<p>Yes. Will PM you.</p>
<p>proudamerican--If you qualify for financial aid at Yale, give them a call and ask them if they will pay for your travel expenses to Bulldog Days. The rest of the weekend (housing, food, entertainment) is free.</p>
<p>The admitted student weekends will be your child's best source of information. You obviously can't go wrong, but I suspect one college will feel more right for your child.</p>
<p>Ditto the advice that the Pre-Frosh weekend will determine it. My D spent a weekend each at two of the HYP schools, and immediately felt more comfortable at one over the other.</p>
<p>BTW, I read somewhere that kids usually prefer the school they visit first. This turned out to be true in our case.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your daughter's situation!</p>
<p>If you are looking for objective criteria in terms of which school is better for undergraduate economics and/or Poly Sci...there are many on this site who will provide you with arguments one way or another...but it's like asking which car is better, a Lexus, a BMW or a Mercedes (which people on this site are also likely to disagree about!)</p>
<p>There are differences in these 3 schools, and there are differences in the poly sci and econ depts at these schools, but your daughter will be much better served by choosing based on which school/location has the best feel for her. In this case, the subjective "data" versus the objective "data" are likely to provide the answer.</p>
<p>Some people have suggested sitting in the middle of the main quad, or the cafeteria, or somewhere else where students gather and closing your eyes, and trying to see yourself...and yourself being happy/engaged/satisfied.... in that place.</p>
<p>If that fails to help with the decision...toss a coin!</p>
<p>We all know that "the preppy one" is Princeton. It seems that lots of kids who visit the school on tours still come away with that impression, including my daughter. However, my S is a sophomore there and we've visited him many times. I was even worried about the "preppy parents" thinking I'd be out of place in my discount store clothes. </p>
<p>The truth is that a very large percentage of the student body at Princeton is on financial aid. I don't feel at all out of place at parent events in my cheap clothes. My S is from a mediocre urban public school and works in the dining hall. We had to explain to him what a debutante is.</p>
<p>He participates in a "preppy" sport and virtually all of his teammates are from prestigious prep schools including Eton. He has found the other students to be very friendly an supportive. When we walk around campus or eat lunch with him lots of students greet him and stop to talk. Yes there are uber preppies, but the student body seems very diverse.</p>
<p>S just joined an eating club and he loves it. It's one of the things that attracted him to Princeton.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone who said your daughter is the one who needs to decide. Our family visited all three schools. My husband prefered Yale, my daughter Harvard, and my son Princeton. My other son didn't like any of them. I liked them all. Everyone's different.</p>
<p>Congratulations on such wonderful choices!</p>
<p>LOL @2boysima - coin has only two sides, so how does that help exactly? :)</p>
<p>ProudAmerican: First, congratulations to your daughter and your family! I feel fairly confident in saying that each of the three schools will consider the financial aid offer of the others. Harvard was very interested in my daughter's package from another Ivy last year. All three schools will want your daughter to attend and will likely to everything possible to get her to do so!
Good points have been raised above. Living in Harvard is truly living in Cambridge, an urban area. So different than living in suburban New Jersey ... I guess it all depends where one is coming from and what one wants to try.
With an open mind, your daughter will know what she wants after the pre-frosh weekends. She'll meet lots of others in the same situation. What a nice dilemma to have! :)</p>
<p>Mathmom - Congratulations to your terrific son! Has he made up his mind yet?</p>
<p>Princeton is absolutely no more preppy in terms of rich white kids than Yale or Harvard. But it is more suburban. Think how people dress, interact and comport themselves in suburbia. Think how people dress, interact and comport themselves in urban environments. That's the key to understanding that parameter for comparison.</p>
<p>Then add the slightly more Southern tradition at Princeton. But it's not about snobby. Princeton kids are almost unnervingly friendly and non-snobby. </p>
<p>Your daughter will know. Make sure if she goes to the Princeton April hosting day that she attends some of the dance concerts. That's one of the most vivid experiences of diversity Princeton 2007 style.</p>
<p>Alumother - I am curious as to why Princeton has more southern traditions? in New Jersey???? ;)</p>
<p>I think all have said very specifically what will be the turning point: The Visits.</p>
<p>For my son last year it was. Prior to the visits for pre-frosh he had a set list. The list was turned upside down after he visited. And the school he ended up choosing and is "living the dream" at was the LAST school he visited. Like Alumother's D, son chose princeton and I can honestly say he is the LEAST non-preppy kiddo you will meet.</p>
<p>I asked him about the "popped collars" and he looked at me like I was nuts. "Mom, I really don't look at or notice dudes'/dudettes' collars, its a shirt???"</p>
<p>He also has not felt or noticed (keep in context the boy in which we speak) any differential between those that have money and those that don't. He's the one who doesn't! One of his buddies needed a shirt/tie/jacket for a sports banquet and borrowed one from son, I sent his up as a "just in case." Its been needed by 2 others for interviews and internships since then! And all 3 borrowing attended those preps schools mentioned previously, one being in England.</p>
