Stanford, MIT, or Harvard 2015?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all - I am one of the fortunate students to have the option of deciding between Stanford (REA admit), MIT, and Harvard. I'm from MA and will probably be a biology major with hopes of going into teaching/research.</p>

<p>Looking at my options, I can tell that I have a wide range of choices in college experiences:
1) go to a school where I am familiar with the campus, have many friends there, have my brother there, and be ~30min away from my family (MIT)
2) go to a school with a campus I'm familiar with, have ~3 friends there, and be ~30min away from my family (Harvard)
or 3) go to a school in an area I'm not familiar with, know basically no one, and be literally a 6-7hour plan ride away from home (Stanford)
--The amount of money I have to pay for the schools ranks (highest to lowest) Stanford > MIT > Harvard;... and the cost difference between Stanford and Harvard is $700. </p>

<p>I was initially set on Stanford in December but ever since I got into both Harvard and MIT, I've become a little confused with what I want. I know I want the school to have 1) good science departments and 2) a diverse, nice + cooperative/supportive student body/</p>

<p>I plan to visit all 3 of the schools at their admit events... but any comments, opinions, experiences with the schools/college would be greatly appreciated : ) Thank you!</p>

2

<p>How can you turn down Stanford?
How can you turn down MIT?
How can you turn down Harvard?</p>

<p>congratulations on the great acceptances</p>

<p>a winner at all 3 schools on the academic level</p>

<p>I always recommend for the student to study in a part of the country away from home</p>

<p>In this case the student visit will set Stanford apart</p>

<p>count on it…</p>

3

<p>I think the visits will tell you everything you need to know. Personally I think Stanford or Harvard are more generally balanced experiences, you have to decide how much that matters to you. Between these I’d choose Stanford, but for absolutely a personal preference based on the social/ campus atmosphere as well as access to Silicon Valley.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for all of your feedback : )</p>

<p>I am leaning toward Stanford but I am wondering whether it is worth spending the extra money (especially since I will have to spend money on plane tickets too) and also whether I can handle being extremely far away from my family.</p>