<p>ask-paul: I understand. I don't mean to sell myself short. If I did seem like saying that, then I apoligize. But thanks for your answers. They helped.</p>
<p>...................................................</p>
<p>Ashwin: No problem! Sorry if I came across as a little harsh, that wasn't my intention. Just trying to give you a little ego boost. :)</p>
<p>Yes, my son was waitlisted but ultimately (this month) rejected at Yale.</p>
<p>I should add that he's counting the hours until going to MIT next month! He got a call today from an MIT student and he's as excited as can be!</p>
<p>hehhehee...hee</p>
<p>Thanks guys :) I actually just got home from a program as well.. and leaving in an hour for another one :/ lol. </p>
<p>Right now Yale and MIT are tied in my book.. which is why there is this dilemma, both seem to offer things that the other doesn't and I'm not sure which "culture" I would fit in with better. I'm slightly leaning towards MIT again, because then I CAN apply to other EA schools and also because.. well MIT has accepted students from my school in the past 10 years. But still, like the idk. I guess the culture that ... the Yale architecture inspires draws me in a lot...</p>
<p>1) Don't choose a college simply because it has accepted students from your school in the past.
2) Don't choose a college because of its architecture.</p>
<p>1) Agree.
2) Disagree somewhat - the school's architecture, and more specifically its layout, really do impact socialization and culture in a non-trivial way. Moreover, I think MIT's buildings really do reflect its mission and guiding spirit: many buildings (everything on Main Campus, basically) are solid yet unadorned, sort of like the laws of physics; others (Stata, Simmons) are much more whimsical - highlighting MIT's creativity and innovation. From what I've seen of Yale, its buildings reflect that Yale can be very lofty (not necessarily in a bad sense), idealistic, high-minded, and traditional.</p>
<p>Though of course, plenty of people who are more on par with Yale because of their shared high-mindedness and idealism can (and do) choose to go to MIT instead.</p>
<p>Like me. :)</p>
<p>I can say this because Paul already knows I love him, but I'm with kryptonsa36 -- I can't stand it when people use architecture as a criterion for college selection (either as a pro or a con). I think that no matter where you go, the school is going to end up looking like home after a few months, and it won't matter if it's "beautiful" or "ugly." </p>
<p>I happen to like MIT's campus, but I realize I can't separate that from the fact that I like MIT.</p>
<p>Mollie: I would hardly be offended that you disagreed with me about architecture. :)</p>
<p>I definitely agree with you that colleges grow on you. I've become, much more attached to MIT's weird architecture over the past year (though I never really even noticed it being "weird" when I first visited). However, MIT is a very urban campus (not as much as, say, NYU or BU, but certainly more than Notre Dame), and the buildings reflect that. And some people (my little sister, for one) just aren't comfortable with an urban university.</p>
<p>kyrptonsa: Hah! Good point. ^_^</p>
<p>Architecture definitely contributes to first impressions. Yale's architecture effectively reproduces the gravitas of Oxford and Cambridge, even though Yale's buildings are 19th century knockoffs. When my sister and I took my daughter around to visit campuses as a junior, Yale was our first stop and our second was MIT. </p>
<p>MIT did not make a good first impression. We arrived at night and stayed on the 8th floor of the Hotel@MIT, overlooking what seemed to be a sea of urban factory buildings. The next morning we entered the Infinite Corridor and my daughter took one look at the bulletin boards on either side and said, "This looks like a high school." I thought, "That's it, she'll definitely apply early to Yale." We dropped her off with a student host for an overnight stay and gave her three options: 1. Come back to the hotel the next morning at 8:00 if you feel like you've seen enough; 2. Drop back to the hotel at lunchtime; or 3. If for some reason you really, really need more time to see the campus, return no later than 5:00 pm (we were leaving later that evening).</p>
<p>The next day, 8:00 am rolled around with no daughter. We had breakfast by ourselves and strolled around the campus, where I was pleasantly surprised to discover there are some trees and also some very interesting, eclectic buildings. Lunchtime: still no daughter. Not until 5:00 pm did she return, having spent 30 hours on the campus visiting classes, meeting with two professors in the physics department, and hanging out with students. She burst through the door absolutely glowing. Almost radioactive.</p>
<p>Architecture was no longer an issue.</p>
<p>MIT didn't make a good first impression on me either. There wasn't enough grass, the campus didn't feel like a campus, etc. I had seen UCSB, which is kind of what I imagined a campus would look like - and I had been to Notre Dame, which was simply gorgeous. MIT's campus was a real disappointer after that.</p>
<p>But by the end of CPW, I was absolutely in love with the school and even the campus. I loved the strange shapes, the giant grass area of Killian - and it even felt more like a "campus" once I knew where all the lines were =D.</p>
<p>See, I love the urban thing. I went to high school in a really urban area on a campus very, very similar in feel to MIT's- you're in the middle of the city one second, on a separate campus the next. </p>
<p>As for the architecture... MIT's fits MIT. And I mean that as in, it fits MIT's personality, its location, the type of work that is done there- adventurous, urban in a historic city, groundbreaking. To evoke ND again, because it seems to be a common point of reference, ND's architecture fits ND in the sense that ND has a very contained campus, lots of great Catholic tradition, and phenomenal school pride in a traditional non-MIT sense. It's a classy school, and the architecture reflects that. I love Notre Dame's campus. </p>
<p>Frankly, I don't think MIT would be quite the same if its architecture were "normal." You can't really have normal architecture at a school that is so far from normalcy.</p>
<p>And I realized that I completely contributed to getting off topic. Back to the Yale vs. MIT vs. wherever question.</p>
<p>classof09 and the OP, I understand your conflict on how both MIT and Yale offer different things that cater to different parts of your personality- I was really, really torn between UChicago and MIT for a while. Like, a month. But still. </p>
<p>For me it came down to this- what type of person do I see myself as, and what types of people would I want to go to school with? I am a science and math nerd. I know this. And UChicago, while it offered incredible humanities (mainly, just a wealth of languages was important in my book), wasn't as focused on that math and life science-y goodness. Additionally, I knew that I really wanted a school where I'd be with people who would understand my getting excited over times like 10:23 and 10:24 (two good ones in a row!) and laugh at nerdy jokes and still be moderately normal at the same time. When it came down to it, MIT was more of a fit for me than UChicago could ever be. I could still take languages at Harvard if I was dying for a class in Swahili, while still having that wonderfully nerdy atmosphere I wanted to come home to.</p>
<p>You will find many colleges that match MIT at varying degrees in terms of generally infectious intellectual atmospheres. So make your decision based on the types of things you can do there (research @ MIT was a major, major one for me) and the people. You will be surrounded by these people for the next 4 years of your life- you'll be able to take Organic Chem and Econ and whatever anywhere. Find a place where you feel at home from the moment you start talking to people. It will happen somewhere. For me, that somewhere is MIT.</p>
<p>I agree. It's that whole structure/function thing in biology. </p>
<p>I knew who I wanted to become before going to MIT - and MIT's personality was it. Yeah, Harvard and Notre Dame and tons of other schools are great - but not the personality I want. That's what you should be looking for - what will make you what you want to become?</p>
<p>do you go to paly?</p>