<p>Alright, I know this is probably a cliche question.</p>
<p>I am an international student. I didnt even apply to MIT etc just because I couldnt afford it. I got a fat scholarship from MSU Bozeman and decided to do MechE here.</p>
<p>I am a sophomore now.</p>
<p>I have always been a very strong student, but this semester I am actually going to drop one of my classes (well, because the class average was 40% and the prof is a jerk and doesn’t curve, but lets leave that for another day).</p>
<p>Anyway, my point is I am actually finding classes at MSU difficult. I have been in the same classes in high school as the people who went to Carnegie Mellon, etc (and could hold my own against them).</p>
<p>Now, I just cant comprehend how different, better or worse my experience would be if I wouldve gone to school at MIT, Carnegie Mellon etc.</p>
<p>People pay like 50k more than what I pay…and call me crazy but I just.dont.see.the.value in all that money.</p>
<p>I got an amazing internship (paid and all) at the end of my freshman year with a Fortune500 company. I also got a research grant from MSU to do some anthropology work.</p>
<p>Anyway, could anyone explain to me the difference? There are smart kids all around me in my classes here. I know at MIT I might run into world famous prodigies etc, but at the end of the day, don’t they have to solve the same statics problem as I do? Wont they struggle with the right hand rule the first time they try it too?</p>
<p>MIT is known for its top researchers, not necessarily undergraduate education.
And many fields such as business, law, consulting, and finance depend heavily on your school’s reputation for recruitment. For engineering I guess it doesn’t really matter.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m not entirely sure that I can buy the premise of your argument, for MIT is well-known for offering full-need-coverage international financial aid. Granted, if you are a rich international student then you would receive no aid, but then you probably should have been able to afford MIT anyway.</p>
<p>The one notable engineering field where your school does seem to matter is tech entrepreneurship (yet admittedly the driving force may not be the school’s reputation per-se but rather the networking contacts you develop at that school). Harmonix Music Systems of Guitar Hero/Rock-Band fame was founded by two guys who met at MIT. MIT also has deep social ties to the venture capital community, although this admittedly perhaps falls within the aforementioned business/finance category where school brand is paramount.</p>
<p>Look, far be it for me to explain why rich people choose to spend the way that they do. I’m far from rich, so I can’t really understand the psychology of rich people. </p>
<p>What I would say is that while you may think that spending an extra $200k on an elite private university education to be frivolous for a rich foreign student, I can think of numerous such foreign students who not only freely paid for such an education, but also were driving luxury cars that, in at least one case with a guy with a brand-new Ferrari, surely cost more than the education itself. {I suspect that guy is a prince of one of the ruling royal families of a Middle Eastern nation such as Saudi Arabia or the UAE.} </p>
<p>I suppose that at a certain level of wealth, regular market price signals simply don’t really apply anymore. For example, if you have a $10 million trust fund - which probably isn’t that much money for an Arab prince - by simply investing in 30-year US Treasuries,widely considered the safest investment in the world, you will make over $300k a year just in interest alone without having to even lift a finger and without having to dip into any of your principal. When you do absolutely nothing and still make that kind of money, I suppose that you have to find something to spend it on, whether it be an Italian sportscar or an education.</p>
<p>And at least the education surely has more long-term value than that sportscar. For example, I suspect that that Arab prince can return home and secure a nice cushy government ministry or diplomatic service job, or perhaps at a prestigious international NGO such as the Arab League or OPEC by leveraging the brand-name and network of his school. Or perhaps the school’s brand name and resulting career opportunities can help him to land a desirable spouse. Lest you find that outlandish, it should be pointed out that Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito studied at Oxford and Crown Princess Masako studied at both Harvard and Oxford, and they married while working as diplomats for the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Not to be overly harsh, but somehow I doubt that studying at MSU Bozeman is going to help you win the hand of a princess. </p>
<p>While this thread was surely not meant to be the discussion of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, I would simply say that an elite education seems to be far less frivolous of an expenditure that the vast majority of other purchases that rich people make. Heck, I can think of a number of rich people who wear wristwatches that cost more than I make in a year. But like I said, when you have boatloads of money, I suppose you have to find something to spend that money on.</p>
<p>My personal opinion is that the difference in programs at schools like MIT and other less prestigious, but excellent schools is the type of students that they recruit. Stated another way, if you are intelligent and driven, then you will find opportunities at either school. Rich people accumulate and retain wealth in part by not wasting money. There are valid reasons why paying more for an elite school would be justified. </p>
<p>The academic talent at schools like MIT is tangibly better than the talent recruited at most other schools. Does that make them better engineers? Ultimately, your college experience will be defined by the work and enthusiasm that you contribute, not who you rub elbows with. If a famous professor inspires you, that is great. I make the case that a competent and caring liberal arts-educated advisor may accomplish the same things.</p>
<p>MIT essentially has unlimited resources and would have facilities and laboratories that students at schools can only dream about. If you are interested in Nuclear Engineering does MSU or any other state school you know have an actual nuclear reactor? I would not be surprised if MIT has one. As you get into more advanced classes that huge disparity in resources can make a significant difference in the breadth, depth and quality of a STEM education.</p>
Idaho State, Kansas State, NC State, Ohio State, Oregon State, Penn State, and Washington State all have nuclear reactors. So do a number of other public universities, as well as a few private institutions such as MIT.</p>
<p>I ask international students I meet where I go (who are all full pay) the same thing. I mostly get stupid responses, but one person said that it just doesn’t impress people anyone to shine at a mediocre US university, and it doesn’t impress anyone in the US to shine at a top Chinese university. And he knows (and does) shine at a strong university in the US, and that in the end he doesn’t have any better way to prove he is the best than going to a strong university in the US and doing better than everyone else.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s any reason why someone should pay 50K to be average at MIT or anywhere, but if you know you’re going to be the best, maybe it makes sense.</p>
<p>If you need a 25 Tesla Magnetic field to perform an experiment in E&M could you find an institution other than MIT that would have that capability?</p>
<p>How about a space systems lab with a Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility… oh wait… that was moved from MIT to Maryland because there was too much crap already there to build the thing.</p>
<p>While there may be other universities that have facilities equivalent to those of MIT in one or two particular areas of science and engineering, there are none that would have such a wide range of the most advanced facilities in the same school as MIT.</p>
<p>And anyway, all these nuclear reactors and facilities dont affect the experience of an undergrad do they? I mean, I have just walked by the Sub-zero lab, thats all.</p>
<p>What percent of undergrads actually end up operating or using the nuclear reactor anyway?</p>
<p>It is probably true that if your goal is simply to earn a BS in Engineering and get an entry level job as an engineer and have no interest in research or graduate studies, at the undergraduate level MSU and MIT probably use pretty much the same textbooks and teach the same material so there would likely not be much difference in what you would learn no matter which school you went to. MIT’s immense resources would be of value to you if you wanted to pursue a graduate degree and do cutting edge research.</p>