Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
I've lived close to all three institutions, and am all too familiar with their locations, so I have to say MIT is the obvious choice.
To each his own. I went to grad school at Cornell in the 80's. Now, I live 500 km north in Ottawa and I drive down to Ithaca twice a year just to hang out. I really like the vibe of the town. I have no desire to go to Boston/Cambridge. Too big.
This is just my view of the schools' locations. If I had to choose an undergrad engineering program, it would be MIT's. Fighting Beavers!