As a non-native, my viewpoint may vary. However, for Americans, when considering the prestige of Princeton and MIT, which institution is generally regarded as more prestigious? Your insights are appreciated! Thank you!
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The one you get accepted to and can afford is more prestigious.
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they are both equally prestigious for different reasons in my mind.
When I think of Princeton - I think of the rich history and traditional Ivy league prestige. Like noble, reserved, classic.
When I think MIT - I think of innovation and brilliant minds, maybe even savant-like characteristics of students there. I think of them as being more outside the box, and different, not traditional.
These are just my own impressions and just what pops in my head.
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They are both at a level where what matters most is fit.
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Which flavor of ice cream is better - chocolate or vanilla?
The most prestigious one is the one that accepts you. If they both accept you, assess cost and fit.
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Which of the two tippy top, most selective and renowned U.S. universities is more prestigious? Are you imagining some scenario where someone would be impressed by one and not the other? I don’t even know what kind of hair splitting would be required to discern a difference in the brand power of either of these schools.
Is there a particular program or area of study of interest here? That might be a better basis for comparison. But honestly, unless you have acceptances in hand from both, this is not a worry worth having.
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Americans don’t normally go around thinking about ranking prestige. Most Americans don’t know anyone who went to either so you’re going to get responses from the general public related to stereotypes. On this site you may get more nuanced responses since people here tend to think more about colleges. I happen to know many people who went to both. My impression is that both schools have really smart people who work hard. People in hiring positions don’t care about relative prestige.
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Except on College Confidential and Reddit. 
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I mostly agree with these nutshell summaries. I do think there’s a lot of hyperbole about both colleges, because I am pretty sure students at both schools feel like ordinary people.
The student needs sound reasons for wanting to attend either college. Prestige will appear NOWHERE on any admissions officers list of good reasons.
This is a pointless question. There is no, single, linear scale on which one university is more prestigious than the other. (You might as well argue about whether the Fields Medal is more or less prestigious than the Nobel Prize.) They are different enough that one could be much, much better than the other for a particular student with particular interests and goals. In the relatively-rare case where a student has both options, I would hope they could find better reasons for their final choice than a belief that one is more prestigious than the other.
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I mean which one is more famous. If you take 2 very well known universities from my country and ask me which one is more famous, I can usually tell you. Americans don’t do that?
Who is more famous- Kim Kardashian or Madonna?
I’m not sure why you are asking this question.
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If that is what you are asking then that will be Harvard.
Joking aside, if your daughter gotten into both schools, then congratulations because she is the top of the top this year. They are equally famous IMO: Tony Stark and Peter Parker both went to MIT while Albert Einstein died on Princeton campus after living there for decades.
Edit to say these will be what “average Americans” think when they hear the two names.
Harvard
They have better things to do with their time. Fantasy Football comes to mind.
The answer will be generational. A better question would be Kim Kardashian or Beyonce
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Do moderators steal poster’s answers/jokes?
Edit: Asking for myself since I have no friends…
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Why does it matter? Should there even be an objective answer to this (spoiler alert: there isn’t), how exactly would one use this knowledge? Or is this just idle conversation? I am not sure of the point…
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Better question is who is the GOAT: LeBron or Michael. Now let the debate start.
Fame ≠Prestige. Ask anyone who has found themselves saying, “no, not Penn State.”
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That’s against CC rules
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No, pretending to be the friend or sharing my account with a friend, that is against the rules. Using my own account personally and asking the question is NOT violating TOS.
However, plagirism…
Asking for myself now.
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