<p>Cardinal – If you think Princeton is “rural”, it is a number of years since you have seen Princeton. If I drive from my office in downtown Philadelphia to Princeton University, there are about 10 miles along the route that are not substantially developed, but they are all in Bucks County, PA. Going the other direction, you might be able to find a farm or two within 20 miles of Princeton, but the corporate headquarters outnumber the livestock by a significant margin. The area between Trenton and New Brunswick – all of which seems to qualify as “Princeton” for real estate purposes – has seen astonishing economic growth in the past two decades.</p>
<p>JHS-- Now that I think of it, you are right. But I drove from Philadelphia to Princeton last summer, and it was very different from driving from either San Francisco or San Jose to Stanford: more open, less city. Different. Very different.</p>
<p>If you drove to Palo Alto from San Francisco on 280 rather than 101, you would have the opposite reaction – way more open, much less city. It’s true – the development in central New Jersey is nowhere near as dense as the bayside flatlands on the Santa Clara Peninsula, and the closer you get to downtown Palo Alto the more per-acre real estate values resemble Manhattan, whereas in Princeton they are merely expensive. But what’s similar is that Princeton, like Palo Alto, is the center of a vast zone of high-end, non-industrial economic activity, as well as serving as a bedroom community for substantial cities that are commuting distance in opposite directions. (I have friends there where one spouse works on Wall St. and the other in downtown Philadelphia.) Princeton itself registers as an even richer version of the old-money Philadelphia suburbs (which is why I had trouble getting my kids out of the car there – it felt too much like home).</p>
<p>TJ - Perhaps you’ve already read P.R.'s synopsis of Princeton’s academic intensity, as gleaned from student surveys:</p>
<p>Though the academics can be “grueling,” they’re also well worth the effort, and work is “never assigned without a reason. [There is] no busywork.” The administration’s ongoing effort to curb grade inflation means that competition does exist at Princeton, although it’s mainly competition with one’s self- “discovering the drive and focus to spend time for your academic classes and extracurriculars” is the one of the hardest parts of being a student here. “Princeton is full of opportunities to further your interests, but only if you actively take a role,” says a sophomore. Still, students are all supportive of continuing the Princeton tradition of excellence, and the “strong student body” allows for “better class discussions and more meaningful projects.”</p>
<p>Sorry, post #18 was meant for another thread.</p>
<p>JHS, I can’t agree. Open two windows with Google Maps. In one, center Palo Alto. In the other, center Princeton. In both, click until you’re displaying a rectangle about ten miles by ten miles. In Palo Alto, you see a densely populated area between 101 and 280, and if you scroll up and down, you see that dense population extends all the way north to San Francisco and south to San Jose-- to the southeast Palo Alto abuts Mountain View and Los Altos, which abut Cupertino and Sunnyvale, which abut Santa Clara and San Jose, and to the north it’s the same. Of course there are few houses to the west of 280, but that’s because there’s a mountain range there. All the flat spots are built up.</p>
<p>Now look at Princeton. The town (city?) of Princeton itself is fairly dense, but all around it there is not much development. It’s true that Princeton is within an hour of Manhattan in one direction and Philadelphia in the other, but Princeton itself is in a sparsely populated area.</p>
<p>However, the OP should see for himself. I hope he can visit both areas and see which he prefers.</p>
<p>My husband went to Princeton(we were dating while in college) and I lived in NJ for a number of years. I would never call Princeton Rural. The development of NJ has really gone wild over the last twenty years(esp. that part of the state)…</p>
<p>You can hope the train and get into Philly, Trenton and NYC all relatively quickly. </p>
<p>Stanford campus happens to feel a lot more isolated to me(rural), in that the campus is completely isolated from the town. It is made up of thousands of acres and has its own entrance and road. You can get off campus, but feels like it’s in its own little park. At Princeton you can literally step off campus and be in a pizza shop or book store. Very different feels.</p>
<p>The Princeton campus is literally in the heart of the town, so I feel from that stand point, that Princeton actually feels like it’s in a bigger area, but both Princeton(the town) and Palo Alto(the town)have very similar feels to them.</p>
<p>I look at areas like a cyclist. If you’re on Stanford campus with a bike (and most students have bikes) then downtown Palo Alto is five minutes from your dorm. But d’smom makes a good point: Stanford itself is spread out. Though the quad is a nothing bike ride from downtown Palo Alto, it’s a bit of a hike. Students who plan to get around on foot might find a more compact campus like MIT more congenial.</p>
<p>Ok thanks for all these helpful responses! I’ve been in contact with a mentor student, and I plan to attend to accepted students’ thing in April. Hopefully, my final decision will be a good one. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Glad to hear it TJ–good luck–I hope you will be happy and successful in all you do.</p>