<p>I realize that there have been posts over this, and I have definitely read over everything I could find, but I would like a fresh opinion on the advantages of each university. People with first hand experience with either would be GREAT, but any opinion would be very helpful and appreciated. It's given that most everyone here is biased toward MIT, but unbiased reasons for that bias would very helpful. I'm not sure if that made sense...</p>
<p>OH, sorry, I plan to study Computer Science (specifically, theoretical CS)</p>
<p>I think it's interesting that on the MIT thread you put stanford first and on the stanford thread you put MIT first.
Like I said before, go visit!</p>
<p>I can't afford to visit both. I might be visiting Cambridge so I can stop by Harvard and kill two birds with one stone, but right now by first two choices are MIT and Stanford. I am aware of the obvious things that could influence my decision like visiting and reading about both schools, but I'm curious if anyone has anything else to say about either.</p>
<p>What do you think of each school after reading the forums here on CC?</p>
<p>Hmmm, it's unfortunate that you can't afford the visit, but don't worry, there's always admit weekend and CPW, both of which (I think) you can get financial aid to visit (YAY financial aid!!!)
Also, try to track down a student who goes there and just talk with them. For MIT, try their blogs (<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/</a>) to help get a sense of MIT. To find students to talk to, I'm sure there are many willing students who would have a conversation (email, phone, IM, or otherwise) on CC. Good luck!</p>
<p>I went to MIT as an undergrad and was admitted to Stanford for graduate school, although I ultimately decided to go elsewhere. </p>
<p>Stanford is a great place, and I think any academic differences between the two schools are likely to be small. I think it's also worth being aware that the cultural differences between science and engineering students at the two schools are smaller than many outsiders would predict -- that is to say, Stanford is not a stress-free paradise for science and engineering students, and MIT is not a joyless prison.</p>
<p>One thing I heard at the Stanford grad student weekend that would have driven me nuts as an undergrad -- the current grad students were talking about the undergrads, saying they were very worried about grades and that the grad students felt they had to go easy on them. Maybe that wouldn't be a big deal to anybody else, but I know it would have driven me up a wall to be the recipient of such patronizing attitudes.</p>
<p>Perhaps pgbovine will see this thread and comment (or you could PM him) -- he got his bachelor's and MEng degrees in EECS at MIT and is now at Stanford for his PhD.</p>
<p>I'm really excited about both schools. </p>
<p>I have no idea about the east coast vs. west coast culture since I don't live near either. </p>
<p>Stanford is in Silicon Valley which seems like a big plus since I'm interesting in the tech industry, but Boston also has the next largest industry. </p>
<p>I understand that a big difference is the social scene, and I would probably relate more with Stanford's, but thats not to say I wouldn't be totally comfortable and assimilated into MIT culture. </p>
<p>MIT seems to have more going on academically, but thats all off of perception.</p>
<p>Everyone always talks of the stress at MIT, which is kind of unnerving seeing as how I have never had any stress in my life due to academics. Could anyone comment on the source of stress at MIT? But again, this would just be a temporary shock, as I don't have any issue with the size of the workload.</p>
<p>I've always shot for MIT, so its kind of instilled in me.</p>
<p>Classes are challenging and students want to do their best. Many sources of stress are also outside the classroom -- I know one of my biggest stressors was always trying to balance my time in my undergrad research job with my extracurriculars and with school. There's just always so much going on and so much to do and only 184 hours in the week.</p>
<p>Most people come to MIT never having experienced significant academic stress, and pass-no record first semester is a big help for freshmen as they learn how to balance the things they need to do with the things they want to do. After freshman year, the classes don't get any easier, but students generally get a lot better at doing the work they need to do -- they get better time-management skills and more self-discipline.</p>
<p>Wow I have to choose between the two schools. i'm gonna be visiting both of them within the next month so whatever I decide I will post here and give you my opinion.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, I would appreciate that.</p>
<p>I've visited Stanford, and MIT though not particularly recently. To me the biggest difference is the setting. Stanford is the middle of a very suburby suburb and quite isolated from it. It's easy to get into SF via public transportation, but the immediate surrounding area was pretty dull. We had pizza at a nearby shopping center that was about as bad as pizza gets. Cambridge is vibrant and nearby Central Square is full of wonderful ethnic restaurants. Boston has more colleges per square foot than any other town in the US. Stanford probably has a great variety in their student body - at least in terms of study interests. Academically I think they are similar - though of course you might like one set of profs better than another if only you could test them out ahead of time.</p>
