Princeton vs Harvard vs Yale vs Brown for Computer Science / Robotics

engprofdad
Wed, 06 Apr 2022 13:29:08 +0000

My S22 ended up with some amazing options – he got into Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Brown. (An embarrassment of riches, I know!).

(He was also waitlisted at a bunch of other schools, like MIT, Stanford, UPenn, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon, but he’s not taking the idea of being on those waitlists seriously at all).

His likely major at this point is computer science, and he’s especially interested in robotics, along with math, physics, and engineering more broadly.

We’re looking for advice about how to choose between these incredible options, especially in terms of which would be the optimal choice for someone with his interests in computer science and which would be the best fit for him. (Just to be clear – we realize that the best CS and engineering schools are not necessarily Ivies).

Does anyone with special knowledge about Computer Science have a sense of which of these universities would be the best choice? He’s looking for the school with the best and most interesting academic offerings in his areas of interest, a collaborative and not super-competitive student culture, opportunities to get to know and work closely with professors and engage in undergraduate research, and a student culture where a fairly nerdy, not particularly social, very nice, liberal, brainy computer science person, with little interest in partying, would feel comfortable, find other like-minded students, and thrive.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!