[bugsy]

If he's doing engineering there's not much on the east coast other than MIT. Stanford, CalTech and MIT are the three on the top and there is a big gap before the next one down.

Of these three, Stanford is the only one where a normal social life is possible, assuming that's desirable.

[gsivil]

I do not know what he is about to study but for example in CS there are very very good places on the east besides MIT.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu...

The OP does not want to get details info in rankings and at such a top level I think being in Berkeley or Stanford or Cornell or Princeton is not so different.

[bugsy]

Cornell and Princeton have very poor engineering schools compared to Stanford. Princeton's physics and sciences are great, but not engineering is not comparable at all.

[_delirium]

From the perspective of CS academia, I don't think of Stanford and Cornell as having particularly noticeable prestige differences. Stanford is considerably larger, so is better-known in more areas, while Cornell specializes in a few, with a math-heavy, formal focus. Stanford's business/VC connections are definitely better known, though.

[mdon]

You clearly have no understanding of the enormity of the eastern time zone if MIT is the only engineering school you can think of.

[bugsy]

I can think of dozens of engineering schools. I listed the only one in the east that is comparable to Stanford or CalTech, not a comprehensive list of all the schools that are not as good. I hope now you understand the purpose of my previous post. Thanks.

[snikolov]

Your social life is largely what you make of it. I haven't hung out much at Stanford, and I'm not sure what the parent considers to be a normal social life, but as an MIT student, I would advise the OP to not let such stereotypes deter him from considering MIT or Caltech or any other top school.

[nostrademons]

CMU, Olin, UIUC? (Technically, two of those three are in the Midwest, but close enough...)