<p>This is an interesting situation because both schools are elite. I think it might be easier to answer if you have some sort of idea of what career path you want to do. Also, which area do you like better?</p>
<p>A layperson will say MIT, hands-down, for engineering. But as noted above, Princeton is not just a liberal arts place and has great engineering programs as well.</p>
<p>Coincidentally, when I was in school, my roommate went to Princeton for undergrad and his classmate went to MIT. They were doing PhDs at Johns Hopkins. I also knew a guy who did a Princeton undergrad and MIT PhD. He definitely took more pride in his undergrad and his eat-in clubs. Depending on what you want to do, the schools seem pretty comparable, so you can’t really screw this up.</p>
<p>$30K is no joke, that’s really $50K in pre-tax salary + interest. But if you feel MIT is just more compelling for you (after giving it some rational thought), then go for it.</p>