<p>So, where should I go? I am so lost.<br>
I am not sure about my major, but probably study science rather than humanities. But I also want to be well-balanced.
I like Yale, but I fear Yale's curriculum is too humanity-based.
I like cities, and prefer Boston to New Haven. But Princeton's campus is so pretty.
MIT Sloan offers very decent business majors for undergrad, but not sure I want to study business as an undergrad!
And plus, does Yale enjoy a better name than Princeton or MIT?
Help me!</p>
<p>Yale does not enjoy a better name than Princeton or MIT.
What do you want to study?</p>
<p>throw a coin...</p>
<p>You really cannot make a wrong choice.</p>
<p>Seriously, if name is at all attributed to admissions difficulty, MIT should have a bigger name than either Princeton or Yale. I think the stat is like 90% of Yalies were in the top 10% of their HS class, 95% of Princetonians and 99% of people at MIT...so if you're at MIT people know you must have been a genius.</p>
<p>That being said, Princeton has the best campus by far, so if that's important to you it should outweigh the name anyway.</p>
<p>I like the coin idea.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Seriously, if name is at all attributed to admissions difficulty, MIT should have a bigger name than either Princeton or Yale. I think the stat is like 90% of Yalies were in the top 10% of their HS class, 95% of Princetonians and 99% of people at MIT...so if you're at MIT people know you must have been a genius.
[/quote]
According to US News, those numbers are actually 94% at Princeton, 95% at Yale, and 97% at MIT. Regardless, they have basically no relationship with how difficult it is to get in. If they did, the University of California Irvine, with 98% of its students in the top 10%, would be a more selective school than any of them. If name were all you are considering, the three schools are basically the same.</p>
<p>Where it matters, the name recognition is basically the same for all three. I don't think it would be a good idea to base your decision on whether some villager in China might have heard of your school.</p>
<p>If you really prefer science, I think Princeton and MIT would be good choices. Yale is definitely also an excellent school, but the attention there is really mostly on the humanities.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a balance of science and humanities/social science, I would recommend Princeton, since Princeton easily trounces MIT in non-science fields, while still having very strong science programs.</p>
<p>If you are concerned about cities, both Yale and MIT are in pretty urban areas. But Princeton, while itself not in an urban area, is 40 minutes away by train from Philadelphia and New York City. And there is a train stop on campus, so it's very convenient.</p>
<p>If you are interested in business, you can major in Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton. If you are interested but don't want to major in it, there is very strong extracurricular support at Princeton for students interested in business. Proximity to NYC allows for recruiting trips and visits from prominent executives.</p>
<p>Yale is awesome in the sciences.. if you find that you like Yale's environment better than Princeton or MIT, pick Yale. As people have said, you really can't go wrong with any of these schools.</p>
<p>All three schools are all around the same in rep.. they all have "wow factor"!</p>
<p>In my humble opinion, my inclination would be to pick Princeton. MIT and Yale students have a very slight reputation as ravenous, light-fearing trolls that spit acid and hiss when they are not in their underground lairs filled with lava, cobras, and treasure. Shiny golden treasure...</p>
<p>Honestly, I'd say it would depend on your major. Like previous posters have said, you can't really go wrong with any of them.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned you like cities, keep in mind that Princeton is an 1hr train ride from New York City. You can literally go to the city on a whim, and it's nice to be able to live so close to a thriving global metropolis.</p>
<p>You can get a terrific science education at MIT. However, if you want to be balanced, Princeton is the obvious choice. Top science depts combined with top humanities depts with world-famous professors who will actually teach your classes and answer your questions (something that will not happen at Yale).</p>
<p>Princeton 100%, from someone who had a similar choice and has no regrets. Also P-ton has a jaw-dropping campus. Go to MIT for grad school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Top science depts combined with top humanities depts with world-famous professors who will actually teach your classes and answer your questions (something that will not happen at Yale)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What is your evidence for this claim? Are you a student at Yale? World-famous professors at Yale teach classes and answer questions, and for you to claim otherwise shows your total ignorance about Yale.</p>
<p>Well that is true that his sentence is somewhat awkwardly worded, but I think what he meant to say was a higher percent of lower level classes are taught by TAs at Yale than at Princeton. Also, Princeton has a lower student to faculty ratio.</p>
<p>No class at Yale is taught by a TA. Lecture classes have sections led by TAs, but only professors lecture, and seminar classes are taught entirely by professors. I'm sure that Princeton also has sections led by TAs (since they have to give their graduate students teaching experience). The percentage of sections at Princeton led by TAs is probably lower than at Yale, and I'm sure that's what you meant to say, but there is a very important distinction between a class being taught by a TA, and a TA leading sections. Incidentally, as a freshman at Yale, despite this supposed huge number of TAs leading sections, the only thing I've had taught by a TA is my one-on-one Chinese tutorial (not the class itself, but an extra 25 minute meeting outside of regular class time). There is nowhere near as big a difference as Princetonites often insinuate.</p>
