|
|
|
|
|
|
by giardini
1553 days ago
|
|
|
MIT has a graduation rate of about 85%, which means that if you get in then you'll likely graduate. So it's like Stanford or med school: the real barrier is entry - once you're in they'll do all they can to get you to graduation. I don't agree with this philosophy b/c it means an MIT education adds no more value than any other university. MIT, as well as many other schools, would improve their reputation by culling more students out in the 4 years. So congrats: you've made the cut(in life)! You'll never have to worry again unless you really screw up (drugs, criminal behavior, etc). Hmmm, IIRC MAD MAGAZINE once published an issue that parodied this "med-school" situation. |
|
|
And my observed data on a number who didn't graduate or had trouble doing so was that came from external factors having nothing to do with the school itself—make very sure your parents won't sabotage you for not going to "their" school Z, or going to a much better one than they did—or personal factors that would have made it hard to graduate, at least for a while, at any school with some rigor.
ADDED: This is probably the best reply to answer your specific questions that I haven't already: I did go to MIT, but on the science track so that's not as relevant for you. The quality of education and peers was outstanding.
Contrary to what some people are claiming getting a lot of very smart people together makes a big difference, from what I've heard it's one of the biggest values from the Indian ITTs vs. the instruction and equipment, which while still world class wasn't so great. Especially in a place like the Boston metro area you'll have all the opportunities you could want to hang out with other types of people, might even want to make a point of doing that to decompress.
I'm one of the "didn't graduate due to external factors" exceptions to the above 85% statistic, but just getting into MIT opened more than a few doors including through networking.
There's something both ugly and perhaps good for you to factor in: we're clearly going back to harder economic times in general, "history doesn't repeat but it rhymes" and it's rhyming strongly with the 1970s.
This may result in tuition increases before you graduate but that will probably take a while, but it will also likely substantially decrease the real, inflation adjusted principal of your loans. Of course make sure their interest rates have some sort of cap, you don't want to be paying 20-22% like the prime rate got to in the US before inflation was tamed in the early 1980s. Also factor in all of the above for school Z.
In the above light, a perceived higher quality undergraduate degree might make a much more substantial difference than it does today.