I'm probably more entrepreneurial than theoretical. But I'd likely be so deep in debt when I get of college, that I'd have to work for a while before doing a startup.
Anyway, I think the quality of students matters quite a bit. Does CMU attract the more academic kind and Stanford the more startupy kind? Are you saying that the CS research done at Stanford is not as good?
Yes, it's a tough decision. But I don't think rankings really matter.
Do you mean that CS classes are better at CMU? How so?
EDIT: I claimed that "Gatech was ranked as #1 in CS but everyone I speak to tells me CMU and Stanford are definitely better (just look at the alumni of these two as opposed to gatech)." It is not. Its undergraduate program is ranked #6 and its graduate program is ranked #9 by the U.S. News & World Report. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/com/s...
I'm a high school senior too and I only recently got accepted at Carnegie Mellon and Stanford (didn't apply to Ivys or MIT). First, you should get over the rejections. Last December, I applied for Cornell ED (36% acceptance rate) and I got rejected! I couldn't quite figure out why but now, five months later, I'm really really happy cos it gave the opportunity to apply for Stanford/CMU during RD. And Stanford had a RD acceptance rate of 7.2%. Only Harvard has a lower rate. So, shit does happen but good things also happen.
Anyway, as an international, I can't get financial aid at most schools (only Harvard, MIT and a few others are need-blind for intls). So, I'm faced with a similar question. Is it worth paying so much for Stanford or CMU?