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The Valedictorian at my school turned down Harvard last year, and my GC told me someone in else in my school is turning down Princeton for one of the UC's this year.
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<p>Students at your school just loves turning down elite private schools for Berkeley hmm? ;)</p>
<p>Berkeley over Cornell EE, Johns Hopkins BME, UCLA honors, USC engineering, Upenn engineering</p>
<p>CA2006: "ebonytear: little over double of 11% could be as high at 30%. Not much of a gap with Harvard's legacy rate. It's kind of funny that the rate itself is not published in that article, which indicates that it's probably close to 30%."</p>
<p>Some simple math here: doubling 11% gets you 22%. 30%-22% = 8%. I definitely don't think "a little over" would be something like 8%. 8% is not little, especially in view of the fact that admit rates are so small anyway (8% is 1/3 of 30%, is more than 3/4 of 11%). The normal view of little is probably somewhere around 1%-2%, and even 3% is quite a stretch.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that many other articles (Yale and Princeton's included) don't record their rates in percentages but relatively - how many times more than regular rate. If Princeton says their legacy admit rate is MORE (not even "a little more") than 3x regular, does that mean you automatically "assume" it to be something like say, 50%? I mean, if "little" means 8%, then "more" must mean 16% and so P's would be somewhere along...say, 46%? Wow, that is close to Harvard's....not. And talk about awarding legacies! 1/2 of them admitted! No wonder why, like CTS says, P has the highest endowment per student!</p>
<p>Besides, Harvard's is 40%, and a difference of 10% is quite a lot - it is 1/3 of 30% and 1/4 of 40%. A third or even a quarter of something is a pretty big gap. Your assumption that it probably is close to 30% has no backing at all and is a very big stretch.</p>
<p>Oh and you know what they say about assumptions...</p>
<p>Quote:
The Valedictorian at my school turned down Harvard last year, and my GC told me someone in else in my school is turning down Princeton for one of the UC's this year. </p>
<p>Students at your school just loves turning down elite private schools for Berkeley hmm? </p>
<p>I attend a very competitive high school in San Diego area. There are a lot of students admitted to high level universities every year. Last years situation with the valedictorian stunned everyone. Not the norm, believe me.</p>
<p>Actually, arguably for undergrad education, Princeton > Stanford > Cal.
But then there are other factors, like scholarship, majors, specific programs, etc.</p>
<p>Ebonytear: I think you are addressing the wrong person on your last lengthy post... I made no assumptions on the issue and don't know what you are talking about, nor do I care. Sorry.</p>
<p>^^i sure love callous people...</p>
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Actually, arguably for undergrad education, Princeton > Stanford > Cal.
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<p>I don't see this as very arguable. I think it's pretty solid.</p>
<p>I'd have to disagree with that.</p>
<p>Stanford is much better than Princeton. I mean, honestly, what is Princeton even famous for?</p>
<p>its on the east coast...</p>
<p>Absolutely nothing. Princeton doesn't even deserve to be in the Ivy League.</p>
<p>, obviously...</p>
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Stanford is much better than Princeton. I mean, honestly, what is Princeton even famous for?
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<p>Nah, I don't agree with this. For undergraduate education, I don't think you can say that Stanford is much better than Princeton.</p>
<p>What Princeton is famous for is basically offering a LAC-style environment for its undergrads within a research university environment. You ask what Princeton is famous for, and I could ask, well, what are Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore famous for? It's not just about having big fancy research arms, most of the benefit of which goes to the graduate students and to those particular undergrads who are interested in pursuing research careers. It's also about undergraduate focus and undergraduate teaching. Most undergrads have no interest in becoming researchers.</p>
<p>I am not saying that Princeton is necessarily better than Stanford. However, at the undergraduate level, I don't think you can say that Stanford is much better than Princeton.</p>
<p>Princeton is better at the undergraduate level, because that's where the University focuses all of its attention. It puts into more resources at the undergraduate level: an endowment of $1.64 million per student, beating out Stanford and every other Ivy League institution. At the graduate level, Stanford is clearly better.</p>
<p>agreed. this is why princeton does not have a law school or a medical school. they choose to focus their attention on undergraduate education. princeton is not very well known as a research institution, and like someone pointed out earlier, is probably closer in style to amherst than it is to harvard and the other ivies. stanford has a reputation as a research giant.</p>
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What Princeton is famous for is basically offering a LAC-style environment for its undergrads within a research university environment. You ask what Princeton is famous for, and I could ask, well, what are Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore famous for?
