Can anyone speak on the bus commute from downtown to CMU? Google Maps is saying 25-30 minutes, which seems almost too good to be true. Does it get worse during winter and rush hour? I can sit on a bus for 30 minutes easy. Incoming grad student, most classes will be in school of comp sci off Forbes Ave, if it matters.

Title.

I was thinking of not studying as much for one of the APs because of finals & projects and will probably get a pretty bad score. I was wondering if it was required to still report that score.

Also, can I get rescinded over getting like a 1 or 2 on an AP Exam?

Incoming freshman taking 5 classes:

AP Chem: B+
College-Level Writing Class: B- (might be a C+ by the end of semester, hopefully B-)
Online Spanish: A
Online Gym: A
Dual-Enrollment Statistics: A

What are my realistic chances of getting rescinded? Pls be honest. Im panicking and so are my parents.

Also, A is the highest grade we can get. Our school don’t do A+. Same with the dual enrollment class.

My son is incoming ECE freshman at CMU with no prior CS experience. We were looking into have him do CS1 “introductions to programming with Python” at CMU CS academy website. However, we are not able to sign him up as it requires you to be a teacher to sign up. Any information would be appreciated.

Please man I need a way if its not on XFinity.

Ranking dorms right now, and I can't figure out where to rank Mudge. I'm a Pittsburgh native, so I thought just an open window and a fan would be fine, but I'm worried the koi pond and cute aesthetic are making me overlook how important AC will be in the fall.

What do we think of this order? (all semi-suite doubles)

1. Morewood Gardens

2. Mudge

3. Henderson

4. McGill

5. Boss

6. Welch

7. Clyde House

8. Maggie Mo

9. Scobell

10. Rez on Fifth

I've heard Stever is amazing, but I'm kinda afraid of communal bathrooms.

I'm a high schooler interning under a professor at CMU and I'll be on campus for a few weeks. An alum from my HS that's currently at CMU gave me some solid advice, but I just wanted to ask a few questions.

- Are there any other high schoolers on campus during summer? I know about the pre-college programs but maybe other high schoolers interning under professors. If anyone has previously done an internship under a professor I'm also curious to know your experience and what to expect

- What are the best food spots, cause I heard from other CMU people that the food options are decent. Also I'm not trying to drain my bank account with expensive ass food everyday so maybe some cheap spots as well idk 😭

- Anything niche about CMU i should know about that most people don't know about before going

Thanks yall!

Over 5,000 students gathered in the football field this past Sunday for one of the most important days of our lives. Over 5,000 students listened to a CEO make subjective arguments that all just so happened to benefit his company. To him spend 15 minutes trying to convince us to use his product and 5 talking about our graduation. To him imply that all of our lived experiences searching for jobs this past year must have just been a statistical anomaly, since "demand for software engineers and radiologists continues to grow." We all listened to this, to him saying objectively false things for personal gain, and over 5,000 students applauded. If I remember right, we applauded louder and longer than for any of the other speakers.

Because if you want any chance at that juicy 6 figure salary, you gotta put your head down. Why teach us to think critically and then train us to not?

The message of the other speakers wasn't that great either, in my opinion. They talked about changing the world, but never in what way to change it. There are enough CMU students who would be happy to change the world for the worse if it meant they were the ones at the helm, and none of these speakers said anything against that ideology. Hell, it's probably a small part of how they got up there. In my opinion, the student speakers at both the main and SCS commencements were the best ones.

I left that commencement feeling more ashamed for being a part of this school than I have been since I decided to come here. And then I pushed that thought down and went to go take pictures with my friends and family. That's so CMU.

I recently came across a clip of Harrison Ford's commencement speech at ASU and it made me reflect on how our own commencement speech reflects the state of our school and its values.

When I see such a passionate, sincere speech coming from a place of both genuine hope and urgency for the future of our country and planet, compared to the dull, played out cash grab that was Jensen Huang's speech, I feel like I'm being talked down to, not only by him but by Farnam and CMU as an institution.

