MIT vs. Stanford: The Climate Dilemma

362e3238
Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:38:41 +0000

Hello all,
I have a bit of a dilemma. I have fairly severe seasonal affective disorder, and in that sense I would be happier at Stanford than MIT, but I feel a much stronger cultural connection to MIT. When I visited both this past summer, MIT was the clear winner, and this was confirmed by the Pugh Matrix I used to rank the schools I was considering, but in light of this terrible winter I find myself questioning the data. In general, I would never trust my own intuition over that of a carefully designed program, but I fear I may not have weighted climate strongly enough in my calculations. As we enter spring here in the Mid-Atlantic after one of the coldest winters on record, and my mood drastically improves, I find it increasingly difficult to choose MIT over Stanford.
I would really appreciate any advice, or simply reminders of why I fell in love with MIT in the first place. I’m posting this on the MIT board rather than the Stanford board because ultimately I know what I have to choose, I just want to be able to make that decision wholeheartedly.
Thank you so much in advance,
362e3238