While never a student at CMU, I have many friends who were and friends that are professors at the school. However, I have been affiliated with the university in some way or another throughout my life. Whether for film festivals, librabry visits, collabs with the art school I attended, seeing President Obama speak, or attending ska shows (that's right, back in the day it was the place to be for a good show), I have spent a lot of time on campus. It was a nice walk from my place in Bloomfield as well. The campus is beautifully landscaped with gorgeous buildings. The architecture is just wonderful. Staff and faculty that I have come in contact with over the years are stellar human beings. read more

Carnegie Mellon University - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A world class institution with strong programs in Robotics, Engineering, and the Performing Arts. I regularly attend their musical performances which feature great programming and artistic interpretation. It's a beautiful campus with lots of traditions. read more

I enjoyed walking around campus and catching the art vibe - lots of cool things to see on foot. read more

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As you probably already know, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is one of the top-ranked universities in the United States and world and has top-ranked programs such as computer science, engineering, statistics, business, and psychology. I have never been a student, faculty member, or staff member here, but my husband did teach short courses in the computer-science department years ago, and I recently used CMU's Hunt Library to search for grant opportunities. As an outsider, I approached the information desk to ask for a free, temporary username and password to use their grant database GrantForward. The employee asked another employee about it a few times, looked at my ID, gave me the username and password, and kindly walked me to another floor. The library looked old and like it needed to be remodeled, and a small section of it was being remodeled. Noisy construction was occurring. I felt surprised that not many computers were there. One computer would not turn on, another computer needed an administrator to fix it, and finally the third computer allowed me to log in. The GrantForward database gave me very useful information about grants. The computer, though, logged me off about every two hours without giving any notice, so I lost my place the first time and had to sign back in. In the end, I felt thankful that CMU allowed me to use their library. read more

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I was in the area to visit the nearby museums and so wandered around the campus to view the dignified architectural and historical landmarks. Only students and staff are permitted to enter the buildings. There is no public university Wi-Fi, but can get ahold of the library's. The places I stopped by included: - Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain - Cathedral of Learning - Carnegie Music Hall - Heinz Memorial Chapel - St. Paul's Cathedral By chance I also fortunately passed by the Locks of Love on Schenley Bridge while walking to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. It is a neat sight to behold with all the different kinds of locks and messages. A nice, small campus to tour that was not crowded with students for a Friday afternoon, although I did have a peculiar encounter with one that was hitting on me and would not take the hint that I was not interested. read more

Carnegie Mellon University - Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain and Cathedral of Learning. - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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CMU has a real reputation problem, and it needs to change. Most of the faculty in the School of Art are obscure and have bad reputations in the professional world. The school used to be a popular name brand in art, but now it is all but a ghost town. As alum, I would definitely recommend looking at other programs if you are considering a private art school. read more

I have always heard about Carnegie Mellon University and happened to be in the neighborhood. I stopped by to see the campus and it was beautiful! What a work of art! From the landscape to architecture -- just amazing! It's also surrounded by museums and nice little shops. What a fantastic place to go to school! read more

I am very sparingly giving three stars because 2 1/2 is not available. I am giving a neutral review on CMU as I don't think it is horrible, but it's not the best either. The pros are that the Spring Carnival is always interesting to go and see every year and there are always some good plays that come from the drama department. However, there are some cons, too. I live on the other side of CMU off of the Forbes Avenue side. The two big issues I have are that you can hear students making noise from partying not ever time, but enough that it can be obnoxious to hear celebratory yelling due to (surprise, surprise) various college drinking games, most likely. Also, the street I live on is not as long as, say Beeler, but students will use the street I live on so much that it can get packed with very little space for the people that usually live on my street when there is lots more space to park elsewhere. I'm glad that CMU has the money to build new buildings, which has been happening in the sense that a new dorm building was built as well as a new athletic building on the other side of campus among others, but there could be some usage of the money towards finding a way to build a second parking garage, or at least buying one that isn't being used anymore and adding it as a stop to one of the shuttle lines. read more

