Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · Founded 1900

Want to know if this school fits you?

Create a free account and we'll score this university against your grades, budget, intended major and location — and explain the reasoning.

Get your match

Testing policy

SAT / ACT expected

Carnegie Mellon's testing rule depends on which of its colleges you apply to. Computer Science requires an SAT or ACT. Most other colleges are test flexible - an exam is required but it can be an AP, IB, Cambridge A-Level or French Baccalaureate result instead of the SAT or ACT. The College of Fine Arts is test optional and asks for a portfolio or audition. SAT results are superscored; ACT results are not. Self-reported scores are accepted until you enroll, and transfer applicants are not asked for scores at all. Source: cmu.edu/admission/admission/standardized-testing (verified September 2026).

About

Carnegie Mellon is a maker's university. It was founded to teach people to build things, and that has never really changed: robotics, computer science, drama, design and engineering sit next to each other and are expected to borrow from one another. The BXA and IDeATe programs exist specifically to let a student combine, say, computer science with music, and even the science and engineering curriculum has required humanities since 1938. Programs are strong and specific rather than broad - you apply to a college, not just to the university.

History

Andrew Carnegie gave Pittsburgh $1 million in 1900 to found the Carnegie Technical Schools, a place where the city's working men and women could learn a trade; the motto he left behind, "My heart is in the work," is still the university's. The first class arrived in 1906, bachelor's degrees followed in 1912 under the name Carnegie Tech, and the first drama degree awarded in the United States came in 1914. In 1967 Carnegie Tech merged with the Mellon Institute, a Pittsburgh science research center, to become Carnegie Mellon University.

What stands out

Seven colleges, from computer science to a conservatory-style drama school
The world's first university robotics department, founded in 1979
Science and engineering students take humanities too - the Carnegie Plan, since 1938
BXA and IDeATe: degrees built across art and technology on purpose
The Fence, Booth and Buggy - traditions students run themselves

Popular majors

Computer ScienceElectrical and Computer EngineeringBusiness AdministrationMechanical EngineeringStatisticsChemical EngineeringEconomicsArtificial IntelligenceDramaDesign

Campus life

Traditions here are built, not attended. Painting the Fence has rules - between midnight and sunrise, by hand, with brushes, and you guard it until morning or someone else takes it. Spring Carnival brings Booth, where organizations construct two-story buildings around a theme, and Buggy, a downhill race of custom-built aerodynamic shells pushed by teams through Schenley Park. The Scottish thread from the founder runs through the rest: the Tartans, Scotty the Scottish terrier, the Kiltie Band and one of the few bagpipe majors in the country.