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<p>I had never heard of these 3 until my senior year of high school and many people it seems haven't heard of them either, so I'm not sure if they are indeed famous. Research and size do indeed play a large role in determining a school's "fame." </p>
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It's not just about having big fancy research arms, most of the benefit of which goes to the graduate students and to those particular undergrads who are interested in pursuing research careers. It's also about undergraduate focus and undergraduate teaching. Most undergrads have no interest in becoming researchers.
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<p>Fair enough, but I truly believe that Stanford will soon surpass Princeton at the undergraduate level too. Stanford has improved so much within the past decade in all respects. If I were to personally choose between the two, Stanford wins hands down in my book, (and I'm a Berkeley student.)</p>
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I had never heard of these 3 until my senior year of high school and many people it seems haven't heard of them either, so I'm not sure if they are indeed famous. Research and size do indeed play a large role in determining a school's "fame."
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<p>Yeah, but is that really the goal - to go to a famous school? If so, then forget about the LAC's, forget about Princeton, and also forget about Stanford. Just go to Harvard. NOBODY beats Harvard when it comes to sheer name recognition.</p>
<p>But I would say that fame is not the only criteria on the table. I remember one girl who went to MIT for graduate school and did a corporate internship at Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee, and she found that most people in the company had never heard of MIT, and many people thought it stood for something like the "Milwaukee Institute of Technology". Heck, her old undergraduate school, Notre Dame, was far more famous at Harley than MIT was, mostly because of the famous Notre Dame football team. But does that mean that MIT was a bad choice for her?</p>
<p>Look, the truth is, other than Harvard and Yale, if you were to ask regular people about the names of famous schools, you will probably end up getting lots of schools that are famous for their football or basketball teams. They're going to start talking about schools like USC, Texas, Miami, Florida, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, LSU, UConn, Villanova, Duke, BC, and the like. Most regular people have no idea what the top schools are. All they know is what they see on TV and what they see on TV are the colleges with the major sports programs. However, the employers certainly know who the good schools are. That's why McKinsey recruits at the top LAC's, but doesn't recruit at, say, UConn. </p>
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Fair enough, but I truly believe that Stanford will soon surpass Princeton at the undergraduate level too. Stanford has improved so much within the past decade in all respects. If I were to personally choose between the two, Stanford wins hands down in my book, (and I'm a Berkeley student.)
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<p>While Stanford may someday beat Princeton at the undergraduate level, it is certainly not going to be easy. Let's keep in mind that Princeton will not go quietly in the night. Princeton has also managed to improve significantly in the last decade.</p>
<p>I turned down...
Santa Clara Univeristy, UCI, UCD, UCSB,UCSC and Mount HOlyoke. Ok, so they're not big names but that's ok. Cal was my first choice.</p>
<p>I chose Princeton over a Regents Scholarship at Berkeley (EECS). I wouldn't say this choice is for everyone. I know people who were accepted to some of the most prestigious programs in the country who picked Berkeley instead. Still, to bash other top universities is, in my opinion, needless. As a Princeton student, I have great respect for Berkeley (I also absolutely envy your sweatshirts and shotglasses) and seriously thought I would have ended up there. I think Berkeley girls are super-cute too. My friend Jamie is going there, and she's a super hottie.</p>
<p>Berkeley is one of the best schools in the world, no doubt about it, but Princeton is excellent as well. Alongside Stanford, I believe they are the two most well-rounded schools in the country (since both have very strong engineering programs). However, what sakky said is true, Princeton truly does care about its undergrads, and it also has some of the most amazing students I've ever met.</p>
<p>Berkeley has several benefits, as does Princeton, Harvard, etc. Geniuses come out of all schools, and to bash any of these institutions is, ultimately, shortsighted, biased, and ignorant.</p>
<p>I'm turning down my local community college</p>
<p>iv4me: My intention was not to bash Princeton or any other University. When I applied it was with every intention of attending if accepted. Personal circumstances have changed at home at I feel the need to stay in CA for now. I do consider Cal to be on the same level as Princeton in many respects and don't feel I am settling. By no means did I mean to insinuate anything negative about Princeton; it is one of the best schools in the world.</p>