<p>My D has been accepted into MIT and Stanford and wants to major in electrical engineering (with a possible double major, or minor, or at least several courses, in physics). Ignoring the issues of climate, location, financial package, campus clubs, campus fun, etc., which of these two great undergrad electrical engineering programs involves more/less work-load or is generally perceived to be harder/easier or more/less stressful?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>(Apologies for cross-posting.)</p>
<p>There is little or no difference in the difficulty of the material or workload; EE is EE, and you’re talking about the two very best departments for it. As such, these two departments attract similarly hardworking and intelligent students (undergrad or grad), and at this level it’s the quality of your peers that ultimately determines differences in rigor. For many, MIT has a more ‘stressful’ atmosphere, mainly due to the concentration of students in STEM fields, which are notorious for inducing stress. Stanford is roughly equal in STEM vs. non-STEM representation, so the atmosphere (supposedly) seems more ‘laid-back.’ Some particularly arrogant students at *IT schools (esp. MIT and Caltech) take this to mean that non-IT schools, such as Stanford/Princeton/Berkeley/Cornell, are “easier.” Fortunately, most *IT students are a little more realistic: most would agree that a EE student at Stanford probably has a harder time than the average Stanford student, given the large presence of non-STEM students, and that a EE student at MIT has a workload closer to the average MIT student, given that 90% of the student body is in a STEM field. But it’s unlikely that a EE student at either would be having an harder/easier time than a EE student at the other.</p>
<p>Sorry if that isn’t helpful to you, but this decision should come down to the other intangibles you listed.</p>
<p>EE is hard. Everywhere.</p>
<p>I am a senior at Stanford in CS and I have many EE friends who take CS classes. They all admit, EE can really suck sometimes. But it is also super cool to make modern technology come to life!</p>
<p>I chose Stanford so I could be surrounded by students who were in a variety of fields. It fulfilled on that promise. This year I’ve lived with students going into government, consulting, finance, grad school and many other things. It was awesome and refreshing to have that perspective.</p>
<p>@jmvldz, S is admitted to both MIT and Stanford. His intended major is CS (and finance). He loves doing fine arts so what you said about being able to be surrounded by students with diverse backgrounds is important for S. S says that most USAMO or other science Olympiad participants he knows are(were) going to MIT instead of Stanford (though not that many from them were cross-admitted to both schools anyway). Is that generally true even for other high schools? How many students are in CS majors at Stanford? How many students at Stanford CS or Math have participated in competitions such as USAMO or attending those math/science Olympiad camps (MOP, Physics, etc)? Or Stanford CS admits more well-rounded applicants instead of those with extensive experiences in participating in math or science competitions.</p>