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Well, I was waitlisted at Princeton today, which was a huge disappointment. It was definitely where I wanted to go. However, I have still be accepted to so many great places. I have narrowed it down to MIT and Columbia. Both are in very exciting cities which is awesome, both will give me a great education. I know Columbia will be better in the humanities and MIT in the sciences. I do not want to do engineering, but I will probably major in physics or chemistry. I would definitely make use of MIT's cross registration with Harvard. How much better are MIT's sciences than Columbia's humanities? How much better are Columbia's humanities? If there are any major positives or negatives anyone can think of, please list. I realize MIT is kind of ugly, I've been there, and it upsets me, but I can overlook that. I will be visiting Columbia later this month. Thanks so much guys.

By Zzii (Zzii) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 08:15 pm: Edit

Sounds like you've got a tough call on your hands. As you say, both are great schools in great locations, each with it's own strong points academically. I personally am going into Engineering, so I would have a bias toward MIT, especially for any science-related field. MIT's Humanities and Social Science program (HASS) is solid as well. Whether or not this off-sets Columbia's strong Humanities-less strong sciences I don't know. It may come down to a feel you get while visiting campuses. I didn't think of MIT as ugly, but I know it is a common impression. Anyway, you can probably be happy at either school, they are both great. Best of luck!

By Nycneedhelp (Nycneedhelp) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 08:25 pm: Edit

MIT

Hey runningwolf, you're not Dathan, so stop posing.

By Runningwolf (Runningwolf) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 08:32 pm: Edit

Stop posing? I am sure you mean Ritzenhein, the 2003 NCAA cross country champion, but I didn't realize I was "posing" him. The only thing I can think of is my screen name "runningwolf," but I just picked a random stereotype Native American name that has "running" in it. I apologize for whatever I did.

By Alex614 (Alex614) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 10:34 pm: Edit

MIT

By Runningwolf (Runningwolf) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 12:30 am: Edit

Any particular reasons? Thanks for the replies.

By Wwoloszyn (Wwoloszyn) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 01:23 am: Edit

Hey Runningwolf, I have a similar delimma, but it's between Stanford and MIT. Before a few days ago, I was hardcore English - but I applied to MIT on a whim and I'm having to rethink my strategies. So, being absolutely petrified by all that I've heard about MIT, I did a bit of research and some good snooping to find out some pretty cool things in MIT's favor. First of all, they are heavy into undergrad, I know it sounds hoaky, but I've heard from alums and current students alike that since the courses are so hard, there's alot of community and a sense of togetherness that is out of this world. MIT is also trying to alter their geekish reputation by requiring humanities (only in the last few years) and also boasts one of the best political science departments in the world along with (good for me) 3 Pulitzer prize winning English teachers. There's also the enticing cross regestery with the surrounding colleges, not to mention the allure of Boston. But hey, Columbia was a top 5 pick of mine (and if I wasn't wait-listed, I'd be exactly where you are). Columbia is great, great if you like playing 2nd to the grad students, who (I think) Columbia is notorious for pandering to. I got that impression while I was there, but I also got a feel for the cool NYC atmosphere and the notably less stressed students than MIT. As an English hopeful, Columbia's NYC environment is great, but honestly, my advice is to go with MIT - and if you wanna get down to it, it has better resume presence as well. Hey, are you gonna go down to the MIT weekend in 2 wks? Regardless, if you want to IM me, I'm wwoloszyn and my name's Matt. Let me know what you think about my choices as well.

By Runningwolf (Runningwolf) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 09:33 pm: Edit

bump

By Sauronone (Sauronone) on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 02:24 am: Edit

Runningwolf, your name for this board is Dathan (click on your profile). That explains the other guy's statement.