<p>Dunnin, no I don’t see how that might create superior access to faculty time and attention.</p>
<p>I am an alumnus of Princeton as a ChE. and it would be hard to get close to the availability that I had to top professors at Princeton, particularly the ChE. professors.</p>
<p>My senior thesis was a laboratory experiment that lasted for the whole year under one of the top professors in the particular field in the world. He was avaliable any time for me to walk into his office and ask questions, or even call him at his home at night. I even took a graduate school course taught by him. The results of the thesis were published in one of the main Journals in the field, along with his name and a graduate student a year later. This is not just Engineering, you will see this in most other Princeton departments.</p>
<p>I literally was given my own office to perform my laboratory work for the whole year. No one was allowed in the space during that time.</p>
<p>International?</p>
<p>Very few in the field worldwide would not recognize the significance that I studied under this professor.</p>
<p>More international?</p>
<p>I later graduated from Stanford Business School with an MBA and became an Investment Banker.</p>
<p>This is typical of the well roundedness of the Princeton education and the closesness with top professors by the undergraduate students.</p>
<p>Wow. People are drawing enormous lines between Duke and Princeton where they honestly don’t exist. Yes, I would agree that Princeton is more prestigious than Duke nationally (internationally is another issue, since they tend to be fond of huge research universities, which Princeton decidely is no), but not drastically. Certainly not “Princeton OF COURSE” drastically.</p>
<p>First, though, the OP needs to compare the engineering programs. That’s a huge point of contention thus far, and the OP needs to research post-grad opportunities for Pton grads v. Robertson scholar Duke grads. </p>
<p>Then, of course, the value of the Robertson needs to be weighed. If we weren’t talking engineering, which I have no knowledge of, I’d say Robertson for sure, simply because when we’re talking about two comparable institutions (not necesarily equal, but comparable on several levels) and then you factor in extradinary access and summer opps–essentially providing you the resources and connections necessary for grad school without forcing you to work through the beaurocracy that Princeton may–you’ve compensated for any disparity, subjective or otherwise, between the schools.</p>
<p>So, OP, it’s up to you. What matters more, the value of the Robertson or the value of the engineering program? Personally, being a big fish at a great school sounds incredibly appealing.</p>
<p>"if the OP were looking to major in an area where Duke was fairly comparable to Princeton, then I would certainly see your point. "</p>
<p>This is the sticking point for me. In many liberal arts fields, Duke and Princeton are cousins. This would be a very close call. But not so much in engineering.</p>
<p>I’m also not that excited about the promised opportunity to get to know amazing alumni and personally work with top scholars, or to plan a funded summer trip abroad. Sounds like an ordinary day at Princeton to me.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Robertson is a very young program, barely 10 years old. There’s no doubt that it’s attracting phenomenal candidates. But right now, there aren’t yet graduates in leadership positions around the world (in contrast to say, Rhodes or Fulbright alumni). When the OP is up for tenure review, the senior faculty won’t be Robertson alumni. But in engineering, they might well be Princeton grads. This analysis may be different in 25 years.</p>
<p>How do you figure they are in different “leagues?”
Here is the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings for 2009</p>
<p>2009 rankings<br>
01 Harvard University United States
02 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
03 Yale University United States<br>
04 University College London United Kingdom<br>
05 Imperial College London United Kingdom<br>
05 University of Oxford United Kingdom<br>
07 University of Chicago United States<br>
08 Princeton University United States<br>
09 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States<br>
10 California Institute of Technology United States<br>
11 Columbia University United States<br>
12 University of Pennsylvania United States<br>
13 Johns Hopkins University United States<br>
14 Duke University United States<br>
15 Cornell University United States<br>
16 Stanford University United States<br>
17 Australian National University Australia<br>
18 McGill University Canada<br>
19 University of Michigan United States<br>
20 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom </p>
<p>I’d say #8 and #14 are in the same league, especially considering the denominator was 600 universities.</p>
<p>Just my quick 2 cents. Perhaps the OP could get engineering internships through Duke to expand on his education/experience. He could also compare the M. engineering degree requirements between the two schools and take the additional classes at Duke to get a comparable education.<br>
Being from Australia, I would think the OP would like the weather and general attitudes more at Duke than Princeton, but that’s just a generalization.<br>
Remember that “ivy” is really just an athletic division designation.
I think Princeton is a great school but I feel that from what I understand about the Robertson scholarship… you can get out of your Duke education anything you want, along with great recommendations from professors who know you very well (and that might be a downside for you, having the pressure of “everybody” knowing your business and having high expectations of you rather than being just one of many).<br>
I have no experience with either school, just making conclusions from what I generally know and from posts on this thread.</p>
<p>“I’m also not that excited about the promised opportunity to get to know amazing alumni and personally work with top scholars, or to plan a funded summer trip abroad. Sounds like an ordinary day at Princeton to me.”</p>
<p>As an update, Princeton is actually offering me full-ride - so money is no longer an issue.</p>
<p>The thing I’m most interested in is whether Princeton offers the same opportunities as the Robertson - or whether it is so competitive to achieve those that you have to work ridiculously hard to get things like funded study abroad programs, and funded summer programs etc. (at Princeton)</p>
<p>But thanks for all the help so far, it’s really giving me an insight, considering I pretty much have no idea about these colleges other than limited research.</p>
<p>Go with princeton… Princeton full ride is amazing.</p>
<p>Please do not cite world rankings… they are absolutely awful… I’ve seen schools like Purdue (which is good… dont get me wrong) ranked higher than schools like Brown and Dartmouth… completely favors research universities.</p>
<p>I would recommend Princeton. If Duke were free and Princeton full price or half-price, it would be a harder decision. But since Princeton is almost practically free, I would chose Princeton in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>From Australia, this may not be clear. Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford are regarded as the Oxfords and Cambridges of the US. Duke slightly below.
But of course, Duke is more than good enough, and Americans, and I’m guessing Aussies, are ready to think beyond the prevailing wisdom.</p>
<p>The Robertson Scholars Program is possibly the most prestigious Scholar Program in the US and I would definitely choose it. I could be biased cuz I applied to Duke and for the Robertson Scholar Program (denied- I just don’t know what more they could want but I did get accepted to Duke so it’s okay) and I didn’t apply to the Ivies, but Duke and that program especially just can’t be beat in my opinion.</p>
<p>All the top engineering companies recruit at Duke and it’s easier to stand out at these firms as an applicant who’s truly interested in an engineering career because there is a large percentage of Duke Engineers that become investment bankers/traders/consultants.</p>
<p>The Robertson program is the single most prestigious scholarship program in America sikhman. You will be seen as a star student in a Top 10 university that is filled with academic superstars by graduate school admissions officer. Duke’s Engineering program has doubled in size over the past decade as well and offers plenty of opportunities to do high level research and interact with faculty. The opportunities will be further amplified by your Robertson status.</p>
<p>Also, I think as an Australian, you would like the weather/social scene/sports at Duke a lot more than Princeton.</p>