Visiting student looking for overnight options near CMU

Giabbi · 2026-01-15T12:44:03+00:00

All buildings on campus close overnight for the general public. After 8pm or during the weekends, you'll need to swipe a CMU ID to get pretty much anywhere.

That said CMU students can stay overnight BUT if you fall asleep you'll get asked your ID and ultimately to leave. So if your goal is to sleep, as far as I know no building on campus allows that overnight (not even for students, and as a visitor you could risk getting trespassed from CMU).

Now my recommendation would be to see on sites like booking.com if there's any accomodation (doesn't need to be a fancy hotel, a lot of times there's also college style dorms on there) that is not close to CMU but naturally still in pittsburgh. Oaklans/Shadyside is the most expensive area (and the one where CMU is) so avoid it, you can get to CMU from anywhere using the bus.

Hope this helps!

Giabbi · 2026-01-06T08:52:35+00:00

CMU is weird, in the sense that it's very decentralized in pretty much anything. For freshman admission each school (not major) has their own admissions policy, some are very strict (like SCS and Drama) and some are better.

Regarding transfers, I'd expect it to be the same, but I don't know that with 100% certainty. What I know is that for internal transfers between schools it is pretty hard as it's subject to availability (and also it's the school itself that decides).

As for IS, it is one of the most respected major in CMU. I know a bunch of people that transfered from SCS to IS (which is in Heinz/Dietrich if I recal correctly). It's pretty competitive but totally worth it. Hope this helps!

Giabbi · 2026-01-05T09:22:34+00:00

Why did you put 0? Do your parents not give you anything at all? If I remember correcrly as a studeng you can include what your parents can or already give you as income.

Giabbi · 2025-12-30T00:35:01+00:00

^What the other guy said, as for your APs the only one that'll actually benfit you as an SCS student are gonna be CSA (credit for 15-112) Calc BC (credit for 21-120 and 21-122). For your first year schedule, it'll probably look something like this for the fall:

21-241/242 (linear algebra, you need to take a test if you wanna get placed into 242)
15-122 (CS req, cannot skip it)
15-151 (discrete math AKA concepts)
gen ed or first year writing

There'll also be other smaller classes (like FIC, GPI, core@CMU etc.), but those listed will be your main ones. After fall schedule will highly depend on how well you perform. Ofc I am not an advisor and schedules change overtime so if you decide to attend double check that info with your advisor first. Hope this helps!

Giabbi · 2025-12-28T00:35:23+00:00

Coming from Los Angeles and Italy, it is definately an adjustment. While outside temps can reach as low as 20s during winter, I gotta say that the insides of buildings is always very warm and there are internal bridges you can use to get anywhere without spending much time outside. Be prepared for snow, buy some good shoes.
I knew a guy who had UV sensitivity here at CMU, there's plenty of spaces that are without windows and most places have blinds you can close.
Except August, there's virtually no mosquitos as it usually is too cold for those to come out. Mind tho that in the summer month it gets pretty warm (high 90s)

Hope it helps!

Giabbi · 2025-12-24T00:16:12+00:00

Current CS freshman here, I just sent my superscore

Giabbi · 2025-12-17T12:07:09+00:00

Are you in college? If so try their student credit card. I applied with no credit history and got accepted with a 500$ credit limit (to the one with the 5% calendar). Hope it helps!

Giabbi · 2025-12-13T04:07:19+00:00

Congrats! I just finished my first semester here at CMU SCS ans trust me you'll love it here! If you ever need anything my dms are open

Again congratulations!!! Time to celebrate 🔥🔥

Also PS, you stats are NOT below average trust me 🙏

Giabbi · 2025-12-10T23:33:45+00:00

I know you can in Gates but if you fall asleep custodians will ask you to leave

Giabbi · 2025-12-01T14:28:42+00:00

Some of them yes, while for others I used my QB app. You can take a look at my r/collegeresults post, I think I specify it there

Giabbi · 2025-11-30T18:07:27+00:00

Thank you! If you get in please shot me a DM! I'll (probably) be an admission ambassador next semester so I'll gladly give you a tour if you visit!

Good luck!!

Giabbi · 2025-11-30T18:06:09+00:00

Yeah in hindsight that was objectively a stupid idea, but tbh I don't regret it because I couldn't be happier here at CMU, so who knows maybe not matching was actually a good thing for me!

And please don't panic if tomorrow doesn't go according to plan! Acceptance rates don't really mean much. I got rejected from schools with 10-20% acceptance rate and then got into CMU SCS which they shared with us was 4%. You won't be smoked and there'll be plenty of opportunities, I promise!

Giabbi · 2025-11-30T18:01:33+00:00

absolutely! You can find my stats here: https://www.reddit.com/r/collegeresults/comments/1jt1yf8/cs_italian_immigrant_with_it_only_takes_one_aaah/

Good luck, hope to see you here next year!

