<p>dad4son - about the collaborative atmosphere thing - the general notion about schools like stanford, brown, princeton is indeed a 'collaborative' atmosphere, but trust me, there will be cut-throat students here and there. Schools like Cornell and MIT are known to be more difficult work wise and I guess historically the student body isn't known to be described as 'collaborative,' but I am 100% positive that there will be collaborative-minded people as well. You son wont be befriending a student body, just those who he wants to befriend and can find very friendly and collaborative students at places like Cornell and MIT. I know there is a bit of a stigma going on about schools like these and how they're cut throat, but please take everything with a grain of salt. Last year, it was routine for me to have a study group for each different class. It was a nice surprise from what i've come to expect from a school like Cornell. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to do a visit on campus and to take a tour. You'll be able to talk to various students (worst comes to worst, just find me!) and here you can develop an opinon for yourself, rather than just basing it on what other people think. Do the same for Dartmouth, Princeton, and Brown if at all possible.</p>