<p>So I was accepted to Yale as a likely back in Feb and visited campus during a specialized engineering weekend. For me, it was a GREAT experience and I absolutely loved the community there. But, as much as I love Yale and their financial aid offer (full-ride) and their recent pouring of resources into engineering, I am also put off by the lack of an engineering reputation for Yale. Stanford, on the other hand, I got in regular and haven't visited yet. However, I'm probably visiting during the admit weekend (28-30). I know that Stanford's engineering program is better than Yale's but don't know if I would have the right click there (the visit would leave me with 1 day to decide). Their financial aid offer is a bit less than Yale's but still virtually a full-ride. Can you all give me some advice on this issue? Perhaps Yale/Stanford students? Thanks!</p>
<p>You’re correct in Stanford’s ME program being more prestigious. It’s definitely more competitive at S than at Y for the engineering programs. But you should also know that at Y, your non-engineering offerings will be substantially greater than at S. Y’s campus is more compact and you’ll engage students from all walks of life there whereas I found Stanford sci/engineering majors to have to remain in their world due to the work load (I summered there once and dated a pre-med there). Stanford has nothing like Yale’s residential college system so you’ll find Yalies to have rabid adoration of Yale – but you won’t find that amongst the Cardinal. Ask yourself why that’s so.</p>
<p>This might be a consideration: as much as you enjoy MEng now, how much does other coursework matter to you? Do you see yourself as a stellar engineer, wanting to assail all things engineering related? Then the training you’ll get at S probably will assist you. Or do you want the exposure and experiences that a full Yale College experience can give you? You might even be enticed into a new field. Would that shock you? Would discovering a new love even be * bad?* You mentioned how much you love the campus culture at Yale. Would you regret sacrificing that for Stanford?</p>
<p>Tough questions that only you can answer. But good luck to you. You have a wonderful dilemma. I entered Yale planning on Chem Eng, turning down almost full rides from UMich, Purdue, Ga Tech and Rose Hulman. Yale enticed me to other areas of interest and I dove headlong into Econ and History. Never a regret.</p>
<p>One last thing: no one can touch the weather in Palo Alto – man, that summer I was there was heavenly!</p>