Did anyone here turn down Stanford for MIT?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
41

<p>To collegealum314,</p>

<p>
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A few MIT accomplishments off the top of my head:

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</p>

<p>Among the accomplishments you listed, only 2) and 8) are related to computer science. Stanford's contributions in computer science on my list include 22 items already. 2 vs 22 doesn't disprove my hypothesis that Stanford is better than MIT in CS. </p>

<p>Anyway, my comments on these 2 items.</p>

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2.) ethernet -- Metcalfe went to MIT and he developed the ethernet before he got to Stanford

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Metcalfe went to MIT for undergraduate, and went to Harvard for Ph.d. After that, he worked at Stanford as a part-time professor for about 8 years. With the help from Stanford graduate student Dave Boggs, he developed Ethernet. The first Ethernet paper was written by Metcalfe and Boggs. During the time at Stanford, Metcalfe also went to Vint Cerf's seminar. He picked up Cerf's TCP/IP protocol and applied it to the design of ethernet.</p>

<p>
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8.) robot (Kismet) developed to simulate human emotions

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This is great. Can you find more these kind of achievements? I'm NOT a CS guy. Is Kismet comparable to Stanford's 1st expert system DENDRAL, the 1st programmable robot ARM, and the 1st computer controled vehicle? I don't want to comment it.</p>

<p>Now talk about the things NOT related to COMPUTER SCIENCE.</p>

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4.) inertial guidance

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FYI, the inventor of inertial guidance, Dr. Draper, was also a Stanford graduete (B.S. in psycology). Granted, Dr. Draper had much more ties to MIT.</p>

<p>You listed lots of things in chemistry. I understand you might be a chemical engineer. You know chemistry much more than I do. But I think it is fair to say MIT and Stanford are about equal in chemistry. Right? Berkeley, Harvard, and Caltech might be a bit stronger than both Stanford and MIT, at least historically. Right?</p>

42

<p>
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Frankly, I don't quite understand why datalook is going through such lengths to convince people that Stanford is better than MIT. They're both awesome schools.

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<p>MIT has an unparallel reputation as the premier university in technology, especially in the eyes of the people who don't know much about technology. Lots of MIT people automatically assume MIT is best in almost all engineering fields. The reality is certainly not like that. I happen to know some truth about CS. Based on the data I collected. Stanford is actually better in CS. Berkeley is now also a big challenger in CS.</p>

43

<p>
[quote]
Lots of MIT people automatically assume MIT is best in almost all engineering fields. The reality is certainly not like that.

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Most MIT people do not assume an automatic 1-2-3-4 ranking of engineering fields. </p>

<p>For instance, in my field, biology, MIT is the best -- but so are Harvard and Stanford. All three programs are extremely strong, and I'd be hard-pressed to say that one was better than the other two, laundry lists of discoveries made at all three schools notwithstanding.</p>

44

<p>I mean, MIT is basically the origin of the hacker culture, GNU, Lisp, the hacker culture..
I'll just leave it at that.</p>

45

<p>I think there is a point where ranking just doesn't really matter.
It's great that people are proud and speaking up for their schools/dream schools. However, is there really a point of laundry lists of discoveries? Those discoveries and achievements are amazing and world changing, but those are by past alumnus and professors. What can you bring to the society after going to one of these universities? After all college is a tool to educate ideas and foster new leaders, inventors etc.
There really isn't a point of arguing which one is better.
I think the point of this thread is more for the people who did pick MIT over Stanford to share their reason for picking MIT.</p>

46

<p>
[quote]
All three programs are extremely strong, and I'd be hard-pressed to say that one was better than the other two

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<p>This is EXACTLY the reason why I did not choose Stanford because of pure academic merit, because I see MIT and Stanford as both having their merits as great science schools. I just like MIT better. I think comparing between HYPMSC is a moot point (well, unless you are going to major in humanities and you're choosing between MIT and Harvard, or something like that). I really don't see the merits of debating between the top 3-5 schools in a given category. Really, do the accomplishments of past professors and students in, let's say - MIT and Stanford - impact undergraduate students to a degree that it's going to change the quality of their education?</p>

