Experience at CMU, Heinz - Information Systems Management Program

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Reason for choosing my college

• Ranking, the information systems program at Carnegie Mellon has been ranked no. 1 for many years now, which made it a very clear choice. Apart from that, the alumni and community of CMU are very strong, and it has excellence in innovation and advancements in Artificial Intelligence.
• I also went to a lot of cohort get-togethers for all other universities and felt that most students going to other universities were mostly kids, still in their having-fun phase and that was not where I wanted to be in life if I was moving abroad. I was personally looking for something that can be a learning and challenging experience.

• Talk about how you fit into the CMU culture; they care a lot about impactful alumni so discuss how you will bring an impact in the world and contribute to the cmu community.
• Discuss in depth about the technical expertise you want to leverage while at CMU, etc.

• I chose the United States because it was the pioneer in most technological advances. Apart from that, the education system is more practical and hands-on to make individuals industry-ready as soon as they graduate. The US also seems to have the highest number of years for work visas in order to be able to repay the education cost. Out of all my options, I chose Carnegie Mellon because it was ranked very high as an overall university and research but also the program I applied to was consistently ranked number 1 across many years. I reached out to a lot of current students as well as alumni through linkedin and other mediums to understand their experience and it felt like it was the right decision for me.
• The alumni had been very well placed, as well as the overall CMU community, which is very strong compared to most colleges I had considered. The expense was the only negative that I found because it is a private university and is very expensive. But my overall experience was very up to my expectations.
• Carnegie Mellon is a very challenging school but it also provides great exposure to the latest industry trends, which really made it worth the money spent. One has to plan and decide their end goals before reaching the university to make the most of the elective courses, as you can pick anything from Quantum Mechanics to Hands-On courses that enable one to work directly with industry to solve current problems like a capstone.
• Pittsburgh is a very student-friendly city, as it has some great public transportation – mostly buses but they connect you to almost every place. CMU has some great on-campus facilities, like group workout classes which include yoga, hip-hop, sound baths, zumba etc. It also has free access to therapists on campus as well as support groups tailored to specific issues. Pittsburgh is also a very safe city, given it's mostly students.

• CMU has a very different credit and unit system. CMU students end up taking many more classes and subjects in one semester than almost all other universities that I know of. Each semester is divided into 2 mins (basically 2.5 months); we have 2 types of courses—semester-long and half-semester-long. Half-semester-long courses are for 6 units and full-semester courses are for 12 units.
• As part of the Information Systems Program, we have 64 units total each semester. So on average we have 2-3 lectures every day, and Fridays are mostly for recitations or homework help. Each class is 1.5 hours long.
• My entire cohort was mostly 75% Indian and 20% Chinese, and the remainder were either americans, veterans, or people from other nationalities.
• You can decide to choose if you are comfortable studying alone or with a group of friends; there are enough common spaces to study with people. But CMU has a very, very strict policy regarding cheating and we call it in AIV – ACADEMIC INTEGRITY VIOLATION. IF YOU END UP GETTING 2 OR MORE OF THESE IN YOUR ENTIRE COURSE YOU CAN BE EXPELLED. So, if you are opting for CMU, please forget about cheating. They have very advanced tools to check and flag such cases.

• Faculty members are extremely friendly and accessible. No questions or discussions are out of bounds. All my professors were always open and ready to discuss anything, whether it was academic or non-academic. I truly enjoyed Prof. Martin Barett, who teaches Object-Oriented Programming in Java; Prof. Raja Sooryamurthi, who taught Data Science and Big Data; and Prof. Anand Rao, who taught Applications of LLM and Operationalizing AI. I did not see faculty help a lot with job searches, but they are more than happy to review your resume or help in any way they can.

• Campus is great, with almost always something happening. Mostly undergrads are more into clubs and events so if you join the right clubs, you can attend something almost daily. But Fridays are mostly for talks and club events.
• The facilities available are plenty—there are at least 3-4 libraries, 1 swimming pool, 1 tennis court, 2 gyms, and a recreation building with a basketball court. and almost all extracurriculars you can think of.
• CMU has their carnival each summer which is very cool and the entire campus becomes like a literal carnival with rides and giant wheel and other fun activities

• If you want to be intellectually engaged, TA/RA positions are ideally the best. All applications happen through Handshake and if you are an incoming student, you get access to handshake at least 2 months before you join so you can start applying immediately.
• There are also many restaurants that people prefer to work at on campus because they provide you a meal for free.

• On Campus Opportunities are plenty but you need to find the right skills for each job or for common receptionist jobs, you should apply as early as possible.
• TA/RA positions are all available but applying with the right background and interest makes all the difference. We are allowed to work 20 hours a week and the average pay ranges from $12 to $20 depending on the role and the faculty.

• Our batch was pretty unlucky because the job market has been pretty bad but on average, at least 60% of the cohort have found jobs after graduating. The numbers are available on the official website for each cohort since the program started.
• Typical job roles range from Product Management to Software Engineering. The program prepares you for almost all job roles in tech depending on your preferences and elective selection. Typical Salary range should be anywhere from 100K to 180K dollars annually.

• Accommodation is pretty easy to find if you find people from your cohort; there are small apartment buildings, or if you want to opt for cheaper accommodation, you can rent houses and share among your roommates. Houses are typically owned by older people living in the neighborhood, so that is a cheaper and safer alternative. Whatsapp Groups/ Facebook groups are the best alternatives to find roommates and then online websites for finding rental houses.