<p>ah that's a really good point though. at mit you'll have a better chance to try new things you've never tried before.</p>
<p>I've directly known exactly two people who've gone to MIT.</p>
<p>One of them was a ridiculously muscular football player- defensive captain. Also just happened to be an amazingly gifted mathematician and programmer.</p>
<p>The other was a jiu-jistu fighter who now works in Silicon Valley on some stuff that I can't quite tell you about.</p>
<p>Needless to say, my personal view of MIT is that it is an extremely heterogenous, diverse and enjoyable place to be O_o</p>
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The real issue is to pick the school where you think you'll be happy. There's no point in spending four years of your life miserable.
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<p>If you could ever be miserable [too strong a word] in either of these schools, I would suggest some soul-searching this summer before you go off to college. Both schools are amazing and you might like one better than the other but being miserable I think would come only from within you.</p>
<p>P.S. Boston is not Alaska. It has [some] snow but also a lot of culture and so much to explore. Palo Alto is also great. I love Cali but keep in mid that many people pine over it just to find themselves disappointed. That said, both schools are just great, I will not state my official preference here.</p>
<p>you're obviously crazy if you'd pick MIT over Stanford.</p>
<p>oh dearie me, we do have our share of crazies, don't we?</p>
<p>Uh, there are people who love the environment at MIT. There are a lot of us, in fact.</p>
<p>Stanford's a nice place and all, but MIT is home. Can't beat that with the proverbial stick.</p>
<p>:) Haha! So it seems. </p>
<p>If you’re choosing between Stanford & MIT you can’t go wrong, though the different environments will suit people differently… It’s all very personal. Anyone who tries to be objectively definitive about this is sorrily delusional.</p>
<p>^If this conversation keeps progressing at this rate, in 10 posts Mollie will be 75 years old.</p>
<p>But what if the rate isn’t linear? In 10 posts, I could very well be 150, or even older.</p>
<p>(Luckily, I’m sure datalook will show up at some point to debate these six-year-old points, so in ten posts, I am likely to remain well south of thirty.)</p>
Stanford–> best campus ever, heart of physics and technology (stanford collider, who just found gravity is a type of wave, maannnyy popular applications, many extremely successful business people) Stanford is the heaven for smart and really outstanding people. I am totally aware MIT is one of the best (top 3 in world), but so Stanford is. Also, according to 2016 listing of universities, Stanford is the 3rd but MIT is below 5? Anyways, Stanford is far far more better for living, research opportunities, the money, reputation you can get and the acomplishmets you will be able to make. 
@tryingforyale: Thank you for brightening this thread with your humor.
ut austin is the best woot
MIT is the better school for almost any major except English, history and art history. Stanford is more watered down, in the sciences, does not offer much science for humanities majors, offers less career guidance, and VERY stressful socially. I would not send my kids to Stanford, it is over the top stressful for the social aspects of college life! . Its really not very fun is what we hear from every kid that goes to Stanford. MIT is socially much more fun, in comparison, but yes you will work harder by far at MIT if you want As, and yes there is snow. If you don’t like snow, pick Stanford, I guess, but be prepared to be really stressed out socially. YUCK!
Some MIT students major in humanities or social science subjects, often will double major. Many MIT students study at Wellseley College for a year of classes, and some cross register at Harvard U. Many of my MIT classmates have careers such as: French teacher, actress, musician, professor of Asian Studies, and political or law careers. MIT students are very well rounded. Economics at MIT is ranked number 1 along with U of Chicago. Stanford has a slightly different approach so it may be useful to get a degree from both schools, but pick Stanford for grad school, not undergrad.
I think thats the best way to go, unless you are absolutely sure you want to major in English, history , art history, as I said above. I think the student body is substantially different with Stanford being the “western” school. Its very stressful as I mentioned, the social scene on the west coast, compared to what MIT offers. MIT offers a more relaxed kind of socializing, although there is Number Six Club, and fast paced fraternities and sororities at MIT, for very advanced social kids. I think MIT stratifies social life better, so very social kids join the frats, the ones that are not so advanced socially still have fun in the very social dorms. Its just more relaxed, somehow, is my feeling. But talk to current students and visit both schools to be sure.
