<p>I am an incoming senior who is looking into Engineering as a major. Yes I know different schools have different strengths in different fields of engineering, but for now I am trying to get a holistic view. I am really interested in Princeton, because it is so well-rounded. But I also want MIT and CalTech as well. I am not 100% sure on engineering, so Princeton appealed to me at first. But all these Engineering school rankings seem to make Princeton Engineering seem so inferior. So is going into engineering at Princeton really worth it? Or I just focus on MIT and CalTech even if I may change my mind later on my major</p>
<p>my logic (based on the same situation last year)
Regardless of where you go for engineering, you will take basically the same technical classes because degrees are accredited. it will be the extra stuff that matters; like your actual lab/research experience (which may be easier or harder to get depending on #of labs, #of grad students). both P and MIT/CalT will do a fantastic job.
Applying to MIT and CalT early will still allow you to do P later. If you get into all three, then talk to people and see if their job prospects are really that different. (I chose P so I’m biased) but you might also decide that a slightly less intense engineering courseload will let you pursue another subject as well. If that other subject is in liberal arts then P is a good fit</p>
<p>If you don’t know you want to do engineering, or aren’t 100% sure, choose Princeton. I was a pretty solidly-decided engineer (but in the back of my mind somewhere I wasn’t 100% sure) so I chose Princeton just in case I changed my mind. Did I ever (now I’m an English major). But the good part is, I can now enjoy one of the top English departments in the country, rather than settling down. </p>
<p>I also think Princeton has a better school “culture” than what I’ve heard from MIT (I haven’t heard so much about Caltech, but I tend to assume it’s closer to MIT than to Princeton). But I agree with mansfieldpark: apply to all three (and obviously, more than that)! There’s no sense in trying to make a final decision if you don’t have the choices yet.</p>
<p>It’s weird that our mol bio department isn’t ranked higher by USNews, because I personally think it’s incredible.</p>
<p>And I don’t know what makes you think focusing on MIT/Caltech means you’ll have a less of a shot at Princeton. They (MIT/Caltech/Princeton BSE) use almost the exact same criteria. Financially, it’s a lot more worth it to go to Princeton than MIT/Caltech since Princeton will most likely offer better aid than MIT/Caltech (I know many people who wanted to go to MIT instead of Princeton, but ended up going to Princeton because our aid was a lot better for them).</p>
<p>In terms of molecular biology, MIT’s biology program (<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/biology/www/biology/index.html[/url]”>http://web.mit.edu/biology/www/biology/index.html</a>) is significantly better than Princeton’s (<a href=“Department of Molecular Biology”>Department of Molecular Biology) in both productivity ([Performance</a> Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities](<a href=“http://ranking.heeact.edu.tw/en-us/2009%20by%20Fields/Domain/LIFE/TOP/100]Performance”>http://ranking.heeact.edu.tw/en-us/2009%20by%20Fields/Domain/LIFE/TOP/100)) and funding ([NIH</a> Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT)](<a href=“http://report.nih.gov/award/trends/FindOrg_Detail.cfm?OrgID=4911501]NIH”>http://report.nih.gov/award/trends/FindOrg_Detail.cfm?OrgID=4911501)). </p>
<p>Princeton’s engineering is way behind MIT and some other big engineering power houses such as Georgia Tech, UCB, or Stanford. Among IVY league schools, Princeton is behind the ‘other’ engineering school in Cambridge, Mass.</p>