There was all kinds of violence on this campus. Oh wait, no, that's Carnage Mellon. The school has beautiful grounds and grand buildings, but it's far too expensive to attend. I visited (along with U Pitt) for the first time when I was looking for a Uni to attend. And many times since. Just too expensive. Like your mother. This is a beautiful University in an absolutely beautiful city. I've been on this campus more times than I can count. I prefer the nearby U Pitt campus but this one is pretty awesome as well. Many of the people that go here (or have graduated) think they are a lot better than Pitt and perhaps in some ways they are right, but in terms of the food options on campus nothing can compare to Bigelow Boulevard next to Pitt, and the amazing India On Wheels truck. In terms of the beauty of the campus it's more of a close call. You'll have to visit both places and decide for yourself. Much like I visited both of your sisters and am still in the process of deciding. read more

Carnegie Mellon University - I like Carnegie, but I love Mellons - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

As an alumni with a BS in Mathematics from a long time ago. I believe I can speak with some authority. CMU gave me a strong background and a well respected alma mater that served me well read more

Freaking loved every minute of CMU, except for when... - the weather sucked - I had to study - I had to take tests - grades were posted - I got dumped by my first girlfriend - I experienced unrequited love - I remained single the entire time after that - there was nevery anything good to eat - my life seemed to suck compared to everyone else - I couldn't find a job right after graduating Hmmmm...so it sounds like there's very little to like about CMU. Au contraire...it was in Pitts-burgh that I hit rock bottom, and ever since then life is suddenly more beautiful. On a serious note, my butt spanking at CMU was painful, but it made me a better person for it and for that, I can't give any less than 5 stars. 1000th review!!! Woooo hoooo!!! read more

I have hugeeee affinity and hold very high regards for Carnegie Mellon University! My brother went there for undergrad/grad school and my husband goes there for his graduate degree as well. I definitely attribute my brother's successes in career (and life) thus far, to this university. He's done very well, and it was no doubt, through the undergrad & grad experiences he had at CMU! It was definitely hard work, whichever major one chooses, but they did a great job teaching him great analytical/reasoning skills. Initially, I wasn't sure if my husband would like the university either because he's somewhat spoiled by the West Coast's weather. However, my husband who's there now totally loves the university and really enjoys meeting the people from different departments/areas and exploring useful resources that the university have to offer. Staff there is really caring and it just seems like you get way more personal attention that you'd elsewhere. If anyone is considering a wonderful school where you can get top notch education, be it music, arts and business or science, engineering and policy, definitely put CMU on the radar! The classes are definitely tough but the in depth knowledge and valuable experiences you gained coming out of the university are second to none! read more

Send my son to this University hoping it will help his future, spend over 300K, graduated 2020, Mechanical Engineering , back it was rank 4th in the country for Engineering, it past over a year of his graduation , he can not find a job. I would not recommend to anyone this university, it is a waste of money for most of students. read more

Not giving this place five stars simply because I don't go here, and I don't know too much about campus life. However, I do love the campus in general. My girlfriend doesn't like it too much because she goes here, but I like it because it always reminds me that I'm close to her. Also, is it me or are they deliberately removing more humans sculptures from their "walking to the sky" pole. read more

Carnegie Mellon University - Mascot is super adorable tho! - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Where to begin? How do I write a review for a university that raped me academically? As mentioned in other reviews and other college sites, this place will get you studying no matter how big of a procrastinator you were in high school/college. Yes, your colleagues will be smart, and those that appear dumb are probably smarter than you. You will pretty much be able to distinguish who is a Pitt student vs. CMU student if you are at a bar (womp womp). And yes, your social life will diminish to a certain extent. Then why would I give this place 5 stars? Why would I give this school 5 stars even though they made me take Programming with CS majors though I pursued a field in the medical area? This school really cares about its students. I realized this only after I continued my studies at other institutions and meeting peers from other schools. Plus, the hardest course in dental school was probably only a medium level course at CMU. I won't go into specifics, but this school goes above and beyond to make sure you are cared for while you attend. The school is small enough, the faculty is accessible (and even the for the larger ones), and the staff are plenty to make sure you make it through successfully. If you need assistance, they have every type available. If you are unsatisfied with something, you will see them try to fix it. As a student, athlete, and leader during school, I ran into a few hurdles here and there, and CMU helped me pass them. The food on campus is getting better, and the restaurants in Pittsburgh are not as bad as you think. The food trucks on Maggie Mo Street are freaking delicious, and my favorite is the Thai truck. There's plenty of parties around campus every weekend, and if these are lame for you, Pitt is down the street. The scene in the Strip District isn't too shabby either. There's plenty of arts. I think CMU has the first fine arts school in the US? Pittsburgh orchestra and ballet, Falling Water, Mattress Factory (the museum, not the store), Andy Warhol Museum? CMU is strong academically no doubt, and the surrounding communities make it much more attractive. I definitely wish I took more advantage of the resources and people there. I met my lifelong friends there, and for that, I'm forever grateful. read more

