<p>I'm so extraordinarily grateful to have Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford among my choices for college. Unfortunately, I haven't visited any of the campuses, but I plan on visiting those three this month. Alright, so...</p>
<p>I'm from Arizona -- will Harvard/Princeton be too much of a climate shock? o_O
I'm gay -- How are these schools' LGBT communities? Political climate?
I'm interested in pursuing medicine, but I'm overall undecided about my future career. Which one would give me the best chance to get into medical school (while still letting me explore different fields)?</p>
<p>I know these are all great schools, and I've been told by everyone that "you can't go wrong," but I'm really scared about making the wrong choice. :/</p>
<p>The climate will be at least a little of a shock, but you might even find that you like it. When I moved south I found that I miss the change of seasons. There is a natural rhythm to life when the seasons change. It is nice to be able to keep your windows open in the spring and fall and not require A/C or heating.</p>
<p>The administration has a policy of inclusiveness and respect for all students. Here is a link to the LGBT Center. If you visit during Princeton Preview they should have an open house to answer your questions. [Princeton</a> University LGBT Center](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/lgbt/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/lgbt/) </p>
<p>In recent years gay students have won some of the highest academic awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship, the Sachs Scholarship,and the The Spirit of Princeton Award. Here is a link to an article concerning Gabriel Rodriguez. [Eight</a> members of Class of 2010 win Spirit of Princeton award - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/04/26/25994/]Eight”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/04/26/25994/) </p>
<p>The med school acceptance rate runs between 90% to 95%. You will have to take Orgo Chemistry and a few other courses but you can major in any field at Princeton and be accepted in med school. Here is a link to the health professions advising: [Health</a> Professions Advising](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/index.xml]Health”>http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/index.xml) </p>
<p>Medical related research is done in molecular biology, quantitative biology, the neuroscience institute, the physics oncology center, electrical engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering, chemical and biological engineering, and perhaps surprisingly mathematics. I am sure I may have missed a few other departments. </p>
<p>I am a Californian, with two kids who went to Princeton. My best friend’s kid is at Harvard. The climate at Harvard is quite hard on many of us from warm places. Princeton is just enough warmer that while winters can be long, they are bearable. Stanford, of course, has the best weather in the whole world. </p>
<p>My son is gay. Princeton is completely gay-friendly, but it’s smaller than Stanford and Harvard. There are fewer kids, so fewer chances for relationships. His feeling is the Harvard would have more opportunities for dating. I don’t know about Stanford. And, by the way, my son loves Princeton so much he hates to leave and can’t wait to return. He spends vacations on campus sometimes. He’s in a fraternity, and a non-bicker eating club, he has hordes of friends, he takes creative writing with Joyce Carol Oates and Jeffrey Eugenides.</p>
<p>And he loves it when spring comes:).</p>
<p>However, in terms of academics, I believe Princeton gives you the best experience, followed by Harvard, followed by Stanford. The research opportunities that the Princeton undergraduate independent work provides are unmatched. The labs you spend time in, the contact with professors, the degree to which you are integrated into their work is quite amazing.</p>
<p>Good luck with your choice. Trust your gut, at the end of the day. It’s as good as anything else.</p>
<p>Heck, all of these schools are great academically, so you shouldn’t worry about that. There are other factors to consider since they are all so similar. First of all, living in Arizona, you will definitely get a huge shock with the difference in humidity and the snow if you go to Harvard or Princeton. Stanford is going to be the most “like home” for you, even though the weather is far better. Furthermore, Stanford is in driving distance of San Francisco, a very very very liberal city (named one of the most in the world) with an extensively open LBGT population. If you are truly passionate about your sexuality, you’ll meet like-minded people all around in San Fran and be welcomed with open arms there. Also, the unique thing about Stanford is that they have some really spectacularly unique classes. Some have guest speakers weekly. I have a friend who was in an Mac, App, and Ipod programming class where he was got to be lectured by Steve Jobs. Mark Zuckerberg makes regular appearances as well if people like that fascinate you. According to her, the nature of the classes at Stanford allow her to test out the waters for different interests. She (as a pre-med major) now has an affinity for scuba diving because of the marine biology class she took (even though she had never gone before).</p>
<p>Since you did not have the choice of a top tier liberal arts college, Princeton is by default your option with the greatest undergraduate emphasis (senior faculty required to teach undergraduate courses, etc.). That said, P. can also be a bit clubby/preppy, perhaps moreso than Harvard. Stanford would be your most laid-back choice and is warmer. If prestige is your primary driver, than P&S still have to try harder than Harvard.</p>