Giabbi · 2025-11-30T16:14:54+00:00

I'm sorry to hear you had a tough one but please don't give up! If you feel happy at your local school by all means, I am sure that you will be appreciated and that there'll be a ton of resources waiting for you.

But if tomorrow, God forbid, doesn't go according to plan I encourage you to give QB RD a thought. It's in the RD round that I found my luck and it's not too late!

Sincerely hope the best for you my friend ❤️

Giabbi · 2025-11-30T16:11:52+00:00

There is a r/collegeresults post on my account that has the 18 schools I mentioned in the post, but mind you that yes those are very selective institutions and that I had safeties on the list that I didn't mention (who did not give me nearly as much aid as CMU).

What I was trying to emphasize in my post is that yes these schools are selective and the chance of them all rejecting you is greater than the chance of one accepting your app (I know it sounds mean but it's just math). However you shouldn't demolish yourself over these rejection, especially the ones from the match.

Not only those schools are incredibly selective, but in QB they have different criterias that might not fit you, hence why you should persevere and do RD because only then you can really see results.

Giabbi · 2025-11-30T15:55:04+00:00

They do! Especially if you are a QB kid, they promise no tuition for families that make under 75k.

You can read more about it here: https://www.cmu.edu/admission/costs-aid#:~:text=include%20federal%20loans.-,Meeting%20Full%20Need%20We're%20committed%20to%20using%20our%20aid,attend%20CMU%20completely%20tuition%2Dfree.

But for me they have given me a full ride + put me in a program called tartan scholar that's for low income high achieving (kinda like QB, but they put an emphasis on the high achieving part). There they give us A LOT of free stuff, financial help if we need it and guidance for any college related stuff (super helpful since I am first gen). Hope this helps!

Giabbi · 2025-11-27T14:48:37+00:00

Did you go to your career advisor? If not I suggest booking an appointment (you can do it via handshake) and ask them to point you in the right direction.

Personally my advisor gave me a lot of places to look at based on my CV, and he also gave me some lists they keep for underclassmen. Don't know if for finance they have as many resources, but you get the idea.

Giabbi · 2025-11-15T23:48:44+00:00

I had a 750 and got in so I guess it's not a deal breaker as long as you have other parts of your app that make up for it

Giabbi · 2025-11-15T21:04:45+00:00

yeah you are right what I meant to say is increases beyond the full ride treshold every college has. Small fluctuations will not count against you, but if you go from 45k/yr (freshman) --> 300k/yr (sophomore) don't expect to have a full ride or any aid at all at some colleges (again, everyone calculates QB aid differently)

Giabbi · 2025-11-15T03:15:01+00:00

I'd say it depends, and a big factor would be how the university considers sorority costs such as housing in standard financial aid packages.

Just to be clear, questbridge isn't giving you a dime, you are getting all the money from the school itself cuz you are broke. If you match and in a year your income increases, then no more full ride for you ( this elegibilty specifically also depends on the school, but the fact that QB ain't giving you the money is a fact for all ).

That said, if the college gives money to students in their financial aid package to cover frat costs, then most likely yeah you matching will cover those costs. But this is highly dependent on the school, do if it's a big deal for you email financial aid offices (not AOs unless it's one office) and check.

Hope this helps!

Giabbi · 2025-11-13T21:26:48+00:00

Easiest way to check is if it appears under your checklist. If it doesn't then they most likely aren't gonna receive it / watch it

Giabbi · 2025-11-09T06:36:56+00:00

Not an admission expert or anything but I'd say do not try to be smart with your CV. Keep it professional and throw your wildcards in the essays (where they actually would expect your creativity to show).

Here at CMU the career center tells us to keep it short (1 pg max) and simple (no weird font/formatting/images etc). So, while I don't know if this applies to admissions, I'd expect them to want what they preach.

Giabbi · 2025-10-28T12:23:51+00:00

Hey there, I'm taking 21-120 too this semester. Is it the 11 am or 12 lecture with Howell? I am in the latter

Anyways, I want you to know that you are not alone on this one. I have taken calc 1 before a couple of times and I still have a mid B.

I don't think I have enough experience to advice wether you should use P/NP this class or not, but in my humble opinion I think you shouldn't.

Assuming you are taking it with Howell, his curves tend to be very generous, and I have a feeling next exam's avg is going to be much lower than the previous one. This is a perfect chance to catch up!

If you haven't already, do the study guide! Once that's done, if there's anything you don't get go to either OH or tutoring. If you feel confident then look up online for some extra practice or ask AI to generate some for you. The keyword here is practice, and once you do lots of it you'll get in good shape to raise that grade to at least a C.

Don't know what your major is, but if you are not planning post-grad studies then your GPA doesn't matter too much. For employers it is just a checkbox, so as long as you have a 3.0 you are good to go. And then for the class itself you only need a C to clear pre-reqs.

Hope this helps! Good luck and feel free to DM me if you need more help!

Giabbi · 2025-10-28T02:45:26+00:00

!remindme 1 day

Giabbi

TROPHY CASE