<p>I was rejected from what I thought was my first choice school: MIT.</p>
<p>So, I am forced to decide between attending
Princeton,
Carnegie Mellon (CIT, SCS),
Cornell (Engineering),
Columbia (Fu),
Brown, and
RPI.</p>
<p>Bummer, no? :D</p>
<p>I was also waitlisted at Yale and Caltech.</p>
<p>Help me out. Of course I'm going to visit them all and pour through their websites before I decide, but I'm also interested in hearing what the internet has to say. Where should I go? How should I spend the next four years of my life? This is definitely the most awesome decision of my life!</p>
<p>What are you going to study? What is your prospective major? What is the department like at those schools?</p>
<p>Important: Who is giving you a sweet financial aid package? Scholarships/grants/etc? How much are your parents willing to pay if they are/able to?</p>
<p>Also, small town v. big city. Cornell and Columbia are fabulous schools, but would you want to be in Ithaca or NYC? </p>
<p>Have you visited these schools at all? Have you talked to current students? I know websites that have student reviews that you can go through to make a decision. Also, talk to prospective students. You don’t want to spend what should be the best four years of your life with total jerks. (Facebook groups are a great tool.)</p>
<p>Another thought: do you plan on staying on Yale & Caltech’s waitlists? If so, how would you feel if you wanted to forfeit a deposit at the schools you were accepted to and go to one of those schools instead? You’re most likely not going to get accepted off those waitlists, so it’s your decision ultimately.</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, good luck!</p>