School Review: Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon is recognized as an amazing school. It's one of the best in the country, and it's easy to see that when on campus. The academia is tangible, but so is the serious manner in which students conduct themselves.

Pros: 

Pittsburgh seems like a really cool city. It's big, has a mix of old and new, has a rich history, and is very hilly. I like most big cities, and Pittsburgh (what I could see from the car and from the Carnegie Mellon campus) seemed like a pretty cool place.

Carnegie Mellon has a lot of educational opportunities and has a reputation for being a great school.

The campus is on a hill overlooking most of Pittsburgh. It's in a beautiful residential district of the city. Its location allows Carnegie Mellon to have its own identity but also have access to all the opportunities in Pittsburgh.

Cons:

I could tell that Carnegie Mellon was a nerd school from the moment I stepped foot on campus. I have nothing against nerds and even claim to be one sometimes. But you can tell that this is the school that Asian and Indian parents send their kids to be mathematicians and engineers. In fact, all of the students I saw on campus (there was a surprising amount for a Sunday in the middle of summer) were Asian or Indian. There wasn't much diversity besides those two ethnic groups, and I felt completely out of place as a white kid who wants to major in something unrelated to math or science. It's clear that these kids place their education above all else and I don't think they know much about having fun.

The campus, though beautiful at first glance, appears to be slowly deteriorating as one gets closer to the buildings. It even seemed a little dirty when I looked into some windows.

Pictures:

The famous fence in the center of campus. Students paint over it all the time! The tree next to it has a sign on it that reminds students not to paint on the tree.

The library. Impressive! 

Yay!

Pretty garden.

Maze/orange path/bushes/HUGE BEES!

Tennis!

Cobblestone streets in the neighborhood Carnegie Mellon is located.

Overall:

If you want to be an engineer or want to major in some sort of science, look into Carnegie Mellon. You'll get an amazing education, but I don't think you'll have much fun. Since I don't want to major in math or science and do want to have fun in college, I think I'll pass on Carnegie Mellon.