<p>I defined "classes" loosely as any sort of course that you can take at a college, like a lecture, seminar, etc. I defined "taught" as being involved with some instructional aspect of the course; not necessarily designing it and correcting papers etc., but leading it as well. Again, I used a loose definition.</p>
<p>To adopt your more stringent definitions of "taught" and "classes", at Princeton, a higher percentage of sections are led by TAs than Yale, so you are right; that is what I was getting at.</p>
<p>That said, TAs are inconsistent at worst and are not necessarily a negative trait depending on who you get. Some are amazing, some are okay, some are not very good. It's a mixed bag, and for any given student the numbers of TAs encountered can vary.</p>
<p>So, even though the chance that you encounter TAs might be greater at Yale than at Princeton, there will still be several individual students at Princeton who have more TAs than comparable students at Yale. (Perhaps you are one of those students.)</p>
<p>At any rate, Princeton and Yale are close enough to each other in terms of academic excellence that a percentage difference in TAs should not be the deciding factor for picking one over the other.</p>
<p>I hope I clarified things.</p>
<p>wow, I have this exact same choice to make. I am very decided on majoring in physics, (and if not it would be something like astrophysics). So far I have ruled out Yale based on the relative strength of the math and sciences. I'm leaning towards Princeton, and I appreciated the comment "Go to MIT for grad school." because I've been considering that route as I love both MIT and Princeton and will be verry unhappy to have to turn one down. </p>
<p>danqishen- which weekend are you going to? Princeton's or MIT's? or neither?</p>
<p>I also am in the same position. Except It's MIT , Princeton, Columbia. I think I want to major in EECS, but I am also very interested in Political Science. </p>
<p>Computer Engineering makes sense, since I like Math, CS , Physics.
I am more passionate about Political Science/IR. But writing papers is not my favorite activity. I have to try to get B's in IB Higher Level English 2</p>
<p>MIT: -Best Engineering in the world
-Its in Boston/Cambridge. So I assume internships would be easier to find and get to
- International name recognition. Unlike other two, tops independent rankings
- I don't like the barely doable culture.</p>
<p>Princeton:
- Undergrad focused environment
- Beautiful Campus
- Happiest students according to Princeton Review
- I dont like that it seems to be far away (1 hour) from major cities. Internships would take time to get to.
- Not much to do outside of campus
- Great Financial aid. No loans
- Engineering department isn't highly ranked
- No double majors, minors only</p>
<p>COlumbia:
- New York: Internships, Night-life, Opportunities
- I would be in the Davis Honors Program
- Connections. Internship placements
- Engineering isn't top ranked
- i dont like that they restrict me to the school I got into SEAS.
- No double majors, minors only</p>
<p>I was hoping financial aid would help me decide. Same EFC for all of them. My mom thinks 25k loan debt isn't too much to worry about. </p>
<p>These are my assumptions. What advice would you give me?</p>
<p>I am also considering RICE and Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>for princeton, if youre into cs, there are many internships in the surrounding area. A couple of my friends are working for merrill lynch (in the computer department), which has a branch in hopewell. The area around princeton is home to many major corporations. Depending on your interests, there could be many opportunities not very far away from campus.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. Currently, I am more leaning towards Ptong:-) Haven't made my final decision yet.
It's so bad I can do the campus weekend of the 3. I am international... I went to Yale and MIT,but not Pton before. I guess I am OK now, coz so many people have compared those good and bad of the 3 schools. Thank you!</p>
<p>Princeton is a 45 minute train ride from NYC, which is not long at all for weekend excursions, shows, conferences, etc. NYC is also bursting with internship opportunities, but students that do those internships generally get housing in the area immediately around NYC, so there isn't really a reason to be commuting between Princeton and NYC daily.</p>
<p>There may not be much to do immediately outside of campus, but that's what NYC is for :), and a great number of students go to NYC for Broadway shows, shopping, museum visits, eating, etc.</p>
<p>Of the Ivies, Princeton (and perhaps Cornell) has the best engineering/natural sciences departments. Though they may not be ranked as high as MIT's (though still quite formidable - visit and sit in on engineering courses to see for yourself :)), Princeton is also very strong in just about every other department, so many students pick Princeton for a top-notch all-around education.</p>
<p>I personally find Princeton's campus to be quite sterile. Gothic-style buildings are not meant to be spread out the way they are there. They're meant to be densely built like at Yale.</p>
<p>As far as the academics of each school are concerned, they're basically the same except that MIT lacks good humanities programs. Historically, Yale is the most prestigious of the schools, followed by Princeton and then MIT. However, when you're talking about HYPSM, there's absolutely no difference when it comes to getting a job or internship unless the person interviewing you also attended one of those schools.</p>
<p>I'm personally biased toward Yale, because I think the residential college system is fantastic and really creates great social cohesion that you can't match at a place like MIT or at a spread-out campus like Princeton. However, you really have to go by feel here. I'd go to all three of the schools admitted student weekends, and attend the school that you like the most.</p>
<p>If you want to go to a professional school, MIT is not even half as prestigious as Princeton.</p>