<p>So I was lucky enough to be accepted by Harvard, Stanford, and the M&T program at Penn (a dual degree from engineering and Wharton). Ive read all the previous posts of the same nature, but my plans for the future are somewhat different, so I was wondering if anyone had any advice. Ive always seen myself as more of an engineer, and I would study engineering (bioengineering or computer science) if I chose to go to Harvard or Stanford, in which case I hope to work several years as an engineer post-graduation to gain experience and then go into entrepreneurship in the same field (probably without an MBA). I do not plan to go into finance/investment banking/consulting, which I know many M&T alumni end up doing. I in fact did not consider M&T too seriously until I visited and was surprised by the resources that the program offered for student-initiated projects and innovation. I think the resources available at Harvard would be comparable if not greater for computer science (Im not sure if the same could be said for bioengineering); however, it seems like the connections might not be as great as M&T alumni connections because this will be engineering connections vs M&T connections, and there isnt the second degree to fall back on if things fail on the engineering side. Stanford may have the best entrepreneurial culture and engineering program, plus it might be better recognized on the West Coast, which is where I ultimately hope to end up. However, Im not sure that it offers the same resources available at Penn or Harvard (like Tech House or TECH and the opportunity to compete for funding). Im also concerned that there will be less focused attention and expenditure of resources on students compared to M&T (because of the small group) and Harvard (because it does not have as many engineering students and is actively trying to build a better program). Basically Im trying to look for the school with the most opportunities, assuming financial aid is not an important factor. Please feel free to correct any wrong impressions that I might have gotten. Thank you for reading!</p>
<p>Semi-critical take on Stanford, but makes it seem like you would have more than enough support/networking/etc.</p>
<p>[Is</a> Stanford Too Close to Silicon Valley? : The New Yorker](<a href=“http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/30/120430fa_fact_auletta]Is”>http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/30/120430fa_fact_auletta)</p>
<p>Harvard engineering is probably under-appreciated. If you check on Reuter-Thompson ISI web site, the most comprehensive scientific paper data compilation in the world, you will find Harvard engineering departments are neck and neck with Stanford in paper quality. In fact, Harvard beats MIT and Stanford in terms of citations per article. U Penn is not too shabby either, albeit the size of its engineering school might be small. The followings are papers from all engineering departments of each institute for the last 5 years (2007-2012). </p>
<p>Institute, # articles , H-index, #Citations on top 3 papers, Total citations without self-citation, Citations/article (including self-citations),
MIT 7253 95 770, 606, 524 53276 11.88
Stanford 4669 74 699, 463, 451 29592 9.75
Harvard 2818 74 820, 432, 311 26392 13.67
Princeton 2748 59 504, 454, 327 17235 9.09
Penn 1497 57 290, 278, 258 13581 12.24</p>
<p>you sound like someone i know…just pick whatever school you heart tells you to. it’s really not going to matter in the end, unless you make it out to be. if you just go with your gut feeling, you’ll probably be happier too! all schools have their pros and cons, and i’m sure by now that you know what they are, so stop doing a cost-benefit analysis and just pick the one that feels most like home :)</p>
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<p>Wow! Harvard and Penn must be better than Stanford and MIT in engineering then… ;)</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1330599-get-rich-u.html]Here[/url”>Get Rich U. - Stanford University - College Confidential Forums]Here[/url</a>] are a few responses from Stanford people to the New Yorker article linked to above.</p>