jmcdonald2

I share your perception of MIT, as do many people. At the end of the day they all have the potential for great opportunities. The one piece of advice all my colleagues/professors have given me is to consider fit, as that will determine my happiness within the program. You may benefit from some Skype calls with current students to get some additional perspective, if you haven't already. Truly wish you the best in making the decision. Perhaps I'll run into you on the west coast if you decide to go that way (USC is actually my front runner due to faculty fit). Edit: Seems like you're not the only one facing the MIT vs UCLA dilemma, though not full acceptances:

I'm in a similar situation (Stanford EE and MIT Aero). Did you attend open house yesterday? My advisor (who I trust) told me regardless of what I do during my PhD, a degree in a different field will impact future opportunities (all will state preference for EE/CpE PhD). I don't plan on attending MIT, though I probably would if I was accepted to EECS. Based on minimal info of your situation, I'd say CMU is your best option. Have you visited Pittsburgh before to get a sense of weather? Felt similar to Boston imo. CMU will certainly not limit opportunities. Friends who have graduated from there have all gotten TT positions at top schools within two years of graduating. I'd say UIUC is fairly well-known within academia. But yeah, middle of a cornfield. Don't know anything about UCLA- so no comment. I'm sure you know this, but brand name is secondary to fit. Good luck, feel free to reach out.