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I found this to be quite amusing. How do you gauge if someone is going to be an excellent scientist in the future? You probably know many smart people going there who are majoring in science and doing quite well, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are “excellent future scientists.” </p>
<p>Anyway, OP, I would suggest visiting these two schools or talking to people who go to these schools to gain more of an insight about the environment. You can PM me if you want. There are several MIT grads around here. I was stuck choosing between MIT and Princeton also. I was going to be a science major. About halfway through freshman year, my major changed drastically. I became a social science major. I was lucky to have gone to Princeton, where I could change my intended major and still be in classes with top notch people and top notch professors. MIT has a strong humanities program, but nowhere near as strong as Princeton’s. </p>
<p>There are definitely a lot of STEM nerds at Princeton. Of course, you’re going to find more at MIT, but you’d probably get tired of encountering predominantly only one type of person all the time. Right now, your worries are almost pre-mature. You should apply EA to the one you want to go to more. Then, you can apply RD to the other one. If you want to play the statistics, Princeton would probably be the better EA choice. However, it’s your decision. Then, after you find out if you’re admitted to one or both, you can ask this question. Perhaps the answer will be decided for you by admissions anyway. Good luck!</p>
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This wasn’t directed at me, but I’ll answer it anyway. Princeton’s grad program is ranked lower than MIT’s grad program (<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/physics-rankings[/url]”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/physics-rankings</a>). However, this is largely irrelevant. Personally, I could not stay at Princeton for undergrad AND grad. That seems to be the sentiment of most people I know here. Being in one place for so long is just suffocating.</p>