name, and don't consider that 4 years is a big chunk of your life (and at schools that difficult, maybe 5-6 years).

I am from Europe and I somehow ended up at CMU as an undergrad without really knowing anything about. I loved it. I had the greatest time. The education was top notch, so many interesting classes and amazing professors. I thought all American schools were like this because they this is what college is supposed to be like. It's certainly like that, except much less fun, where I came from.

Later I realized Americans expect some kind of intense social experience from college. Fine. But, this being a very large and diverse country, I am sure there are others like me who have no problem with "bad weather, no life" etc so they are choosing CMU because of it and not (only) because of the brand name. My oldest is like that, for sure, and I would definitively send her there, but it's quite pricey. But reading here how terrible CMU is because it is focused on academics, it's starting to look like a good deal.

People don't take issue with CMU because it's focused on academics - there are a boatload of schools that also fit that description without being soul-crushingly difficult and nearly devoid of fun.