<p>What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Princeton.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>That’s right.</p>
<p>i’m in the same boat</p>
<p>i’m visiting columbia later this month and see how i like it because i’ve never been there</p>
<p>i visited princeton last summer and i didn’t really like it… it was ok but i knew there was a school out there that was more my style.</p>
<p>if i had to say today i’d say columbia (for me anyway). i’ll have to see how i like it</p>
<p>Well I didn’t apply to Princeton because I felt it had a palpable air of arrogance around it, so you know what I think. o_O</p>
<p>Lol, have you visited both? There’s really no way to choose between Ivies except on personal preference…</p>
<p>Amen Hanajima. Columbia is awesome. I love it. And I can tell you all about it, but in the end it is your choice. If you have questions, I can definitely answer.</p>
<p>If you live in New Jersey, I would say just visit when you can and pick the place that fits the experience you want to have. And I have said this a few times now - make sure that in thinking about college you return back to why you want to go to college in the first place - what is your purpose. In general if you have any predilection for an experience that will make you better as a scholar, leader and human being, you should really spend some time looking at Columbia. I promise you, you wont be disappointed.</p>
<p>Based on my experience, Princeton, NJ is a much quieter town. I spent a month living on Princeton campus in sophomore year for a summer class and there’s really not THAT much to do. Nassau St. is charming but overall the city has a very sleepy feel to it. Which is the exact opposite of NYC. Princeton campus is large and quite beautiful, while Columbia’s is much smaller but very pretty in its own right. </p>
<p>That’s about all I can offer. I’ll be attending Columbia next year (didn’t apply to Princeton) so I can’t comment on the academics.</p>
<p>when I visited princeton a few weeks back, I was just in awe of their stunningly beautiful and pristine architecture, then I suffocated and after 72 hours I had tears of joy rolling down my cheeks when I returned to Columbia. I’m sure the feeling for some at Princeton is mutual. So visit and decide based on that, Columbia is does have the same name recognition but it’s got most everything else and more. you need to choose based on where you want to be for college, it’s a multi-faceted and nuanced decision.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/228909-columbia-vs-princeton.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/228909-columbia-vs-princeton.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/237231-columbia-vs-princeton-ed.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/237231-columbia-vs-princeton-ed.html</a> – my post #5 on this thread is probably the best thing i’ve written on this board</p>
<p><em>Correction</em></p>
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<p>Columbia does not have the same name recognition but…</p>
<p>Definitely try to go to both schools’ admitted students programs. Even if you have already visited one or both of the schools, it’s a valuable experience because you’ll interact with TONS of current students and get a taste of what life is really like at the school. Princeton and Columbia are VERY different, so my guess is it will be very clear which you prefer after attending these programs.</p>
<p>Princeton…more prestigious, prettier campus, no Core, more undergraduate attention, Eating Clubs, Senior Thesis, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>Both will have great academics, so academics aside, Princeton has more pros than Columbia IMHO. You can always visit NYC while at Princeton (it’s a train ride away and students do venture into the city), while still getting the safety and seclusion of Princeton’s campus in NJ. You have good nightlife w/ eating clubs and whatnot, plus you don’t sacrifice campus community because NYC is not right at your doorstep to lure everyone away from campus…NYC can be a lonely place…</p>
<p>The way I see it, Princeton allows you to have the best of both worlds: the prestige/campus/academics of Princeton with the opportunity to go easily to NYC with friends without it getting old…</p>
<p>Good luck with your hard yet amazing college decision!</p>
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<p>Some think Columbia’s classical, beaux-arts architecture is better looking, less dreary than the gothic. The vast majority of students at Columbia love the core. Columbia is very undergrad focused, the undergrad student:faculty ratio is 6.5:1, which is pretty good. Eating clubs can be seen as a negative and many kids do senior theses at Columbia, it just isn’t forced on you, but no latin honors in the college without it. </p>
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<p>it’s a far ride into the city, virtually no-one at Princeton does this frequently.</p>
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<p>Columbia’s campus and neighborhood is very safe (nearly as safe as P’s), and the campus is not spread across the city like NYU’s there is a real separation between main campus and the streets around it. There is ample space to sit on grass and read in the afternoon sun, or play a game of soccer, frisbee etc.</p>
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<p>it’s mostly the eating clubs. Columbia night life can’t be beat.</p>
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<p>go post this on the NYU board, because it doesn’t apply to Columbia, we have a strong community, you go into NYC with Columbia friends to: explore an art museum, cycle down riverside, eat at a weird restaurant downtown, practically no-one chooses to venture out into the city on their own. There are many campus parties. I for one always go to suite parties and to bars in the area because they are much more fun. Ask any current students of alums, they’ll agree that NYC adds to campus community/social life rather than detracts. </p>
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<p>Columbia has the academics and nearly has the prestige. NYC getting old! are you serious? There is a never ending list of things to see and do. No-one ever runs out or gets bored of stuff to do.</p>
<p>concoll - amen.
