sunshine_breeze

I've narrowed down my top choice to these two schools, and I'm having a hard time deciding which. Can you guys give me any insight on either of the schools and help me pick?

In terms of financial aid, I got ~4000 in loans from MIT a year. I have not yet received my financial aid letter from Princeton, since that was submitted a little late. Money is not that much of a concern for my parents, but we'll still have to wait for Princeton's fin aid. I doubt I'll get that much though.

I'm not sure of my major; I know it's going to be either math/science/engineering (yea, that narrows it down a lot). If I was dead set on engineering I'd pick MIT, but as of now, I'm still not sure what I want to do. How are the programs in science/engineering at Princeton?

A pretty big criteria in my college choice is undergraduate research. I know MIT has UROP, but is undergraduate research prevalent at Princeton and are there a lot of opportunities?

Any help would be muuuuuch appreciated. Thanks!

FermatABC

Princeton is most famous for its strength in mathematics, while MIT is more on applied math/engineering side. The pinnacle of the best mathematicians in the world have studied at Princeton, including notable geniuses like Terrence Tao, Edward Witten, and other Field Medalists. Princeton's science/engineering programs are very strong, many of the top students in Princeton end up choosing engineering as their major.

One major you might want to check out is Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE). This is Princeton's version of using hardcore mathematics in the field of finance, and is by far the best program out there in landing students the best finance jobs possible, which is what lured me to Princeton. Just look at the record placement every year and you'll no doubt agree.

As for undergraduate research, the student must make the initiative to contact professors. MIT's UROP program is better suited for this.

ec1234

You are forced to do undergraduate research, in that you have to write a senior thesis and one or two junior papers. That means that each department has a mechanism in place for the undergrads to find advisers. As an engineer you only need one semester of independent work, btu the mechanisms are still in place. If you want research opportunities earlier in your college career, they are definitely there but you're more on your own. The MOL department has a summer research program that is open to anyone (although non-juniors have to apply), if you want to stay at princeton to do life-sciences research.

sunshine_breeze

I've also heard that Princeton's engineering department is more theoretical than MIT's. Does that (or the caliber of Princeton's department) affect the kinds of jobs or job recruiting that goes on?

bostonc

Majoring math at Princeton is hard---it's hard to get in, every year the department takes only a dozen or so students. They make it very exclusive.
MIT has close to a hundred in math major. Physics at Pton is challenging too.
Don't know what kind engineering you are interested in. Besides the traditional ones, bioengineering is increasingly more popular. Obviously MIT is the powerhouse for all engineering fields. Pton offers the strongest engineering program among the Ivies (Harvard just started the engineering school last year).

holas999

sunshinebreeze:
"I know it's going to be either math/science/engineering"

Go to MIT. It seems like a pretty obvious choice from what you want to study, especially because job opportunities after college are more abundant at MIT than Princeton in this particular field.

hikids

Are you more one-dimensional or broader? Had a S that was MIT material (math science not a lot of other interests), and a D that is Princeton (math science also but many other interests). So pick based on your relative geekiness.

Weasel8488

The math department does not decide who they will take. At the end of sophomore year, anyone who has fulfilled the necessary prereqs can declare himself a math major. The small number of math majors is indeed a function of the difficulty of math at Princeton, but to describe the department as exclusive would be a gross mischaracterization.

bostonc

Well, the dept sets the bar, directly or indirectly it controls the acceptances. It's within their power to say students w C- average can be qualified. But they don't and do the opposite. Therefore "They make it very exclusive" is hardly a mischaracterization. If you have issue with the word "exclusive", then read it as "selective".

sunshine_breeze

My main interests are in science and math, but I do have other interests. I like performing music, cognitive science, and drawing (and Frisbee! but obviously there are no classes in that) but not to the degree that I'd actually major in them or consider a career in them.

I AM somewhat of a nerd though. I like RPGs, science fiction, set (the game), and the like.

ec1234

You have to work hard to not get into the math major if its what you want. My roommate is a math major and probably has a B/B- average in her math classes, but she's still a math major and still enjoys it (most of the time). I'm not sure what you're talking about. If you have a C- average than you shouldn't really be majoring in that subject anyway, as about half of your grades wouldh ave to be Ds.

Weasel8488

bostonc, I really don't see how requiring a C average is "very exclusive." The fact of the matter is that no one who has a C- average in the math prereqs wants to major in mathematics. So the constraint is slack. You seem to bringing this up to make the larger point that math and science at Princeton are hard. Since this is a thread about MIT vs. Princeton, are you trying to say that they are easy at MIT? Clearly this is not the case. You go on to make a number of good points about the engineering programs at the two schools, but in this case you are barking up the wrong tree.

IAmNobody

sunshine_breeze, I encourage you to come to the preview weekend (since you are NJ, I imagine this should be pretty easy?) and talk to more of the teachers/students about this.

I am very much a math/sci person, and was choosing between MIT and Princeton last year. I ultimately decided that Princeton would force me out of my comfort zone a little bit in terms of being around and in classes that take humanities seriously and have so many celebrated professors/teachers. This is not to say that MIT doesn't care about a balanced education-but at CPW last year many of my friends (all students there) agreed that there were few people as passionate about humanities there.

I've really enjoyed much of the variety that's offered here academically, and feel that the math/science classes are teaching me just as much as if I had attended MIT.

Another thing to consider is the social scene, which is very tech-y at MIT and definitely not so much here. I am more comfortable in the MIT environment, but I feel that I've grown a great deal (in terms of becoming more sociable, patient, relaxed, etc.) by coming here.

I believe the greatest distinction however is that if you absolutely positive you want to go into science, especially research, MIT may be a better fit. I am unsure about what I want to do after graduation, although I am probably majoring in a science. Princeton in this regard lets you still continue research and that science based education, but explore lots of different stuff too.

Good luck!

bostonc

Weasel8488: You clearly didn't read the whole msg before countering.
"...within their power to say students w C- average can be qualified. But they don't....".
That's used to illustrate how the math dept @Princeton keeps the bar very high. While @MIT the dept is much less choosy about it.
Hope that's clear now.

Weasel8488

So requiring a C average of majors is setting the bar "very high"? Certainly they could allow C- students to major in math, but what would be the point? None of these students would take them up on the offer. As I said before, the constraint is slack.