<p>So thats how you do it. I only have 168. :-)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I've visited Stanford, and MIT though not particularly recently. To me the biggest difference is the setting. Stanford is the middle of a very suburby suburb and quite isolated from it. It's easy to get into SF via public transportation, but the immediate surrounding area was pretty dull. We had pizza at a nearby shopping center that was about as bad as pizza gets. Cambridge is vibrant and nearby Central Square is full of wonderful ethnic restaurants. Boston has more colleges per square foot than any other town in the US. Stanford probably has a great variety in their student body - at least in terms of study interests. Academically I think they are similar - though of course you might like one set of profs better than another if only you could test them out ahead of time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Realize that the suburban setting promotes a centralized community on-campus. Most people stay on campus, and that makes the campus all the more thriving and active. When you actually want to escape and have fun in the city with a group of friends, you are free to do that as well. It's the best of both worlds, a perfect balance.</p>
<p>And Palo Alto (and nearby downtown areas) have some very, very tasty restaurants (albeit a bit pricey). Do not underestimate the deliciousness of some of the best burritos in the world. East coast burritos? Bleeh.</p>
<p>
Sigh. I think that as I learned calc and statistics, all of the earlier math was shoved out the other side. :)</p>
<p>If I can add my 0010b cents here, I would say this:</p>
<p>It is really hard to answer the question of where you will like it better because it REALLY depends on who you are. What I've come to observe here at mit, is that there are a couple of very different circles of people. </p>
<p>So for example, if you like AIM/facebooking, going around shopping, watching movies with your friends on afternoons, etc. Then I think both MIT and Stanf have such communites.</p>
<p>But what I don't think you will find (and please feel free anyone to jump in and say how full of <strong>it what I am saying is) at Stanford is this ridiculously hardcore community of nerds. Taking one hour naps every 6 hour intervals, more fluent in Scheme and Java than in English, **</strong>*ing all the time to the administration: "Why in the world won't you let me take more than 54 units this term?", for whom the most romantic moments are summarized in: "Hey Christi, wanna go hacking on building 46 tonight?", and for whom parties mostly means: a) study parties b) building parties (<a href="http://web.mit.edu/miters/www/%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/miters/www/</a>) or c) coding parties!!!
Yay! I love this place!</p>
<p>Anyway, so yeah, when you will be here or at Stanf for preview be sure to try to visit as MANY groups of different people as you can. That should give you a pretty good idea of how comfortable you will feel in that particular place. </p>
<p>Dima</p>
<p>Well, yes, it's pretty much a given that on the whole the MIT student body is nerdier than Stanford's. But you would NOT be hard-pressed to find certain individuals like that at Stanford.</p>
<p>this is my usual Stanford/MIT schpiel - it only applies to California kids, though ... if you grew up in California all your life (or most of your life) and can't decide between either going to a CA school like Stanford/UC etc. or an east coast school like MIT/Harvard/etc., I would STRONGLY suggest for you to choose an east coast school because it gives you exposure to such a different environment (both physically and culturally) than you would get if you had stayed in a CA school. CA schools have a certain really fun, attractive, and laid-back feel that can be very alluring for those who have never lived in CA before, but if you're a long-time CA person, then please go experience the east coast for a few years in college ... you will certainly benefit from it, and if you don't like the east coast, you can always move back to CA after you graduate :)</p>
<p>I agree, Stanford doesn't have as many of those hardcore geeks as MIT. Most of the independent projects I usually hear about people working on is startups and such. It seems like that's what half the CS majors have come here to do. Stanford is a lot more entrepreneureal in that sense. There aren't many people who like coding as a social activity or making crazy electronic gadgets for fun. And sometimes I do wish we had more of that here, but it's a different culture, wouldn't say it's necessarily better or worse just different in how people approach technology. MIT'ers are probably alot more passionate about the technology itself, while stanford kids seem to want to apply the technology.</p>
<p>MIT and Stanford are probably the two most entrepreneurial campuses. Salik is right, the people at Stanford are more likely to set out trying to start a company, and apply existing technology - at MIT, a higher percentage of startups are based on new technology altogether</p>