Accepted to MIT, JHU, and Cornell and I want to study either electrical and computer engineering or mechanical engineering to eventually go to grad school in robotics. MIT’s financial aid is wonderful, JHU’s is doable but with a good amount of debt, and I don’t know about Cornell yet. I love everything about MIT except that it is in the city. I like JHU and Cornell just as much, with the downside being cost for JHU and the largeness for Cornell.
Advice on choosing? How do the opportunities for robotics compare at these schools?
Since all of these colleges are very prestigious and you want to go to grad school, going with the cheaper one would probably be your best bet.
MIT robotics is awesome, from what former students have told me, and if the FA is great, it would almost certainly be my top choice.
I would visit MIT and Cornell.
Academically, MIT is the best, but Cornell is an excellent engineering school if MIT is not your cup of tea.
I don’t think I would pick JHU for engineering.
Unless Cornell’s financial aid is incredibly more than MIT’s, there is honestly no reason you should choose any other place but MIT. They are the best university in the nation for you majors and the opportunities at MIT for robotics are incredible (national and international champions / breakthroughs)