47

<p>I think that most of us feel the answer to your last question is 'no'. You'll get a great education at either institution, period. What's to fuss about? No need to establish bragging rights here, we're all convinced: both great schools, pick the one where you feel most energized and ready to leap into the next part of your life.</p>

48

<p>agree with wise men above. if you have a crush on a girl you meet at MIT's CPW and she's going to MIT, that is a far more conclusive margin of victory for MIT than any list of discoveries. the top 5 or so schools in a given field are so close that deciding based on academic differences is foolish. </p>

<p>collegealum, my remark earlier was joke. count of nobel prizes in Jokes coming soon.</p>

49

<p>^^I know. So was mine.</p>

<p>Anyway, computer simulations have proven MIT's superiority (even without the help of the German language)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology&word2=Stanford%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology&word2=Stanford&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT&word2=Stanford%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT&word2=Stanford&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

50

<p>Ben Golub vs. MIT</p>

<p><a href="http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT&word2=Ben+Golub%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT&word2=Ben+Golub&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You lose.</p>

51

<p>More accurate is "Ben Golub" vs. MIT: </p>

<p><a href="http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT&word2=%22Ben+Golub%22%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT&word2=%22Ben+Golub%22&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

52

<p>Hey now.</p>

<p>.</p>

53

<p>Guess who wins? MIT!</p>

<p>Don't you think this is really amusing? It was Stanford people that invented the 1st computer controlled cart "Stanford Cart", the 1st computer controled mobile robot "Shakey", and won the 2005 driverless car DARPA Grand challenge. However, MIT won the google fight. LOL.</p>

54

<p>See
<a href="http://googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT+driverless+car&word2=Stanford+driverless+car%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=MIT+driverless+car&word2=Stanford+driverless+car&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>BTW, who invented GOOGLE?</p>

55

<p>was it you?</p>

56

<p>i created google but fell asleep when i got it to build and larry and sergey took my floppy :-[</p>

57

<p>I've heard that MIT adcoms actually use Google Fight to choose between two similar applicants...</p>

58

<p>For those of you who keep bringing up Vint Cerf...</p>

<p>When Vint Cerf was a graduate student at UCLA, a twelve-year-old kid had managed to sneak into the computer lab where Cerf was working. The kid's name was Steve Kirsch, and Cerf took a liking to him, and let him stay in the lab and program on a regular basis. The kid eventually grew up, and when it came to the topic of college,</p>

<p>
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At Cerf’s suggestion, Kirsch applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge, staying through his master’s degree. (source: Tekla S. Perry, "Profile: Steve Kirsch", in IEEE Spectrum, August 2000, page 54)

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<p>Kirsch received his bachelor's and master's degrees from MIT. He invented the optical mouse while at MIT, and made a fortune licensing it, then reinvested the money into Framemaker and made another fortune when he sold it for $500 million. Then he created Infoseek, and sold it for $2.5 billion. He continues to support MIT:</p>

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...he has funded development of programs that teach interpersonal skills to college undergraduates at MIT, helped fund the new Computer Science building complex at MIT, and financially supported the relaunch of MIT’s Technology Review magazine. (source: Id. at page 57)

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<p>I guess Kirsch is glad he took Cerf's suggestion...</p>

59

<p>PEOPLE. This thread is asking why people turned down Stanford for MIT, NOT ABOUT WHICH COLLEGE IS BETTER FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE.</p>

<p>Jeez, reality check time.</p>

60

<p>My son will apply at MIT but not Stanford, even though they have sent a lot of recruiting material. He perceives Stanford as a bunch of bigots based solely on their marching band. Not logical, I'm sure, but I'm not too thrilled about Stanford anyway.</p>