Hi! I was fortunate enough to have been admitted to Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT. I have the same financial aid at all of the schools. I am thinking of majoring in Biomedical Engineering, but that might change to Biology, Psych, CS, or Econ, or maybe a mix of these. I currently live in NY and I have visited all of the schools except Stanford, I think I’m leaning more towards Stanford or Yale.
I applied to Yale SCEA, so I’ve had more time to make really close connections with my fellow incoming freshmen and all the people I meet seem amazing. It previously dethroned Princeton as my number 1 and I love the sense of community, the campus, and the residential college system. I know it isn’t as strong in STEM though. It’s also very close to home, but it’s in a bad area.
Stanford is a great school and great for STEM, but I don’t know how much I would enjoy west coast culture, especially coming from NY. I’m also not a fan of super hot weather. I have also never visited and it is far from home.
Princeton used to be my number 1 school but has since been dethroned. I love the campus but dislike how isolated it is. Also, it seems to have more of an elitist aura. It might be better than Yale for engineering but I’ve heard that their engineering is mostly theory based.
MIT is undoubtedly also a great school for Engineering, but how great would it be if my interests changed? It’s in a wonderful area full of opportunities, but it seems the most stressful of the 4. I have some negative preconceptions of MIT and I don’t know if I would thrive in a place that is so specialized.
Thank you so much!
If you’re from the East Coast, the more reason that you should be pursuing your Stanford offer.
The experience that you will gain from living in a totally different environment, meeting new people who come from different places having unique culture, etc, would be enriching and worthwhile. It will also widen your network. So, if you would ask me, I’d go for Stanford, though all your options are great.
I see your dilemma. Yale would apparently be the ‘weakest’ academically for the area you wish to study compared to the other 3 but it is your favorite as far as everything else. The good news is that Yale is an amazing institution and you shouldn’t let any perceived academic ranking of undergraduate programs deter you from going there. They’ve made great strides in STEM and continue to build that area with huge investments. You’ll get great teaching and wonderful opportunities. You should go to Yale if you feel most comfortable there.
That being said - will Stanford pay for you to go to Accepted Student Days? There’s a reason it has the highest yield of any school and going out and visiting usually closes the deal. It would be a shame to turn them down without ever seeing all that they offer.
@awesomenat - I agree with @Dolemite and think you should visit Stanford, if the visit is affordable for you. What are you looking for in a college other than access to first rate science facilities? If you aren’t committed to the sciences, then MIT is probably not the best best place for you, although I encouraged my son to attend given his love of econ and MIT’s amazing dept. But his visits to MIT and Stanford clinched his choice in favor of Yale. He really disliked Stanford: its physical environment, size and student disdain for the “fuzzy humanities.” He rejected MIT because Yale offered him the opportunity to: double-major in a humanities and a social science subject, enjoy the amazing sense of community fostered by Yale’s residential college system, have easy access to full professors, financial support for summer academic work, participate in several extracurricular activities that are very important to him and because he loves the fact that Yale is surrounded by museums, theaters, nice shopping and terrific restaurants. NYC and Boston are also easily accessible by train. Contrary to CC wisdom, the area surrounding Yale is very appealing and safe. The quality of academic, social and cultural life at Yale is fantastic, which is why so many of its students are so happy to be there. Congratulations on your remarkable academic accomplishments to date. Best of luck in all of your future endeavors!
I hate super hot weather, too, but that’s not how I’d characterize the SF Bay Area. Its climate often is characterized as “Mediterranean” (which to some people is about as good as climate gets.)
*“Among major U.S. cities, San Francisco has the coolest daily mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures for June, July, and August”/i