<p>He had been to Harvard 2 years previously for some outside scholarship stuff so he had an idea of the differences. And he saw Yale for the first time this past fall during the away football game. He did say for himself, there were some big differences in the campuses, the feel/vibe and students. </p>
<p>His visits last year in April (he had narrowed it down), MIT, Annapolis USNA, U of Penn's M & T and Princeton. The last 2 on the table April 30th were P'ton and West Point. I was a wreck. Hid in my room til he decided! And he is a Tiger!!!</p>
<p>What wonderful choices she has!!!!!!!!! It will be fun, remember this time and enjoy the rest of her senior year. Take a ton of pictures and have fun sheet shopping!!</p>
<p>Kat
Besides the obvious worry of having son at West Point I was so afraid I would be deprived of my sheet shopping, egg crate purchasing dorm furnishing experience!</p>
<p>Princeton may look preppy, but it doesnt mean that its snobby or that one is expected to have money. I would say that a lot of the dress is a function of what stores are nearby campus (jcrew, banana republic, anne taylor and RL).</p>
<p>Princeton was traditionally as far North as the Southerners who went Ivy were willing to go:). Now why they didn't go to Penn asmuch I don't know. Maybe it was the rolling lawns:).</p>
<p>But I remember learning what on earth "Hotlanta" was....</p>
<p>Interesting. I think Princeton is about as far south as most New Yorkers are willing to go! :)</p>
<p>Quote "I think the atmosphere at Harvard is more overtly competitive than at Princeton or Yale".</p>
<p>I keep wondering whether this is just reputation, or based on what kids who attend Harvard actually experience. I keep waiting (and I've also asked more than once) for my pre-med son at Harvard to tell me about the competitiveness, but he says that's just not the feel at all. He finds that his classmates work and study cooperatively and has not experienced a cut-throat atmosphere whatsoever. So I don't know where the above comparison comes from.</p>
<p>And that's why I really don't want to prejudice anyone against my preconceived notions about the various schools - including my kid. Honestly all three schools are great - I'm sure most kids would be very happy at any of the three.</p>
<p>Congratulations!!! Your D has a wonderful choice.</p>
<p>I too am very prejudiced and have a favorite among these schools, one I dislike, and one I'm more or less neutral about. They do give off different "vibes." So, it's important to visit. </p>
<p>I would suggest you not focus too much on poli sci and econ. LOTS of kids change majors and I would hazard a guess it's higher in these two fields than in most.( A lot of kids interested in econ in high school don't realize how math-oriented it can be, for example. Many kids who think they are interested in poli sci are actually interested in political philosophy.) </p>
<p>"Woody Woo" (the Woodrow Wilson school) at P is great, but...and it's an important but...only a limited number of juniors and seniors are admitted into the program. Not all who apply are admitted. In fact I think MOST kids who apply are NOT admitted. I don't know the exact numbers, but your D should ask if it's of interest. (The "selective" program is not unique to P. H and Y have selective programs too, e.g., Directed Studies at Yale. I'm just pointing out that "Woody Woo" is, so your D should not choose P assuming that she will be able to participate.)</p>
<p>Now, I may get flamed for this, but...not only do I think you shouldn't focus too much on the strength of the major/concentration because your D may change her mind, I really don't think the qualitative differences in the econ and poli sci (government at H) departments at these 3 schools make all that much difference to undergraduates. Certainly, she should read through the course catalogs of each to compare the offerings in terms of courses and major/concentration requirements, but if one school is ranked #3 in econ and one #6, that difference isn't really going to make much difference to most undergraduates. Most rankings are really of graduate programs and some of the factors which are taken into account in those rankings are really irrelevant to undergraduates. In my opinion, social fit, ECs, and location are all likely to be more important than the relative strengths of the econ departments. </p>
<p>Finally, if your D is interested in any particular EC, I'd suggest that she inquire about that particular EC at each. There can be surprising differences in opportunities and structure among the 3 schools and they vary by EC. </p>
<p>Again, congratulations!!!!</p>
<p>Most kids are happy wherever they end up. In fact, they hardly remember that they applied elsewhere.</p>
<p>Mathmom, hope you saw my congrats above.</p>
<p>Woody Woo acceptance this year was around 50%.</p>
<p>Your D will be wildly happy at any of these if she would be wildly happy at any of them.</p>
<p>Very little difference between Harvard and Yale in campus compactness or feel. Likewise the house systems are almost identical and house spirit is similar and provides much of the campus life. Yale freshmen are housed separate from upper classmen even though they technically belong to a house, Harvard assigns theirs in the spring instead. Not much difference. </p>
<p>VISIT. They are all quite different in feel. My D had the same choices two years ago. Yale was her first choice until she did admitted student weekends at H and Y. She chose H. D does not find the students at Harvard overly competitive at all. Harvard has the deepest pockets for ECs as well as funded travel.</p>
<p>"Princeton was traditionally as far North as the Southerners who went Ivy were willing to go. Now why they didn't go to Penn asmuch I don't know. Maybe it was the rolling lawns."</p>
<p>It had to do with there being an overabundance of students of the Hebraic persuasion. (That's what my anti-Semitic roommate -- using that exact descriptor -- told me during the first week of school.)</p>