<p>Student perspective, matching those of my parents:</p>
<p>Penn – Too ugly and loud (i.e. urban), too pre-professional, too big, Wharton felt entitled and separated from the rest of the university (would have applied there).</p>
<p>St. John’s College (NM) – Beautiful campus, but too many students were smokers, the student body was nonconformist (read: weird), work/play balance skewed surprisingly far toward work</p>
<p>UChicago – Father went to grad school, but nothing about it stood out and the tour guide basically acknowledged that fun went to die there. Not reassuring. Food was excellent though.</p>
<p>MIT – This was a total disaster on many levels. First, it was ugly and the weather was horrible. Second, there were many students asleep in a relatively small class I visited, which was true no where else I’ve been. Third, students seemed cold/unfriendly (i.e. in lunchroom people were on laptops instead of talking), no one in infinite corridor was smiling/talking. No way.</p>
<p>Harvard – stayed on list despite annoying rep who repeated the same two or three talking points at everything I’ve seen her at (she is our regional rep), tour guide very good but overall graduate focus seemed implied and student admitted competition between students, even for activities over breaks. </p>
<p>I was admitted to Stanford and Princeton.</p>
<p>Stanford – Visit felt incredibly fake and insubstantial. The campus was a huge disappointment and reminiscent of a famous Mexican fast-food chain. Felt like a city when I wanted a smaller, cohesive campus. Students I met seemed innovative but not particularly intellectual in the classical sense; departmental strengths clearly did not reflect my interests. No time during weekend to seriously visit classes, which I interpreted as school not placing a high importance on them. I sneaked into a math course taught by a TA, not impressed. Student body 40% Californian and very stereotypically so, students seemed to lack refinement, for lack of a better word. However, large international student presence was a plus. I was utterly at a loss as to why I thought applying early would make sense. I feel bad for taking up the spot of a student at my HS that would have really wanted to go (Stanford has a quota from my school, so…).</p>
<p>Princeton (clearly my destination) – Beautiful gothic/neogothic campus. Students in general were preppy (which I don’t mind, but the stereotypes hold some merit), but also very culturally and politically aware and are generally very urbane. This was a huge plus. The undergraduate focus came out at almost every moment. I was indifferent toward eating clubs, I now like them more than when I applied. Social scene exists outside of them (truly), and work/play balance was very good. I visited some math classes and they were taught my professors/researchers at the school as opposed to grad students. All were small. The main thing that I was worried about was East Coast culture (I am from Washington State) and simply not fitting in socially. Both fears have been alleviated.</p>
<p>I hope this has been useful. Of course, these are only my opinions. It is interesting that to each member of my family, Princeton was either considered the best fit before the visit or soared to the top of the list after visiting. The choice seemed obvious, but I was worried that I was forsaking international prestige in favor of fit by choosing Princeton. It was the correct decision and the school has exceeded my expectations.</p>