Reviewing a university is difficult; one must consider academic ranking, location, professors, curriculum, everything. I attended Carnegie Mellon for my undergraduate studies and graduated with a B.S. in ECE, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. This was definitely the best and worst four years of my life. In the end, all was worth it. I am now very happy in the DC area, and I can only thank CMU for allowing me to get here. I not only grew up and matured here, but I was forced to adjust my study habits and grow stronger academically. The challenges I faced in my major far surpassed any of struggles I had thought were oh so important back in high school. I met some of the best people I have ever met here at Carnegie Mellon, and I can safely say that these people will be my best friends for life. I had very mixed feelings initially about going to Pittsburgh. I am a Jersey boy at heart, and Pittsburgh was not only far, but just different. At the end of the day, I am very happy to have experienced a different location, a different culture, a completely different lifestyle. Pittsburgh taught me to face certain social challenges and to learn to be the better man (being an Asian American from a heavy Asian population in New Jersey, racism was not as prevalent as it was in Pittsburgh). I can simply say, attend Carnegie Mellon because the academic studies here are top tier. However, Yelp should not be the first place to look. In fact, I would never imagine to look to Yelp for reviews. Yelp does provide a very casual atmosphere, though, one that won't change the game, but simply allow you to have that small nod of approval. Carnegie Mellon gets five stars from me. I would give it more if I could. It changed my life. read more

A world class university with a beautiful campus. I have attended many plays and musical events here. Their theater program is one of the top in the country. So is their computer science and robotics. But what's cooler is it's the only place in the US to get a degree in bagpipes study. Otherwise, you'd have to go to Scotland. Be sure to take a walk around the campus, there are lots of unique surprises and public art. read more

Best university in the states. That's right, CMU is better than MIT. Ignore the CMU haters, those people won't/wouldn't be happy anywhere. read more

Carnegie Mellon is, hands down, one of the great success stories in American education. The place is barely 100 years old and it competes with Ivy League schools with billion dollar endowments. The best thing about CMU is the passion and diversity of the students and staff. At CMU you will find yourself surrounded by amazing actors, engineers, future business leaders (the undergrad business program is in the top 10 and is harder to get into than CS), etc. The contacts you gain from your time here are priceless. At the age of 30 my social circle from matriculating here is second to none. The professional respect which you gain by having this name on your resume is astounding (and well-earned, I've NEVER been professionally disappointed by a CMU alum). The campus is set in the city, but the security is fantastic and Pittsburgh is a relatively safe city so safety is not a concern. The usual complaints I hear about CMU are: (1) That there isn't mixing of the departments. This is ridiculous. Sure, if you only go to class and don't talk to anyone else then your exposure will be limited. But if you put yourself out there you will make friends in other programs. (2) That Pittsburgh is terrible. I think this is not true. The great things aren't put right out there and you have to dig a little, but Pittsburgh has a lot to offer. If you are looking for something in particular and can't find it, the MSG ME. read more

Dear CMU, I need to tell you something. During our four-year-long relationship, I was often upset with you. When we first got together, I was so full of hope and optimism for our future, but as time went on, things only got more and more difficult and I began to wonder if you really had my best interests at heart. You made so many sweet promises about how you wanted to give me a better future, but I suspected that you were only interested in my money, and I resented that. You were also so demanding, you know? You took up all of my time, sapped my energy and sanity, and made me cry a lot. I kept wondering if I should break things off with you (it also didn't help that Pitt was fun and available), but I really wanted for us to work out. I was so confused. Now that it's over, I have to admit that I often think of you and the good times that we shared. Even though things were so complicated between us, you did give me a lot of fond memories. I laughed a lot and learned a lot. And you helped me to grow into a better person -- you encouraged me to work hard, to think deeply, to be creative, to take action. You also introduced me to some of my closest friends. Although we've finally parted ways and have long since grown apart, you had a special part in my life, and I thank you for that. I... I miss you. Or maybe it's just the idea of you that I miss. read more

