<p>Please excuse any language I use, but I am simply perplexed by the weight you are giving to the most superflous details when trying to decide between schools. I applied to MIT and not Harvard, even though both my dad and sister went to Harvard. Last October, I spent several days in Boston, talking to faculty at both schools. I talked to the Dean of Mechanical Engineering at Harvard and she explicitly told me that people who do engineering at Harvard often use this degree as a tool to launch them into other careers, primarily in business and economics. She used the example of the cell phone. She talked about how at MIT, every time the professors see a cell phone, they are amazed by the technological advances. At Harvard, the professors don't have this same level of passion towards technological advances such as cell phones. She also talked about how for the frosh orientation for the ME students, she brought in a rocket and launched it. The students were unimpressed. She claimed that something like this would never happen at MIT, because people have much greater devotion to math and physics. </p>
<p>In other words, you have to weigh what you want from a college, NOT look at people who graduated from there and how many stupid math competitions they won. Guess what? Are you incapable of being the worlds next richest man if you go to MIT? no. When Bill Gates chose to go to Harvard, was it because he felt it would make him the richest man alive? Probably not. You shouldn't view other peoples' successes/failures as an indication of your own merit. When you get back a test that you did poorly on, do you just say "well everyone else did bad, so I guess it's ok." No, you should view yourself as an independent individual who is capable of doing whatever you want. Trust me, MIT engineering would not hold you back from reaching your potential.</p>