LOL on this thread being resurrected from the “dead and dated thread cemetery”.
About this" I am totally aware MIT is one of the best (top 3 in world), but so Stanford is. Also, according to 2016 listing of universities, Stanford is the 3rd but MIT is below 5? " Check out the world university ratings from London Times or look at the list of departments on US News. You’ll see MIT listed as first on many lists.
In terms of choosing between these two, fit is everything. MIT is filled with a diverse population of very adventurous students who are among the most down to earth, open and accepting students I have ever met. But it is not a good fit for everyone. I’d say it is not a good fit for those who fit the stereotype of the 1960s stem “nerd” or for competitive students who get their self worth from their A’s. They will find that they are out of their element. Students at MIT collaborate and are probably less likely than students almost anywhere else to sit alone in their room and study for hours on end in order to beat out peers and get A’s. It’s not a good place for loners or asocial people. It’s also not great for those who want a bumper sticker that makes the world know they are important. There is a school up chuck river that might be better for that.
@Coloradomama, you have a really warped view of Stanford.
I agree that “fit” is everything, and that anyone with the option to choose between such elite schools should investigate carefully and pick which one is the best fit. They all have strengths and weaknesses.
Thanks but I am hundred percent serious as always. @jpm50
imo Stanford has an edge for undergrad both for STEM and non-STEM people. For non-STEM people the edge is pretty obvious. For STEM the edge is because at Stanford you get a just as technically rigorous and superb education as at MIT but also a more well-rounded one than at MIT, which I think is important at the undergraduate level. Of course you can’t go wrong with either though.
I actually think that Penn95 is wrong. For non-STEM it is obvious. There are more students, more facilities, it is better. However, for STEM, the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences are better experiences at MIT than at Stanford. Both schools require exposure to other fields (the GIR at MIT and the WAYS requirement at Stanford), but MIT students actually benefit from not having a huge number of HASS students on campus. If you take a film studies class at MIT, there are not likely to be a large number of Film Studies majors on the MIT campus. As such, all of the facilities are open to all. At Stanford, this is just not the case. If you want to try theatre, then there are no (or at least extremely few) drama majors on campus. Most of the cast of even the largest productions are not theatre majors. At Stanford, this isn’t true. Are there more theatre courses at Stanford? Absolutely! But I never met anyone who ran out of options on the MIT campus, barring one student who then used the cross-reg options to take 2 theatre classes at Harvard. If you are a physicist with a strong side interest in drama, at Stanford, you have more options to STUDY theatre. At MIT, you have more options to DO theatre.
I think that MIT tends to produce more rounded STEM students that Stanford, and this is because the MIT approach to learning (which is that you learn stuff by doing it) applies both in your major field of study, most commonly in the way that the courses are taught and through the UROP program, but also in your side interests. MIT offers apprenticeships to work (and study) alongside some of the best there is. Heck the motto of the school is Mens et Manus - Mind and Hands. At MIT, STEM students will actually have the opportunity to DO more HASS than at Stanford. If that is the way of learning that appeals to you, and you match well for MIT, then MIT is a great place for a STEM student to do HASS. Stanford is also a great place, but for a slightly different student, with a slightly different approach to learning. You cannot go wrong at either, but for my money MIT is better for STEM than Stanford, because you get a more rounded education.
@renaissancedad I think that many students raised in conservative homes in Ohio, and other midwestern and southern states including Colorado do not fit into the fast paced social scene at Stanford. This latest Ohio swimmer grope at after a frat party at Stanford, really homes in on what I see wrong there. The social scene is very very high pressure for kids who are not from California and used to what its like out there. Kids from where I am from often do not fit into the California social scene at all, even at Cal Poly, which admittedly is a good party school too, and come on home. MIT is slower paced socially for the most part,with the athletic frat being shut down recently. But yes there is plenty of “action” at a few MIT frats too. IT happens everywhere, the pressure is much higher at Stanford than at MIT. I will not back down on this. It is my opinion of course.