Let's just say it was the best and worst 4 years of my life. The education, at least in engineering or computer science, was pretty hardcore. Well, I guess the undergrad courses were pretty easy but when I had to take grad level classes with students whose research was on the very same area of the classes, it got a little crazy. I just needed the grad-level credits to get the hell out of there as soon as possible! Social life was seriously lacking... They did have a great drama department, but the thing about CMU is, people across departments really don't like to interact with one another. I guess they were just being realistic, and nobody had much extra time to waste. Pittsburgh is probably the worst city to be in, there was nothing going on, the food sucked, shopping sucked... (Now there is an H&M in Shadyside though, so I guess it got better)... The school did help me get cool jobs and stuff... and I met some of my best friends there... So I don't exactly regret going there, there is no point in doing that... I guess if you are considering going to Carnegie Mellon, make sure you visit the school and the city, and see if you're okay with spending 4 years of your life there. Check out some of the parties and see if you like what you see (I didn't!!)... If you get into this school you're probably accepted to some other great ones too. So visit them all and decide for yourself. read more

CMU is a wonderful school (full disclosure, I received my master's degree here). I feel extremely well served the CMU experience, the instruction, and the facilities. I made lifelong connections and would highly recommend it to anyone who feels as though they have what it takes! Pittsburgh, as a city though leaves a bit to be desired. There is no performing arts scene to speak of compared with similar sized cities, horrible food scene (including a plethora of crappy mid-western pizza), and insane drivers. Recommendation: if you go to CMU leave your car in another city (an watch yourself as a pedestrian, two of my classmates were hit by cars as pedestrians). read more

A beautiful green campus with lots of architectural charm. Beautiful buildings abound. The school of music building is very impressive and long in history. Easy to navigate the campus sits in the heart of shadyside with amenities on every corner. read more

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Carnegie Mellon is the best. The campus and the surrounding area in Pittsburgh are quite beautiful and the people here are genuine and sincere. We had three days off during the huge snow storm and the place here was breathtaking. If you are into parties, there's University of Pittsburgh right next door. Parties start on Thursdays, aka Thirsty Thursdays. There's also Temple Fest, which is a huge block party on the last day of their classes. Don't listen to the rumors on the dating scene either. The guys in my department tends to be somewhat shy and awkward, but 90% of them are the nicest, kindest, smartest, and sweetest guys you'll ever meet in your life. Just stay away from the 1/10 men who are asses. And of course if you are in to yellow fever, there are plenty of cute Asian girls here. read more

This is the weirdest school I have ever been to in my life. The people sometimes talk to themselves in garbled nonsense in the computer clusters. It is good comic relief from the heavy work loads I suppose... The prof's are GREAT though. But the people are bizarre!!! read more

Carnegie Mellon University is a world class institution for research and education. It is famous for engineering but also for programs in the sciences, arts and humanities. More later ... read more

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Let me skip the discussion of the education in CMU and list the places to visit on campus: - The Fence in the center of campus, probably the most painted structure in the world. - The Walking in the Sky sculpture, near Forbes Ave. - The trucks: authentic and affordable food trucks on Margaret Morrison St, on the east end of campus. - Randy Pausch bridge, from the central lawn to the Gates-Hillman building. It lights up at night. Try to find penguin shapes in the fence -- a reference to Gates, Microsoft, Windows, and Linux. - Gates-Hillman Center itself -- the newest (so far) building of campus and an example of post-modern architecture. - The Hunt Library in the end of the cut also lights up at night. - Wean Hall, holding a record for the size of a wholly concrete building in North America. read more

Best quant business school! They should strive towards supporting alumni with great startup business ideas even if they're not affiliated with google or Microsoft. Check out the Randy Pausch plaque outside of the robotics institute building which is the coolest classroom and faculty building ever. read more

Carnegie Mellon University - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

