<p>Recently I've been admitted to both Stanford University and Cambridge University, UK. I'm an international student and planning to study engineering, hopefully at master's or even higher level. </p>
<p>After a long agonizing period of consideration, I still cannot decide which university will be better for my future. In my opinion, Cambridge has a slightly better name value than Stanford, but for my subject, Stanford may be better with its abundant resources. On the other hand, I will be able to graduate from Cambridge in 4 years with master's degree, which will save me a lot of time and money. </p>
<p>In addition, I believe that US universities are generally more affuluent with their large donations from their alumni, hence for research in the engineering field, US universities are more desirable in the postgraduate studies. But, I'm not sure about the prospects of entering US postgraduate courses after graduating from Cambridge. </p>
<p>Anyhow, I will appreciate any advice or information on my situation, as I have little time left to make my final decision on my destination.</p>
<p>You are correct in saying that US universities are much more desirable in graduate studies. Undergrad at some top-tier (including Ivy League) is sometimes a disconcerting experience for some, because many TAs teach the class and the professors are aloof. </p>
<p>In my opinion, I say go to Cambridge and then com here as a grad student and try applying to MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech</p>
<p>Congrats on your admission to two of the best universities in the world! :)</p>
<p>I would say either one will put you in a good position if you are talking about career prospects. If you have an eye on academia, go Cambridge, as the course is more specialised and go much deeper into your subject. Besides, the teaching, ie. personal one-to-one attention you get from your professor, is hard to beat elsewhere.</p>
<p>After Cambridge, you can always go Stanford or MIT for postgrad studies. Many Cambridge graduates go on to top American universities for their Masters/PhD.</p>
<p>I also noticed that you are French? Your fees would be much cheaper and you will be closer to home if you go Cambridge.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for all the advice/information. To jkh, in fact, I am a Japanese citizen living in France, going to the local international school. Therefore, I still have to pay the full tuition for Cambridge which is approximately $30,000 per year. So the tuition would be about the same as that of Stanford: I (my parents) will have to pay a lot anyways.</p>
<p>I didn't know that there were many graduates from Cambridge in the US. If that's possible, it would be very nice to conduct research in the top-class academic environments in the US. I will have to make a quick decision, but thank you so much for all of your advice!</p>
<p>Kaz, you are welcome! I forgot to mention that Cambridge and MIT have an exchange program. Since you are in Engineering, you can apply for the program and spend up to one year in MIT. I am not sure exactly how many people get to go on the program though, but I'm sure you can find it out.</p>
<p>One thing I have heard about the exchange program is that the level of education at Cambridge and MIT are quite different. From what I have heard, those MIT students who studied in Cambridge as part of the exchange program were put in the 2nd year math class, because the British university level is higher than that of the US universities. MIT is certainly my favorite school, but I am not so sure if it would be worth going there for one year during the undergraduate time. But, I will be surely happy to go there for the postgraduate studies, as MIT is obviously the top of engineering in the world.</p>