Is Huang really just here to sell us AI? Does the administration want us to pursue the technology he has a vested interest in peddling with no real end in sight as to what we want to achieve?

As a STEM student, I always envisioned myself and my peers as aspiring to the Carl Sagans, the Alan Turings of the world. Maybe it's just naiveté, but seeing how other schools champion a vision motivated by humanitarianism and progress while our school seems to be jumping onto the AI hype train for companies that steal data, facilitate the state surveillance apparatus both at home and overseas, and drone strike civilians leaves an incredibly poor taste in my mouth.

I'm no AI doomer, but I do think technology should facilitate the betterment of humanity, and when working at a place like Palantir or NVIDIA becomes the stated goal of students and administration, something echoed in Huang's speech, it undermines that ultimate goal. When I saw that clip of Ford, I couldn't help but be saddened by what the culture at our school has become. In that moment, I thought to myself, maybe this place isn't for me.

Hi!

I’m an incoming freshman at CMU. Preferably, I would like to have a semi-private bathroom for more convenience and privacy. However, I haven’t been able to find much info about Maggie Mo. Can anyone who lives there share their experience? Also, any photos of the room would be helpful! I couldn’t find any photos online.

Thank you!

I recently picked up a copy of CS:APP and would like to do the labs provided by CMU on this course. I've heard they used to be publicly available at csapp.cs.cmu.edu/3e/labs.html but the csapp subdomain is now dead. Is there any way a non-cmu student can still access and do these?

Hey!

I came to CMU a week ago to start my masters degree. I'm loving the weather here in Pittsburgh and would love to engage in outdoor sports and activities. I'm down to play sports like tennis, squash, padel, soccer or cricket. I'm also down to go on hikes, runs and cycling. Does anyone know any clubs/organizations that are active during the summer that I can join?

As a recent CMU Alum, I've been applying to CMU RA positions and often 'in consideration,' but I often don't hear back. I don't know if it's automated, and most times they don't list which labs or professor the research is under, so I can't follow up for an update... any advice?

edit: mainly Research Associate but some RA

hello! i got into cmu for computer science (will likely be majoring in it as well!)

i've applied to and been accepted for a gap year as I got into the hack club gap year fellowship! I'd be traveling around the world and hosting in-person and virtual events to inspire teens to learn to build & code. i'm super excited!!

but i've heard a lot about the rigor of cmu computer science... i'm excited but also a bit scared. anyone here have tips for stuff to study and prepare for during my gap year so i can go in strong?

thanks for any & all advice!

I am fortunate to have admits from both CMU MSML and Cambridge MPhil ACS, but deciding between them has honestly become one of the hardest decisions of my life.

A bit about me: I am currently 23, working in AI/Computer Vision research, and my long term goal is to return to India after my studies/work experience and join a frontier AI lab, MAANG, or a strong startup in a research scientist role. Eventually, I also want to build my own startup.

Both universities are amazing, so I do not think prestige/tag is the deciding factor here. The problem is that both optimize for very different paths.

CMU MSML

Pros

1. Probably the best MS program in AI/ML
2. Direct access to the US AI ecosystem and Silicon Valley
3. Strongest job opportunities and ROI
4. Amazing peer group and industry connections
5. Easier access to frontier labs/startups in the US

Cons

1. Very rigorous coursework which could affect GPA for PhD applications
2. Exams for almost every course
3. Since there is no thesis requirement, I would have to independently find a professor and manage research alongside heavy coursework
4. I am worried that grades/coursework may become the priority instead of research
5. No direct MS to PhD conversion, so I would likely need to apply separately for PhD programs next cycle
6. If I eventually do a PhD in the US, the total timeline could become around 6 to 7 years
7. Total cost is around 115k USD, which means graduating with a loan of roughly 50 to 60 lakhs INR