It's my college! Well... graduate school. [Tepper '15] Love the campus and all that this school is doing for the city of Pittsburgh; hub for Entrepreneurship and CS that is bringing jobs, companies and new start-ups to the area. Fantastic drama school and the Business school is getting there [still young]. It's nice to have an actual campus in this city, thanks to the cut. Unfortunately it's being uglified by the Walk to the Sky art piece [sooo tacky]. Love the annual carnival and carnival concert, the tech fairs, the random events such as the Zipline on Campus and the Petting Zoo. Buggy races every fall are a great tradition just terrible for parking and doing school work on Saturdays. Beware some of the Nerd dorm, there are classes to civilize and socialize them, besides that hold your nose. Faculty is fantastic. Sticker price is a little hefty but it pays off in the end. read more

Unethical! Unless you have a great deal of money and top of your class don't bother applying for this school. With high test scores and average GPA we got waitlisted with a financial package. The financial package, being solid, we proceeded to the next step only to receive a letter dated May 1st that the school was taking away half of what was promised. Just putting this out there in case it may help someone make a decision but what a dishonorable school. Happy we had moved on. read more

Really good school, smart and talented kids. However, diversity in tech is sadly lacking. How do we fix this and balance this so that those born in this country also have the opportunity to attend such a good school as well? read more

My University Alma Mater. It's one of those places you love to hate and hate to love, but in the end, you're going to be extremely grateful for the opportunity to have attended and will love CMU for what it is. Let's be honest, you're not going to CMU to party, to partake in the incredible sports scene, or even to enjoy the amazing year-round weather. You're here to get a great degree, to meet and make some lifelong friends, and to become part of the brand that is Carnegie Mellon. CMU is a research and academic institution, first and foremost. The faculty and staff are AMAZING. This goes for every college and school on campus. Every single one of my professors I had was incredibly well-versed in their field of study, and they definitely made classes challenging. Oh, that's another point to make about CMU - your class load will most likely be more intense than your counterparts at other institutions. Why? Because professors here actually care about students understanding and growing beyond the material that is presented in the classroom. What's the good in taking a test where you just spit back out what you heard in lecture? Classes here make you THINK, and yes, you'll probably cry for your momma every now and then when midterms come around, but you'll come out the other side a stronger person than before. Intellectually at least. As others have pointed out, there is a 99% chance there is someone on campus that is smarter than you, and you will probably need to allocate an inordinate amount of your waking hours (really, sleep is for the weak) to studying and bugging out about your homework set. But don't let that get you down about CMU, it's all part of the collective experience, because everyone does it. The facilities are top notch - technology is almost always refreshed as soon as possible to keep campus up to date. Heck, CMU had the first all-campus wireless internet capability out of all the universities in the States. Computer labs are everywhere, from classrooms to dorms, to the library, to the student centers. The newest CS building (the Gates Center), is brand new and has computers out the wazoo. Hey, if Bill Gates wants computers, Bill Gates gets computers and lots of CMU students learning on them. Campus itself is an interesting place to be. It's small enough so that a walk from one side to the other should only take about 10-15 minutes max. However, it's large enough so that you won't see the same people day after day, unless of course, you hang out in the UC (University Center) at the black chairs all the time. The buildings are a mix of old and new, where the older buildings (like Doherty, Porter, Baker, Heinz, and Hamerschlag) are from the Andrew Carnegie era. The older buildings definitely have a charm that I loved. Something about that long, sloped hallway. When it comes to dorms, yeah, they aren't the most amazing. If you can snag a room along the Morewood corridor or in West Wing/Resnik, then you're probably the best off. Henderson is pretty good as well. Or just go off campus if you really can't deal with it. Ok, food-wise, CMU isn't the greatest. You're not going to get any franchise meals on campus, and the available eateries aren't tremendous, but they're decent for what they are. Lunchtime rushes between classes can get crazy in the UC. There are alternative dining options scattered throughout campus, so find something you really like and make that a frequent destination. For me, it was Joe's hotdog cart outside Tepper and the actual cafe inside Tepper. Ok fine, Si Senor burgers and chicken fingers were amazing as well (gotta love the triple-nuked fingers!). Off-campus, there are bunches of bordering neighborhoods to find food at, such as Squirrel Hill or Craig St. You can even venture down to the Pitt area of Oakland for some more well-known chains and local joints. There are a bunch of traditions and campus myths at CMU, as with any school, and you'll be sure to learn them quickly enough. These are integrated into student life pretty heavily, and I wished I'd taken advantage of more of them. Definitely spend a night out to paint the Fence. Definitely be involved with Carnival in some capacity - building a Booth is the real way to go. Definitely explore campus to find "secret" levels and rooms. Sounds like a video game, right? Don't forget, CMU students are a bunch of self-professed nerds, no matter how much we may deny it. I'm not going to go over other Pittsburgh attractions or amenities, as others have done so already. CMU is an oft-overlooked institution because it isn't a traditional Ivy, and it's not MIT or Stanford. However, the education and academic reputation is absolutely there to compete with the best (a recent Forbes ranking placed ~4 degrees from CMU in the Top 10 highest-paid degrees upon graduation), and all of our colleges are consistently present in discussions regarding top academic programs in the country. This includes the arts and design programs. read more