<p>I’m from Texas, and I really don’t think it ever gets all that cold here. I never needed more than a good jacket and a pair of jeans (+ gloves and a beanie) to stay warm. My jersey friends say winter has lasted atypically long this year; normally by the end of spring break shorts weather has returned. </p>
<p>I think your visits later this month will probably be able to tell you more than any of us can.</p>
<p>**note: Cornell is fully transparent and includes stats for all 7 undergraduate schools. If Columbia did the same and included its School of General Studies which is 25% of all undergraduates, then its Selectivity Ranking would drop from #3 to about #12-#15.*</p>
<p>and for those that have the time to read the above two threads, Columbia is getting miserably destroyed by Duke, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins and Penn. In fact, if you are going to attempt to imagine what **a visit to hell **would be for a college campus visit by an applicant, just read this post from those threads:</p>
<p>I guess Berkeley students have a better undergrad experience than Princeton students, what say you?</p>
<p>japanoko, whenever someone asks about specific disciplines, you’re very quick to post grad school rankings showing how Princeton is at the top of almost everything (even though those grad school rankings are your own from phds.org and not the actual NRC’s). But when it comes to undergrad focus, you’re quick to say how Princeton is better there too. Doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>The undergrad focus is equal at Princeton and Stanford, though I’d say Harvard is a slight tad behind (judging by the fact that people there frequently complain about the undergrad focus; you don’t hear that at Princeton or Stanford).</p>
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<p>By the way, nobody believes that HPM are less selective than Yale or Caltech, or that Penn is more selective than Stanford, or that Stanford and Dartmouth are equal in selectivity. So there’s no point in posting a ranking of such.</p>
<p>The other article linked to comparing the two has various misleading statements. It says that 25% of the student body is in engineering (actually it’s 20%), but among undergraduates it’s only 10%.</p>
<p>He also doesn’t even bother to mention that Stanford’s strengths are also in the humanities and social sciences (ranked in the top 5 in the world for both).</p>
<p>He says he’s convinced that Princeton provides “more opportunities for its undergraduates” (a bold statement), but he’s never been an undergrad here and probably knows very little about the opportunities that Stanford affords us.</p>
<p>Of course he’s right about the snow bit, but I’ll add that you can get your fill of snow every year at Stanford, when every dorm goes to Tahoe for a few days (at no cost to you–it’s all paid for by your residence). It’s always nice to have snow for a bit (some people call it “snow trip,” others “ski trip”), but after a few days, everyone is usually pretty happy to get back to the awesome weather on campus.</p>
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<p>Edit: I wanted to add that it’s not just San Francisco that has an open LGBT population, but the entire Bay Area, and all up and down the SF peninsula (where Stanford is). You don’t have to go to SF to find tons of people in the LGBT community.</p>
<p>Look, Stanford undergraduates do not get out and about much. Except to walk up and down University Avenue in Palo Alto eating frozen yogurt. Princeton undergraduates do the same on Nassau Street. Princetonians go to New York, if they like it, maybe once every 4-6 weeks. That’s what my daughter did. I’m guessing Stanford kids go to SF a little less often.</p>
<p>Now in terms of the Bay Area being a great place for GLBT undergrads? Please. Sure, if you are our kids. But there aren’t gay bars, per se, or places to hang. We are the suburbs.</p>
<p>Princeton and Stanford are SO similar, in terms of the communities in which they sit. Princeton the town is more conservative and preppy than Palo Alto. But they are both suburbs.</p>
<p>The major difference, then, is the size of the campus, the East Coast vs. West Coast, and the differences between the actual areas of study in which you are interested.</p>
<p>Princeton has great neuroscience. That I know. Princeton has great Comparative Literature and Creative Writing. That I know. You should investigate the departments in which you are interested.</p>
<p>Then think about location, size, and specialization. Then ignore all that and go with your gut:)</p>
<p>I don’t know where you live, but I’ve been to gay bars/clubs/the like up and down the peninsula (including Palo Alto), south and east bay. (Not even kidding.) The Bay Area is known to be very very “LGBT-concentrated.” I’m genuinely surprised to hear that this isn’t your perception as well, because that’s all I’ve ever known (and what I perceive others to know as well). It’s also been very true of my experience.</p>
<p>edit: if you want, you can search google for gay bars, clubs, etc. and you’ll see there are tons in the area. I’ve heard there are even quite a few “bath houses.” I’ll add that if you do a search on gay dating sites and restrict it within 5, 10, 15, 25 miles of Stanford (or probably any city in the Bay Area), you get an *absurd *number of results–literally thousands upon thousands. Of course, New York is also a hub of the “gay scene,” but it’s not right to say that the Bay Area in general isn’t a great place for LGBT undergrads. I don’t think you’ve had a proper “gay experience” in the Bay Area. :p</p>
I posted the same thread in each of the school’s forums to get different opinions 
:)</p>