I’m trying to decide between Caltech, Princeton, and Yale for undergrad. I’m 90% certain that I’m going to major in Computer Science, but I also appreciate Economics, being able to study abroad, and French (though I’m not planning to major in French). For the record, I’m not much of a party person, so I’m looking for a more quiet campus but I still appreciate the intellectual diversity that a liberal arts education fosters.
Within CS, I’m particularly interested in eventually doing research in/pursuing Machine Learning and Computer Vision. Does anyone have any advice as to which school they would choose if they were in my position? I’ve been admitted to all three and have visited all three campuses but I’m still at a loss.
Thanks.
This is a highly personal decision about the type of college you want to attend. Caltech is the smallest of the 3, which means that it tends to be the quietest, but also the one with the least number of other events, talks, performances, etc. happening on campus. All 3 schools will have people partying but also plenty of people that don’t drink or prefer other activities, so it’s not really a differentiating factor. Another thing to consider is the house system at Yale and Caltech vs the eating clubs at Princeton, which tend to be more stratified.
With regards to machine learning and computer vision, Princeton and Caltech have larger groups, so there might be more research choices, but also more CS majors, so it kind of evens out. Yale has Steven Zucker who has made some pretty fundamental contributions to computer vision, as well as several other CS/Applied Math/ Biology faculty. More than 90% of Science majors at all 3 schools are involved in research.
If you’re looking for breadth of education in other fields, Caltech lacks pretty severely in that aspect. You will get close interaction with professors, but not the same variety of courses as in the other 2 schools. If I’m not wrong, they only have a macroeconomics course only once every few years, for example.
@PYCDecision for computer science, Caltech and Princeton are substantially stronger. If Caltech is too techie, nerdy for you then Princeton might be a better choice. Also Princeton has unparalleled undergraduate focus.
Personally I wouldn’t go for Yale CS given your two other choices, but of course you can’t go wrong with any of these choices.
Also take this with a grain of salt but here is a article written about Yale CS a couple of years ago:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-06/want-a-job-in-silicon-valley-after-yale-good-luck-with-that
I feel Yale is working very hard though to rectify a lot of these issues.
Princeton for your purposes, since yyou say you want breadth of knowledge and want to learn about economic too. Caltech would be just as good for CS but not for anything else out of STEM IMO. im thinking you already made a a choice by now, hope you chose princeton