Haha wow, looks like the CMU administration got on here and posted some rankings of their own and Orwell'd any bad ones. Everyone I've met hates this place, including alums I've met dating back to the 60s and it's easy to understand why: this is the most godawful excuse for a college in the world. For starters, there is basically no social life whatsoever. The administration killed the greek system and almost nobody cares about the school sports teams. If you're the type to sit in your room in front of a book 24/7, maybe you'll break 3.0, because 24/7 is nowhere near good enough to compete with CMU's finest. If you're a normal human, you'll be lonely and miserable and grow bitter when you see all of your friends on Facebook enjoying the best years of their lives. CMU likes to talk a good game about "diversity". It's a joke really. This school seems to be about 70% Asian, 25% Indian, 10% white and 5% black. I guess at such a nest of liberals, this counts as diverse, ignoring the fact that asians only hang out with asians, blacks with blacks, you get the point... But of course, it's worth 4 years of the collegiate equivalent of prison for the education, right? Wrong. You can bank on the school picking the least helpful or English-proficient TAs they can find, and the professors just throw a bunch of formulas at you and expect you to figure out the concepts all on your own, which they can unfortunately get away with because half this school would qualify for MENSA. You can go to USC, UVA, Berkeley, Vanderbilt or Michigan and get an equally good education while actually having a great college experience. A lot of people blame it on Pittsburgh, but really the city's actually not that bad. Pitt kids love it. Then again, half of CMU has never taken a step off campus so they're not the best source of info. Don't come to CMU; you'll regret it for the rest of your life. read more

I have been a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University for the past four years now. I have found the facilities here fantastic. This is my fist school in the US, so I can't really compare with other schools, but I've have a great experience here. read more

Sure, CMU, I suppose I could give you some stars for the cool education your faculty is giving me. A couple more stars for sending me away at the end of 2 years with a masters degree. A couple more stars for the lifelong friends you gave me too. How about the graduate/faculty only lunchtime at Schatz Dining Room? Stars for you too, I suppose. read more

The education is great. However, as a incoming student beware of a scam that the payment office has. Despite the fact that the vast majority of students are covered by their parents medical plan, they take the position that you are not and you have to prove it to them. Every year. The forms are cumbersome and if you do not fill it out right, it costs you $1200!!! I have had to fight with them multiple years. Once again, great education, but greedy. read more

I wanted to say that I really liked what Carnegie Mellon had to offer. However, nothing is free. Previously, a prepaid education at a university was considered a luxury. Now that I see that enrollment to any university requires a decent amount of research to fund, Carnegie Mellon remains prestigious in shaping top notch potential. Obviously this is a place where great minds can share and spark creativity, so my interests lies here with the university. I hope to be able to utilize their resources one day to encounter the endless opportunities in Pittsburgh for future innovations. In the mean time, my vision of being at Carnegie Mellon University will have to wait while my pursuits are being met. read more

I felt so lost during my 4 years at this school. It's very big and nobody really knows who you are. It's also expensive.

As a CMU SCS alumni, all I can say is that the on-campus gyms are the worst I have ever seen in my entire life...

A lot of the best people I know went to this college.