Why I Chose Carnegie Mellon

I’m Sammi, a senior Tepper student, majoring in Business Administration and Statistics. I chose CMU because of its interdisciplinary nature, location and wealth of experiential learning opportunities.

Although I knew I wanted to major in business in college, I also had other interests coming out of high school, such as international relations, math, modern languages and behavioral sciences. I was drawn to CMU because it’s a school that would give me the flexibility(opens in new window) to take on additional majors and minors, or just take plenty of exploratory classes. After declaring an additional major, I found that I still had plenty of room to take classes outside of my majors, such as Japanese Film and Literature, Chinese Language & Culture for Heritage Learners, Intro to Hot Glass and more!

Coming from NYC, I also knew I wanted to be at a school that had its own, safe campus within a fun city to explore. CMU’s campus has a lot of great study spots and scenic areas like the cherry blossoms by Margaret Morrison Hall and the Academic Mall from which you can see the Cathedral of Learning. With just a 5 to 15 minute bus ride, you can also easily explore neighborhoods like Oakland, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside and East Liberty, which have lots of great restaurants to try.

Lastly, I was drawn to CMU’s abundance of applied learning opportunities. In addition to the many research opportunities available for students, there are so many student organizations that do projects with local clients in Pittsburgh. On campus, one of the clubs I’m involved in is the American Marketing Association, which works with several businesses and organizations in the Pittsburgh area to solve their marketing/business challenges. These experiences are also what led me to meet some of my closest friends!