<p>With about a week to go before I commit to a university, I’m deciding between MIT, Princeton, and Harvard and I’ve been hearing that if I’m sure I want to be an engineer, I should attend MIT. But what exactly does it mean when people say MIT is the best engineering school? Like, what exactly makes MIT a “better” institution to obtain an engineering degree from than the other two?</p>
<p>Mostly I’m looking for tangibles… I’ve visited the three campuses and I loved all of them. I definitely felt the techie feel at MIT but I’m still wondering what makes it better a choice.</p>
<p>MIT introduces you to failure: it makes you resilient and redefines your perceptions of “hard work” and “impossible.” You can do more when you know you’ve done harder things, and are willing to put your all in. MIT also helps you make connections; all the start-ups I’ve seen happen here happened with groups of friends. I could also say that MIT’s classes are harder and go deeper, but I can only speculate, since I haven’t taken classes at Harvard or Princeton.</p>
<p>You can see MIT’s course offerings here: [MIT</a> Subject Listing & Schedule Spring 2012](<a href=“http://student.mit.edu/catalog/index.cgi]MIT”>MIT Subject Listing & Schedule Fall 2023)</p>
<p>And there’s also rankings: [Best</a> Engineering School Rankings | Engineering Program Rankings | US News<a href=“It’s%20for%20grad%20schools,%20but%20I%20think%20a%20good%20department%20is%20a%20good%20department,%20whether%20it’s%20for%20undergrad%20or%20grad.”>/url</a></p>
<p>And there’s also money, long-term: [url=<a href="Bloomberg - Are you a robot?</a> Your College Degree Worth? - Businessweek](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings) :p</p>
<p>The differences are particularly stark with these three.</p>
<p>First of all, until recently Harvard only offered a general engineering degree. It is hard to have a full-fledged curriculum in various engineering disciplines when there are so few engineering majors. Princeton engineering is stronger and has had majors in the traditional engineering disciplines for a long time, but they can’t support nearly the breadth of classes that MIT does. </p>
<p>Harvard and Princeton engineering tends to attract premeds which don’t use the degree. Hence, they don’t have as many industry connections. Most of the rest are interested in more scientific types of engineering. If you’re interested in material science, your undergrad training will be largely chemistry and physics, so a Harvard education would serve you well. However, if you are interested in mechanical engineering, going to Harvard would be a bad idea.</p>
<p>In addition to the above, being an engineering major at MIT, where engineering is so prioritized and valued by the school, means you will have more classmates on campus who will do problem sets with you. It also means that you will be taking classes from and doing research with professors who are absolutely top-notch in your field of interest, and who will be able to help you get into graduate school or get a job.</p>
<p>I also heard that the buildings housing Princeton’s engineering are far away from the rest of the campus, a little isolated. (I hope I’m not mixing it up with another school, but I don’t think so.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies!!! I was also wondering if being at a college like MIT, filled with really bright potential engineers, creates a sense of inferiority for those who want to be engineers but perhaps won’t be at the very top of the MIT class, or if this is just a misconception and is pretty nonexistent.</p>
<p>And if I want to also delve into humanities (while of course I would focus on engineering) how are the resources in this matter? I enjoy these side courses in high school and would like to know if MIT’s humanities are enough for someone like me, or if I would be better off at Harvard or Princeton.</p>
<p>I really want to attend all three! But I know I’ll have to choose one. I appreciate all and any help! :D</p>
<p>You won’t have many humanities requirements (one class a term), but you can take as many as you want.</p>
<p>MIT’s humanities are awesome. Most of my humanities professors, just like my science and math professors, have been leaders in their fields. To give you an idea, my sci-fi writing professor next term: [Joe</a> Haldeman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Haldeman]Joe”>Joe Haldeman - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>MIT will probably make you feel inferior at some point, but it does that to everyone. You won’t be feeling inferior to the people around you, just to the person you want to be. Which is a good thing, because it makes you always strive to improve yourself. The people around you will be awesome, but so are you, obviously, since you got in. :p</p>