i don’t think anything coffeeaddict says purely means that P>C. And often I think many of the comments made are actually stronger arguments the other way around (nightlife for instance).</p>
<p>regardless, very different places that have different feel to them. I think Princeton gives off this vibe of upperclassness (e.g. eating clubs as the dominant social institution) that is not only a turn off, it makes me question the institution and by extension the students who would choose it over Yale or Stanford (great schools that I like and often vouch for when I am not overpowering everyone with my light blue love) and particularly over Columbia. Princeton is the last remaining bastion of some late 19th century aesthetic of what a college should be (well save they have women in it now), and in that i think it is backwards and more of a museum than an educational institution. yeah i am being negative, and so please see through my retort. i am not jealous of princeton, but rather i am more incensed that an institution that i firmly believe lacks good priorities (read their admissions stats and how they admit more legacy students into their class than black students) exists and that people continue to buy into its branding (hmm, the crazy money prolly helps). But then again, I never quite understand when people vote against their interest - there is a term for this somewhere.</p>
<p>I digress, one man’s ditch is another man’s river, so please see through my princeton hating. if you want it, want it, love it, and enjoy the experience. But when I think in my head why I would go to college, Princeton to me feels like a safe place, where nothing really great will happen, no one will push you, you will be coddled, you will rarely face people who are unlike you, and you will repeat it day after day for four years. If I wanted to do high school over again, well I probably wouldn’t ask my parents to pay for that…but that thought process itself probably tells you why I chose Columbia, I expected and wanted something more out of my experience than high school. And I got it.</p>
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<p>And there you have it: my basic fear about attending Princeton. I’m confident that I could handle the upper(middle)class stuffiness just fine, but the insularity…not so much. Don’t like the idea of going to university at a place Princeton students themselves have called a “bubble.” I need a place that will challenge me and respect my independence.</p>
<p>Alexander Hamilton and Barack Obama over Aaron Burr and Donald Rumsfeld any day of the week!</p>
<p>Barack over Mechelle</p>
<p>coffee addict’s assessment is very off for a variety of reasons, as has already been pointed out.</p>
<p>nobody takes the train often to nyc - it’d be 4 hours round trip, plus the added requirement of adhering to train schedules. i’ve made that trip many times, and it is not something you decide to do casually. </p>
<p>also, princeton’s campus will get incredibly boring. there’s literally nothing to do in that town. i don’t understand how people can keep going to the same eating clubs every weekend…for four years.</p>
<p>"many kids do senior theses at Columbia, it just isn’t forced on you, but no latin honors in the college without it. "</p>
<p>Just wanted to clarify- students can qualify for latin honors without a senior thesis. A thesis is required for departmental honors.</p>
<p>Columbia and Princeton are not at the same level. There’s a reason people say HYP and not HYPC (unless they’re referring to caltech)</p>
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You judge colleges by an acronym made up on an online discussion board? Pull your head out of your ass.</p>