I hate to start a thread like this...lol

<p>O.K...well Princeton is my very top choice, but Dartmouth seems to have alot of the same qualities. Can anyone please give me some reasons why Princeton is better than Dartmouth? I already have many reasons of my own, but I just want to see what others have to say. Thanks! (I guess that I realize that the answers will be a bit biased...maybe I should post this on the Dartmouth thread also...although that seems so annoying...)</p>

<p>Princeton- undergraduate focus, financial aid is more plentiful and is grant based- no loans, its only an hour by train from New York and Philly, across-the-board excellent programs in all fields (even engineering is awesome).</p>

<p>Dartmouth- less well known (if ur into prestige), out in the boonies (although not as bad as Cornell), lots of drinking cause there's nothing to do except ski/snowboard. Also, its rather weak in the sciences.</p>

<p>Dartmouth is totally undergrad focused.
And at least you CAN ski and snowboard!!! Princeton is a burb. How often do you suppose people truck into NYC and Philly? (esp. if fin. aid is an issue...very expensive propositions) About as often as D people roadtrip to Beantown, a 2 hour easy drive. It isn't like NYC/Philly are pervasive aspects of social life at P. So what do you do in a burb on a weekend night? Same as you do in Hanover.</p>

<p>Admittedly, a Dartmouth PhD isn't going to win you a Nobel Prize. However, I would never say that Dartmouth's undergrad science programs are weak. The stress on the professors and grad students is definetly teaching which makes the programs less reputable, however there are so many options for undergrad research and close interaction with professors and grad students because of the dearth of grad students at Dartmouth. My point is, at the undergraduate level, Dartmouth is fine at the sciences particularly Biology and Chemistry. It is not the strongest, but never would I call it "weak" at the undergraduate level. (plenty of Dartmouth science majors go on to top grad schools)</p>

<p>Also, Dartmouth's engineering program gets a bad rap. Although it is not the strongest, I have met many peopel who choose it because of its flexisbility. It is the liberal arts rendition of engineering. Majors are forced to explore many different disciplines within engineering. It helps them figure out what kind of engineering they want to do. It is a very different program than most, and I think deserves that distinction.</p>

<p>Now, why is Princeton better? Their colors are orange and black, while Dartmouth's are green and white.</p>

<p>I'd rather have green and white anyday... I sort of feel like I'm going to be in a state of perpetual Halloween.</p>

<p>lol aggreed. although one of my high school's colors were also orange and black, so I already have fittingly-colored outfits ;)</p>

<p>what better (holiday?) is there than Halloween??? Jack Skellington all the wayy, woohooo</p>

<p>sorry....im a big nightmare before christmas buff :o what????</p>

<p>Princeton has a better dance program than Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Sorry, perhaps I should explain what I mean about the sciences. Yes, Dartmouth does have excellent science programs in areas such as (like you said) biology and chemistry. However, relative to Princeton, many of the other fields are lacking. Princeton arguably has the best math and physics departments in the country, and engineering is one of the top 15. Dartmouth is way farther down the lists- engineering at Dartmouth, I'm sure, is still better than many other schools, but its a lot worse than many others too. Dartmouth guy, Princeton engineering operates on the same principle- you dont declare your particular major for the first year, and everyone must take quite a few courses across multiple disciples in the liberal arts college (that is, if Princeton was actually divided into different schools, which it is not).</p>

<p>Also, New Hampshire tends to get a bit colder than New Jersey, but if you dont mind it, then power to you.</p>

<p>That's not what Dartmouth engineering is... while I do not think that our engineering program is anywhere near the caliber of Princeton's - I do think it is an interestin program.</p>

<p>At Dartmouth all engineering students are required to take courses in every discipline within engineering. There are students who are fond of one discipline - say chemical engineering, but they also take civil engineering classes, and electrical from what I understand.</p>

<p>It's just a program that I think some engineering students would find very interesting.</p>