Reviews of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) | United States

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Ghadi R

American University in Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Engineering, Computer, Graduate, Independent

Languages

Language of instruction: English

Was learning English a key decision factor?

No, it wasn't.

How much did you improve your English?

My level before:
My level after:

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

As long as i can communicate in English i don't have any problem

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avishek g

St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India
Chemistry, Undergraduate, Independent

Expenses

Main source of funding:

Other

Other sources of funding:

Other

Work opportunities:

It was not legal for me to work

Personal spending habits

It's all about the foreign exchange rates!! $1 = Rs. 44 :)

Telephone, Food, Overall, Housing, Travel, Nightlife:

was more expensive than at home.

Accessibility of student needs

Second-hand text books

Second-hand household items

Computers / Internet

Administrative

Money from home

Personal comments

none

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Pascal U

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Engineering, Electronic, Undergraduate, Individual agreement between EPFL and Carnegie Mellon

Overall

I wish I had known...

Only thing I would have prepared better was my first week: I arrived, had no idea where to go and where to stay. If you can, ask for temporary housing on campus.

In my opinion:

Everybody loved it, you will too!

Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important

Academic reasons

4

Culture

2

Costs

1

Activities

1

Campus life

2

Party / people

2

Weather / location

4

Personal recommendation

Nothing specific.

During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot

Became familiar with another culture

4

Traveled

4

Improved language skills

4

Met people from other countries

4

Became more independent

4

Partied a lot

4

Experienced a change in life

4

Advanced my studies & career

3

Final comments

The best trip I did was over thanksgiving: With a group of international students we rent vans and went to discover the Niagara Falls, Toronto and Montreal. With enterprise.com you get good deals for the van, and on hostels.com you find cheap places to stay!

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avishek g

St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India
Chemistry, Undergraduate, Independent

Languages

Language of instruction: English

Was learning English a key decision factor?

No, it wasn't.

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

There certainly was a gap that needed to be bridged in terms of accent, when i reached USA from India; and more so it needed attention as I was doing a teaching assistantship. I took the TA test and put me on grade 2 (grade 1 is a perfect score, grade 5 is incorrigible). So i had to go through some minimum courses for a month and took the test again and got a grade 1. I was then fit to teach undergrad courses. It was a little annoying all this speaking English the way *they* speak. ridiculous!

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