<p>You can never transfer into Princeton. Tough decision, but names open so many doors. For what you’re getting, it’ll be well worth the cost.</p>
<p>If he’s going into serious debt by attending either one then I would pick UIUC. To me, it’s a no brainer. We all like prestige but debt (a possible $80K) can hinder future academic endeavors beyond the undergraduate level, so be logical and be practical. If he does well at UIUC he has a chance to enter graduate school at MIT, Princeton what have you if he chooses to.</p>
<p>Forget MIT, go to Stanford!</p>
<p>I am a UIUC alumni and I know a lot about UIUC grad school placement. My advice is to go to MIT. Getting into MIT engineering grad school (PHD, MIT barely has any masters engineering programs) is very difficult. I know several friends who got like 3.8+ gpa from UIUC with very good research experience, and barely any of them got into MIT (Maybe like 3 out of 20 that applied across different engineering majors). So it is safest to go to MIT right away when you get the chance!</p>
<p>i know a lot of uiuc grads that have gone to grad school at mit, stanford, caltech etc. it all depends on not only your gpa, but your research involvement, rec letter, your passion for research, research area, funding from institution when you graduate.</p>
<p>i also know a lot of mit grads who don’t get into mit or stanford, cal tech etc. for grad school.</p>
<p>agreed, going to mit undergrad gives an edge, but does not guarantee. also, mit is not the only place to do phd and be very successful academically or professionally.</p>
<p>going to a good school can only partly help. how well you do there matters. remember, about half the students at mit are below average!</p>
<p>nobody argues that mit is better than uiuc, but it’s not a cure-all.</p>
<p>You must realize that UIUC is a very good school especially for the engineering disciplines. MIT is definitely better, but they both are world class universities that attract very bright people from around the world. If he was able to get into UIUC with a full scholarship (an amazing feat) and be admitted into MIT (another amazing feat), he should be fine whichever option he chooses. UIUC in fact is better (in terms of rankings) in some certain engineering disciplines than MIT is but MIT is better overall. In any case, I think UIUC and then MIT grad school is better than MIT and MIT. Firstly he will save a lot of money (80K is probably not worth it for an undergrad degree that is not too much better anyway), and secondly he will be exposed to multiple institutions in his academic career. Also UIUC is a very respected name in engineering and MIT knows that for when he will apply for grad school. He seems to be a great student and I wish him luck at whichever option he may choose. </p>