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Just decided today! I'm going to be joining CMU LTI's MLT program!!! Currently looking for a place to rent, preferably either in Shadyside or Squirrel Hill. Also looking for a roommate. Any advice about these things would be much appreciated!

I'm currently finishing my undergrad at Brandeis, and I've lived in Waltham (on campus) for most of my time here. I wouldn't say that Waltham is impossible without a car - it really depends on where you live. Although grad students don't live on campus, I know many grad students who live within a 10-20 minute walking distance, and they seem to get along ok without cars. Brandeis has shuttles that run during the day/night, and while I've had some mixed experiences and can't say they're extremely reliable, they can be helpful. The commuter rail is really convenient - it's always on time and has a fairly decent schedule (runs pretty frequently). The only issue with it is that it's expensive. It's about 6 dollars for a one-way trip from Brandeis into North Station (Boston). In terms of commuting to/from Brandeis and Porter Square/Somerville, the commuter rail goes directly to Porter Square, so that shouldn't be an issue. Once you're in Porter Square, you can take the red line and fairly easily get to most places in Cambridge. I would check out the commuter rail schedule on the MBTA website (Fitchburg line) so that you can get a sense of what the schedule is like and whether you think it would work for you. Let me know if I can provide any more help, and feel free to message me!

I'm still waiting to hear back from MS in CS at Berkeley... Same questions...

CMU LTI's MS is research-focused, and I think the research projects end up providing funding for a lot of their MS students.

Hello! I'm seriously considering moving from Boston (where I have lived for most of my life and am currently finishing my undergrad) to Pittsburgh for grad school next year. The program I would be joining is amazing and I really liked the campus and the people when I visited, although I didn't get to see very much of Pittsburgh itself. I would be there for a Master's first and then maybe for a PhD (so anywhere from 2-7ish years). My other option is to stay in Boston at another school/program that is good but lower-ranked and not as exciting as the one in Pittsburgh. I've lived in a suburb of Boston for most of my life, and I know that Pittsburgh is a smaller city. I've heard a lot of both positive and negative things from people, but the more input the better. I'd like to hear more about people's experiences, quality of life, etc etc as students there, particularly anyone who moved from a bigger city (like Boston). Any info would be super helpful!!! Thank you!

I applied for a Master's, also haven't heard back yet...

I applied and haven't heard anything back...

Hey guys, thanks for your responses! Yeah I'm leaning towards CMU at the moment, but I wanted to hear about any strong arguments for choosing the other. I'll certainly visit both schools...

I'm trying to decide between Master's programs in computer science at CMU, Harvard, and Yale. CMU's Master in Language Technologies program is really tempting because of a research fellowship/stipend offer. Harvard and Yale's Masters in computer science programs are not offering funding. Harvard is probably a bigger contender right now than Yale because of name/rankings, but thoughts on that would be great too. I know that CMU is ranked more highly in CS than Harvard in many rankings, but not in all. For the moment, I'm leaning more towards CMU because of the department ranking/financial reasons/professors and research that interests me more, but it's pretty hard to turn down Harvard. Also, because of some things I've been told by the admissions people, choosing CMU could likely to lead to a PhD if I decided to do one (I really have no idea at the moment). The chances of that happening after the Harvard Master's program are smaller. At this point I think I want to go into industry after I get my master's (although that could certainly change), so in that sense having a Harvard degree on a resume could be a big boost. However, I'm pretty sure that a lot of good companies are aware of CMU as a top computer science school, so that may not be an issue. Anyone have any thoughts/comments/suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help!