<p>What made you guys pick Princeton over Harvard? Harvard has greater name recognition, and apparently most people pick Harvard when given the choice. I was just wondering what specific things about Princeton drove your decisions</p>
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<p>Harvard has greater name recognition</p>
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<p>is this really an issue for you? i mean, i'm not sure i've ever met someone who didn't at least "recognize the name" of princeton. know what state it's in, that's a different story.</p>
<p>Yeah. I wasn't saying that was Harvard's main draw for me. I just meant that's a general consensus about harvard that probably leads to the fact that 80% of people pick harvard given the option. I was more interested not in disputing that but in finding out what you think specifically makes Princeton a better choice, since they're very different schools.</p>
<p>well, those very differences are often what <em>make</em> it a better choice for some, like for those who prefer suburban/small-town settings to urban ones, and those who prefer student bodies in the 6,000 range to ones in the 18,000 range. setting and size are probably the main differences, after all, as both have stellar faculties and student bodies. those, and engineering.</p>
<p>i would most definitely choose Princeton over harvard if i had the option (haha like that will ever happen) but anyway Princeton is little smaller and has an engineering program that is incredible. Harvard seems more humanities based.</p>
<p>Most kids will do fine at both schools. The campus and student body both provide diverse enough populations and opportunities that what you make of college is really defined by your own choices.</p>
<p>I chose Princeton because of exactly that, the setting and the size. Harvard and Yale were both too big and too urban for me at 17.</p>
<p>To each his own. </p>
<p>I also hope to be fortunate enough to pick amongst Harvard and Princeton, and I don't think I can really say just yet which I'd go to. I had two brothers who both had that choice; one's loving Crimson, the other's bleeding Orange. A big part of the former's decision was "well, most people who can go to Harvard do go to Harvard", and a big part of the latter's was "But if the small fraction who go to Princeton end up happier, who're the real smarter ones?"</p>
<p>Both lines of logic make sense to me. At the end of the day, you've just got to see which place makes you happier. Personally, I think the biggest differentiating factor between the two are the locales. Harvard's in the midst of bustling Cambridge with Boston at its doorstep and Princeton's the idyllic gothic haven in a beautiful small town but very close to NYC and Philly.</p>
<p>Like I said, to each his own.</p>
<p>Newsweek, duh. <em>rolls eyes</em></p>
<p>Princeton > Harvard.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that certain unique aspects of Princeton, and primarily the "eating club" experience, differ markedly from the Harvard experience. Passionately loved by some of those who matriculate, these aspects may well explain the huge majority who, given the choice, opt for Harvard.</p>
<p>See this article from today's Princetonian:</p>
<p>Both are fine insitutions. Hope you get into both. Then you may "specifically" decide according to your needs.</p>
<p>Note in the article Byerly posts the guy winds up saying the eating club experience was valuable. I have said this before and I will say it again. Princeton alumni are the most loyal in the Ivy League as evidenced by Reunion attendance and donations. 90% of the people love it. These are a) those who are socially adept and flourish in the club system b) those who don't care what happens in the visible social structure and find friends or activities that keep them extremely happy outside of the Street. Note that there are lots and lots of people in group B. The 10% who don't love it are those who want to be in the visible social mainstream and just don't find their place. For example, let me go out on a limb and say that if you want to feel like you are part of the visible social mainstream, but you wear only black and dye your hair black and wear goth makeup and smoke cigarettes and want to discuss nihilism, and think laughing is overrated, you won't like Princeton much. Now, if you do all of the above but don't care if you are in the visible social mainstream, then you may love Princeton.</p>
<p>If you love your area of study and are happy with a finding a group of friends with like interests and like senses of humor and you don't care what everyone else is doing, you will become one of the 90% happiest and most loyal Ivy alumni. Or if you are willing to take on any social structure and thrive, you will become one of the 90%.</p>
<p>I am being very direct here, not sugar-coating, and not propagandizing. Princeton doesn't need either.</p>
<p>Guys, guys...c'mon. You are slipping back into old habits.</p>
<p>Use the special tool for this discussion:</p>
<p>You can wrap this argument up in a single day, maybe even a single hour.</p>
<p>Haha Coureur. Alumother, as you know, wearing black is ok as long as you're wearing orange, too. ;) </p>
<p>I recommend students look very carefully at their particular academic interests and make an informed decision based on specifics. For example, when my d visited Harvard, she found that nearly all of the dance courses were extracurricular. In addition to a wide range of extracurricular dance opportunities, Princeton has a for-credit academic program with studio and theory classes. That was important to her, both for practical reasons and because it reflected a respect for the art she loved and had long trained in.</p>