<p>If you had to pick one which would you go to? Why? Make sure you take account of quality of life, location, people, and not just academics?</p>
<p>p.s. for a physics or engineering major</p>
<p>You're too vague. What else are you looking for in a college? Location? Atmosphere? Extracurricular activities available? You have to tell us more about your interests before diving headfirst into the pick-a-college game.</p>
<p>PS- Based on what you've just said, I'd pick MIT for physics/engineering, Princeton for engineering solely. The rest depends... I liked Dartmouth's atmosphere best.</p>
<p>I would actually do Princeton for Physics and honestly I would not choose MIT, the atmosphere there is not what I like'
But if I had to choose one that I liked the best out of those it would be Dartmouth. Atmosphere, location, qual. of life rival Princeton but are way better than MIT</p>
<p>Well, for engineering I'd pick MIT, although the quality of life sucks there in comparison to Dartmouth and Princeton. But for any other non-engineering subject, including physics, I'd pick Princeton.</p>
<p>physics - princeton
engineering - princeton</p>
<p>why? princeton has decent engineering and the bad/poor atmosphere at MIT kinda turns off its amazing engineering program. princeton has a pretty good engineering program and its an awesome school overall =P</p>
<p>Dartmouth would be the best life (for my taste), Princeton would be close. You couldn't drag me to MIT for any reason other than academics (especially compared to those two, which arguably have the best quality of life of any school out there).</p>
<p>Dartmouth people are great to be around. Its an amazingly strong community without a lot of Princeton's pretention. Princeton still is great place though.</p>
<p>Engineering/Physics/anything tech-MIT</p>
<p>anything else-Princeton</p>
<p>I would still go to Princeton over MIT even for engineering or tech, the quality of life tradeoff wouldnt be worth the marginal difference in education (for me). Dartmouth would draw me because of its atmosphere.</p>
<p>MIT, if you're a hard core techie/scientist.
Princeton - if you only like physics.
Dartmouth - if you like to drink beer, while solving equation :p j/k, but seriously no one considers Dartmouth as a top college for science/engrg</p>
<p>MIT, if you have no life an are utterly dedicated to that premise (and want to be an engineer)</p>
<p>Princeton, if you like your conversation stuffy and your collar popped</p>
<p>Dartmouth, if you are the kind of person I like (the best kind).</p>
<p>Dartmouth is a great school but Princeton and MIT are the two most Selective schools in the US. See where they stand in the big three rankings:</p>
<p>Princeton is one of the Big 3 (HYP) and its prestige is hard to pass up. Nonetheless, its environment is far superior to both Dartmouth and MIT. MIT has little social atmosphere and Dartmouth is in a rural setting. Princeton is suburban and 45 minutes to NYC and Philly. Princeton also has the greatest resources of any school in the world (its endowment on a per student basis is #1). But at Princeton you get the best of all worlds - a small, intimate setting, where there is a total undergrad focus, and the resources of a highly prestigious world class university.<br>
The other 2 schools are Great, but it's hard to pass on Princeton if your lucky enough to get in (15,800 apps for 600 spots remaining after ED). There is a reason why so many want in and it's not just academics.</p>
<p>P.S. 1. Princeton also has a strong committment to engineering. Twenty percent of its undergrads have that as a major. 2. If you want some sense as to what type of students go to Princeton, I suggest you go over to the Princeton site on CC. It is the most active college site in all of CC with the greatest number of total posts. The students there are incredibly enthusiastic. Good Luck.</p>
<p>If I had to pick one, I would pick Princeton or MIT. </p>
<p>Princeton has the best balance...a top 5 Physics program, a top 10 school of Engineering and a pleasant quality of life. </p>
<p>But MIT is MIT. To coin the French, "Au royaume des ingenieures, les Beavers sont rois!" hehe</p>
<p>wow, you guys gave me a lot of thinking to do</p>
<p>before reading this thread, my ranking was mit, dartmouth, princeton</p>
<p>I haven't gotten into princeton yet. Well, I have a month to decide and I hope I make the right decision for me. Thank you everyone.</p>
<p>I'd have to agree with Alexandre on this one. Princeton is the best for overall prestige if thats what you're looking for, but for engineering/tech-MIT is MIT, it has no equal save Caltech. MIT has got plenty of overall prestige as well (its econ. dept is top notch). </p>
<p>As far as lifestyle at the school is concerned..thats subjective, it all comes down to what you're looking for.</p>
<p>I think it isnt too subjective to say the overall quality of life at Princeton or Dartmouth is better than MIT.</p>
<p>Why do you say that Slipper? How are you defining quality of life? For example, someone who wants a college town/big city, MIT's location easily beats that of suburban Princeton, and rural Dartmouth. </p>
<p>Yes, the workload at MIT is a lot more intense, but I'm sure some thrive in that more than in a lax athmosphere..it may be what got them to MIT in the first place. Quality of life is a matter of opinion and depends on what one is looking for. </p>
<p>I also don't think Dartmouth is in the same league as Princeton in engineering/tech, and it definitely is not MIT level....even a slight quality of life trade off might be worth it there.</p>
<p>I agree with you JW. To many people, Dartmouth is too small and secluded to be considered a positive experience. If partying and the outdoors aren't your thing, Dartmoluth isn't either. I agree that MIT is rough, but if one likes an urban and cosmopolitan environment, MIT is hard to beat.</p>
<p>True,</p>
<p>If you don't much care for nature and you're not into having casual FUN with friends, dartmouth may be a complete disaster for you.</p>
<p>On one side of the spectrum you have dartmouth and nature in all its glory--on the other side a federal penitentiary, concrete walls and all that it entails (I don't mean MIT, I'm being literal).</p>
<p>Quality of life is truly subjective; there's a place for everybody regardless of their criminal history or style of dress: casual or pinstripes. lol</p>
<p>Alexandre: Dartmouth, too small? MIT has 38 more undergraduate students than Dartmouth- I'd hardly call the latter "small." MIT has more graduate students, but I've never seen high amounts of graduate students be a good thing, especially as they tend to take away from the undergraduate experience and get priority for research positions. Besides, have you ever been to Williams or Middlebury? Now * that's * small. </p>
<p>Secondly, MIT is far from the "urban and cosmopolitan" environment than say, NYU or even UPenn. Cambridge isn't exactly what you call "urban" and it's a good 20/30 minutes from the MIT to the heart of Boston on the Red Line. What you get as a result is a weird mix between college town/small city/industrial development center.</p>
<p>PS- MIT has one of the highest suicide rates of any college- private or public- in the country. Sure, some may "thrive" under that kind of pressure, but I definitely wouldn't take my chances at a place with 47 suicides since 1964.</p>
<p>Raspberry, when I said Dartmouth was small and rural, I mean the setting, not the university. And I know Williams, Middlebury and Bowdoin are smaller and more secluded, and I would not recommend them to somebody who doesn't like the outdoors and nature either. </p>
<p>As for MIT not being urban, that is completely wrong. MIT is a 10 minute walk from some of the nicest parts of Boston. The Prudential and Gillette Buildings are within a 5 minute drive from MIT's campus. I would not go as far as saying that it takes 20-30 minutes to get to Downtown Boston. Maybe 5-15 minutes, depending on where in downtown you want to go. But MIT is urban. No doubt about it.</p>