Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was at CMU. In his firts year, his first roommate (sophomore in Engineering) failed out after the end of the first semester. He got a new roommate (Freshman engineering) who failed out at the end of the second semester.

This was a few years ago. Both transferred to other universities, did perfectly OK, and seem to have good careers now. CMU is a pressure cooker school, and it's pretty normal for a bunch of people to drop out before freshman year is over. If your DS who attended CMU already is advising the younger DS to do this, take his advice.

OP here. I am going to let him take time to decide and not pressure him into doing anything. If he he wants to go back and try again, I am ok with that. If he wants to take a break from school, that's fine too. He will be going to LA to hang out with his older brother next week. Whatever he decides, I will support him.

Lol he’s gonna go out to la, see the quality of women there are never want to step foot in Pittsburgh again 🤣

Pittsburgh girls are hot! I married one.

Anonymous wrote:Agreeing with the posters who advise kid transfers (to another great school that is a better fit). I went to a Pittsburgh college and recall a high school friend who went to CMU for theater being so disheartened and describing the schools approach as “tearing you down to remove everything so they can build you up as they are fit”. That was in theater.

Theater is their other exceptional program.

I think it’s best to let him do what he wants. He’s obviously very driven and smart. Let him transfer and he will prob end up much happier and thank you for letting him follow his gut.

Was doing CS at CMU and decided it wasn't for me. Ended up transferring out and switched into a completely different field and much happier as a result.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was at CMU. In his firts year, his first roommate (sophomore in Engineering) failed out after the end of the first semester. He got a new roommate (Freshman engineering) who failed out at the end of the second semester.

This was a few years ago. Both transferred to other universities, did perfectly OK, and seem to have good careers now. CMU is a pressure cooker school, and it's pretty normal for a bunch of people to drop out before freshman year is over. If your DS who attended CMU already is advising the younger DS to do this, take his advice.

OP here. I am going to let him take time to decide and not pressure him into doing anything. If he he wants to go back and try again, I am ok with that. If he wants to take a break from school, that's fine too. He will be going to LA to hang out with his older brother next week. Whatever he decides, I will support him.

Lol he’s gonna go out to la, see the quality of women there are never want to step foot in Pittsburgh again 🤣

He’s pretty much checked out of CMU at this point

I transferred to UCLA from CMU and women in LA are so much better looking than in Pittsburgh. Women in Pittsburgh, especially CMU are below average in physical appearance

Anonymous wrote:Central Michigan University?

Have you figured out that CMU = Carnegie Mellon University?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was at CMU. In his firts year, his first roommate (sophomore in Engineering) failed out after the end of the first semester. He got a new roommate (Freshman engineering) who failed out at the end of the second semester.

This was a few years ago. Both transferred to other universities, did perfectly OK, and seem to have good careers now. CMU is a pressure cooker school, and it's pretty normal for a bunch of people to drop out before freshman year is over. If your DS who attended CMU already is advising the younger DS to do this, take his advice.

OP here. I am going to let him take time to decide and not pressure him into doing anything. If he he wants to go back and try again, I am ok with that. If he wants to take a break from school, that's fine too. He will be going to LA to hang out with his older brother next week. Whatever he decides, I will support him.

Lol he’s gonna go out to la, see the quality of women there are never want to step foot in Pittsburgh again 🤣

He’s pretty much checked out of CMU at this point

Anonymous wrote:DS was at CMU. In his firts year, his first roommate (sophomore in Engineering) failed out after the end of the first semester. He got a new roommate (Freshman engineering) who failed out at the end of the second semester.

This was a few years ago. Both transferred to other universities, did perfectly OK, and seem to have good careers now. CMU is a pressure cooker school, and it's pretty normal for a bunch of people to drop out before freshman year is over. If your DS who attended CMU already is advising the younger DS to do this, take his advice.

OP here. I am going to let him take time to decide and not pressure him into doing anything. If he he wants to go back and try again, I am ok with that. If he wants to take a break from school, that's fine too. He will be going to LA to hang out with his older brother next week. Whatever he decides, I will support him.

DS was at CMU. In his firts year, his first roommate (sophomore in Engineering) failed out after the end of the first semester. He got a new roommate (Freshman engineering) who failed out at the end of the second semester.

This was a few years ago. Both transferred to other universities, did perfectly OK, and seem to have good careers now. CMU is a pressure cooker school, and it's pretty normal for a bunch of people to drop out before freshman year is over. If your DS who attended CMU already is advising the younger DS to do this, take his advice.

Anonymous wrote:Let your DS decide.

+1. What is his plan? Where is he transferring to? What is he studying?

Anonymous wrote:Agreeing with the posters who advise kid transfers (to another great school that is a better fit). I went to a Pittsburgh college and recall a high school friend who went to CMU for theater being so disheartened and describing the schools approach as “tearing you down to remove everything so they can build you up as they are fit”. That was in theater.

This isn't on topic for the CS side of CMU, but what you describe is why my theater major kid did not even apply to CMU. Great reputation, turns out incredible alums in the theater world, but also can chew you up and spit you out, when theater schools simply do not have to be that way. DC checked and the rep was super competitive among students, and for my collaborative kid it would have been at terrible experience. Wonder now how competitive, versus collaborative, the CS side is, too. My spouse is a high level IT manager for large clients, and says that competitive programs and people are a problem, not a help, in the working world of IT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CM is a great program however not every kid is smart enough/ fact.

OP no reason to struggle that hard. Have them come home go to community college then transfer. This way they have a better foundation.

Mine went to CM to this program I understand. Mine did not find it hard. I don't say that lightly. Mine had a great foundation from their local public school. Yes public can prepare you for this.

OP, please ignore the bragging, obnoxious parents like this. Your son does not need community college, he just needs to transfer to another college. HE.IS.SMART.ENOUGH.

This^^^ 1000%! if you got into CMU CS you are smart enough to do CS anywhere. But perhaps not being in the pressure cooker that is CMU would be better for him. Almost any college outside of the T20-25 will be a step down in competitiveness and a welcomed reprieve for him (most likelY)

Anonymous wrote:CS is a tricky major. Some people found it's the easiest major, but some people just can't do it no matter how hard they tried. I know a few very smart kids failed Data Structure classes back in college. They all graduated with good grades in other engineering classes, but they just couldn't do CS. Let your kid transfer out / change major.

I was trying to think of a way to say this. I have a family member at a very similar school who started out in CS and is changing majors after the first semester & we were just discussing this very thing. Computer science is very difficult for many smart people, and it’s not something that you can compensate for with more effort. You either “get it” or you don’t, to some degree. Also, at a school like CMU, there are going to be lots of kids who “get it” who are already very advanced, whether they were self taught or had different educational background.

I wonder if changing majors in the spring would be helpful as a stop gap, since it’s likely too late to transfer for spring? If he takes some easier Gen Ed courses, he may get his gpa up and make transferring easier.

Anonymous wrote:As a point of curiosity, but also as guidance for our son, was your son admitted test optional or through a hook? What were his test scores? Did you think he was ready for CMU, especially since your older son had experience there?

Not OP, but CMU CS is very different than even Engineering. Both are challenging but CS is taken to an even crazier level. If OP oldest was not CS, they might not fully understand CMU CS

Transfer out to Vandy, northwestern, ND, USC is you can.