Located in Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon is a medium size institution home to about 7300 undergraduate students. In 2022, CMU accepted about 11 % of the applicant pool. 

The best way to learn about Carnegie Mellon is to tell the TALES of its founders:

Born in 1835 in Scotland, Andrew Carnegie immigrated to the US in 1848. According to Wikipedia - by the 1860s Carnegie had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He built Carnegie Steel Company which he later sold to JP Morgan in 1901 for 480 million dollars. With this sale, Andrew Carnegie surpassed Rockefeller as the richest man in America. He spent the remainder of his life as a philanthropist – and built  Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and of course, Carnegie Mellon University, first formed as Carnegie Institute of Technology. 

Richard B. Mellon assumed the presidency of Mellon bank, after his brother, Andrew Mellon was appointed Treasury Secretary. Richard’s prior experience included President of Pittsburgh Reduction Company and he was invested in the city’s Coal Company. Richard and his brother Andrew made several large donations to their alma mater, University of Pittsburgh, including a large sum to create the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, founded in 1913.

In 1967 the Carnegie Institute of Technology and Mellon Institute of Industrial Research merged to form Carnegie Mellon University.  

Given the backgrounds of the two men, it is no wonder that the College of Engineering is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the US and US News and World Report has the Tepper School of Business ranked as #6 this year. If you are looking for top engineering and/or business programs, CMU offers a quality education and a rich city in which to take what you learn in the classroom and apply it in a work experience. 

There are TWO more cool things about CMU:

First, the campus is covered in red circles that line the sidewalk at CMU. Like golden stars on Hollywood Blvd, Carnegie Mellon proudly boasts :

114 Emmy Award Winners, 43 Tony Award laureates, 9 Academy Award Winners

Please NOTE: You MUST audition for the School of Drama and School of Music – your admission to the college 80% audition and 20% academic. 

Second, they have an annual spring carnival. Students build incredibly colorful, innovative, and imaginative booths and super fun competitions that only the creative minds CMU students could create.  The best part of this tradition is that school shuts down for three full days so everyone can enjoy the fun.  This tells me that the college understands that college is not just about academics, but rather it is also about fun and memory making. When a college recognizes that students are rejuvenated by innovation, creation, imagination, and relaxation – they are better equipped to push through the home stretch of the school year.

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