Cambridge MPhil ACS

Pros

1. Research thesis focused program with a supervisor allocated early
2. Since there are no major exams, I can focus much more on research
3. MPhil to PhD conversion seems relatively smooth
4. Potentially able to finish PhD in around 4 years total and enter the market earlier
5. Total cost is around 72k USD, and with scholarship possibilities I may even graduate debt free or with very low debt

Cons

1. The MPhil is only 9 months long, which feels risky if I do not secure a PhD afterward
2. The UK AI job market does not seem very strong currently
3. Due to immigration/H1B realities, I feel that access to the US market may become much harder later
4. Some people told me that US PhD training is generally stronger than UK PhD training in AI/ML because of the research culture and ecosystem

One important thing is that I do not want to pursue academia long term or become a professor. My goal is more towards becoming a research scientist in frontier AI labs/MAANG/startups and eventually building my own startup in the future.

I genuinely enjoy research, especially in areas like VLMs and theoretical ML, but I also want to enter the industry early enough to experience the fast moving AI ecosystem and work on real world impactful systems.

That is one of the main reasons why the timeline difference between the US and UK PhD paths matters so much to me.

One thing I really want in life is to experience Silicon Valley and work in the US AI ecosystem at least once. I am not sure whether going through Cambridge would make that significantly harder later(although O1 is one path but not sure).

At the same time, cost is a huge factor. CMU is probably the stronger option for industry/networking, but graduating with that level of debt is scary, especially when AI is evolving so fast and I am unsure whether I want to commit to a 6 to 7 year PhD journey.

With Cambridge, I feel much more comfortable with the timeline and finances, especially if the MPhil converts into a PhD smoothly. But I worry about losing direct access to the US ecosystem. Also in UK we can't do internships with PhD.

I have already identified professors/research groups aligned with my interests at both universities, so research fit exists in both cases.

I would genuinely appreciate perspectives as those will be very helpful. If your long term goal was frontier AI industry research/startups rather than academia, which path would you personally choose.

hey guys! i'm a current hs senior committed to engineering. i took the physics c exam and though i was hoping to get credit for 33-141 and 33-142 (physics 1 and 2 for engineering students), the exam cooked me 😭

how hard would you say 33-141 and 33-142 are? i was just wondering bc i had heard that some classes were notorious for being a lot harder than the classes in hs (like calc 2).

thank you!

All Bs? A couple Cs? A D?

Im just curious

Hi everyone! I am incoming grad student to CMU and wanted advice on whether the Point Breeze area around Frick Park Market is a good area to live in for students WITHOUT a car?

I notice the night shuttles do not go too close to there, and nor are there any bikeshare options around. However, the 67 and 69 bus stops are close by, but I am unsure on how reliable these are, especially post 11pm.

Would really appreciate any advice from current students!

There was a moment when Jensen Huang said, "Anyone can code." In most situations, that’s probably fine. But during the CMU ceremony, where graduates are about to enter the job market, it feels like we might be underselling the students. Maybe I misunderstood his message, but there’s probably a better way to phrase it.

Please read this…you could change someone’s life.

Congrats if you got accepted to cmj dietrich college. Unfortunately I got waitlisted. I’ve been waiting for the decision to come out for around a month. Each day was so painful for me and it got worse during the first week of may.

I just talked to the admissions office and they told me that they dont have empty space for dietrich.

Whoever thats reading this would wonder “you should go to the school you committed too” or “move on.” Unfortunately, those words are not for me. Applied to 30 colleges (common app + scoir) and got waitlisted from two schools (cwru and cmu). Cwru emailed me few days ago that their seats are full and that there is no hope in waiting.

So basically what i’m trying to say is “please consider attending a different school if you got off from their waitlist”. I know for a fact that people applied to cmu also got waitlisted from different prestige schools. If you got off from their waitlist…please take time to consider attending to that school.

I would really love to attend cmu in the fall.
Since there is nothing I can do right now..i’m basically begging yall. Please