MIT vs Princeton

MIT or Princeton. Bio/Chem Engineering or CS. Not decided yet.

MIT for me strictly going by rankings and location.

Go to whichever school has the environment/vibe you prefer. Congrats on your amazing options. If possible try to re-visit the colleges.

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Do you want to be in a large major metro area (Boston) or a smaller place (Princeton).

Both are great schools. You need to start looking beyond the academics, and at the other things…location, size, activities you might like, even weather.

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You’re smart enough to get into both - you should be smart enough to know both are amazing but difference. Find the different. And pick from there.

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Congratulations on your acceptances. This is a fit situation. You have a month to figure out. My son was keen about MIT growing up, and changed his mind after the visit. Applied EA to Princeton, and did not apply to MIT RD. He felt MIT was claustrophobic. Half of MIT are CS majors, and another quarter minored in CS. So there are my biases :-). If you want to do biological engg, I would suggest MIT. Princeton is good for theory CS and Math + humanities breadth. MIT is also good for Theory CS and Math, and also for other kinds of CS. But the student community is less diverse in terms of intellectual and academic interests. That is the key difference. Apparently in Boston, MIT is “the” place to party, if that’s important to you. Startup scene is much smaller at Princeton.

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FIT / Utility function!

MIT is awesome, but it’s a very particular experience.
Princeton is much more of a “well-rounded” college experience (and just as good).

It’s a close call.

By the way, something to think about – MIT has no legacy, but Princeton does :slight_smile:
For the kids 30 years hence.

Congrats! All I know is both my HS friend and son’s friend with 30 years between have had amazing and interesting careers after graduating MIT. Just hearing the research going on there makes me jealous today. Hearing how hard it is coming from the brightest people I know (with no let up in those 30 years) makes me a whole lot less jealous.

But maybe not in 30 years.

MIT won’t ever be in the sweet 16 tho. Princeton always has a chance. That’s a better reason to choose it :slight_smile:

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You haven’t told us enough about yourself (your background, your priorities, etc.) for us to recommend one school over another. The only thing we know is your potential major(s). Since you mentioned bio/chem engineering is one of your potential majors, I’d assume that if you choose the other potential major (CS), you would be more interested in the applied side of CS (e.g. not CS theory). Is that correct?

Is there any difference for the cost to study at MIT or Princeton? Usually Princeton has a better financial aid than MIT. So if the cost is important then compare the cost between those choices and make the right decision. Also the student should visit both colleges for accepted students events so the student can compare both campus experiences and see which one is better choice for the student. Congratulations for both acceptance, both are good choices.

I wouldn’t count on that :slight_smile:
Legacy preferences are very likely to disappear from all the Ivies over the next few years.

But yes - lots of other reasons to love Princeton.

I heard that one of the stronger opponents for canceling legacy admissions at the Ivys are the recent admit URMs. For obvious reasons. My son said he would also be mildly miffed – had extra pressure while getting in, and losing some of the benefits of the “club”.

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