Stanford vs. M&T at Penn

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

Which program would you choose and why: M&T at Penn or Econ + CS at Stanford? Both are great and I am struggling to decide which one to choose.

2

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/883757-m-t-vs-stanford.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/900269-yale-vs-stanford-vs-upenn-m-t.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1321070-jerome-fisher-m-t-program-vs-stanford.html
http://www.quora.com/Which-program-is-better-for-entrepreneurship-Stanfords-Undergrad-Engineering-or-UPenns-Jerome-Fisher-program
https://college.admithub.com/posts/5ap78CqcF49JEt9g4/p/stanford-vs–upenn-jerome-fisher-for-cs-focus

3

Thanks for sharing the old threads! I have already seen them and I was hoping for new discussion (most of them are 2011/2010).

4

Good for you for doing your homework! That often doesn’t happen.

I went to Stanford a long time ago (early 1980’s) and loved it. I thought it was by far the best school in the country at the time, certainly for me, and I had strong exposure to both Harvard and Yale. Now, I’m not so sure, as CS has become the tail that wags the dog. That may not be an issue for you with your interests. I turned down Penn, and never really considered it in the same class as Stanford at the time; now, I’d give it serious consideration, and I personally might choose Duke over Stanford. But that’s just me, and I was never an engineering student.

Simplistically, I think that if you are engineering + business/entrepreneurship then Stanford is hard to beat. If you are looking for business/entrepreuneurship + engineering, or for more of an integrated program, then M&T is probably the way to go. M&T will also give you a more discrete community within the university. But either is a great option.

5

@renaissancedad Thanks for some new insights! I love both and both would be my top choices. How would you recommend I choose where to apply early to between the two? I know Stanford is REA and M&T is ED, and I am aware of the statistical considerations (M&T ED is a huge boost, whereas Stanford REA isn’t really a boost). So purely on choice, disregarding the statistical considerations, how would you go about choosing between them for early?