Is Princeton Elitist?

<p>Hi,
I am trying to decide between Dartmouth, Cornell, and Princeton for engineering. One thing I am worried about at Princeton is that people may be snobby. Also, I am unsure about the eating clubs and if those are really as bad as they seem. Any thoughts?
Thanks!!</p>

<p>I think there are already several threads on CC and/or facebook that deal with the snobbiness issue and there is a prominent eating clubs thread too...</p>

<p>(In short: no, people are not snobby; no, the eating clubs are not as bad as they "seem", though they are chiefly what you make of them.)</p>

<p>thanks for the info</p>

<p>Search for "snobby" in this forum:). You will find lots of responses. Just anecdotally, my daughter, a junior this year, is the antithesis of snobby. But you all are too smart to fall for anecdotal evidence, right?</p>

<p>One time, I was stopped by a bunch of Princeton kids who asked if I owned a yacht. I said "no", and then one of them kicked me in the nuts.</p>

<p>Seriously, echang's right. If you go out of your way to look for snobby, socially elitist people and institutions, you'll certainly find them. That being said, the stereotype of the Princeton student as a polo-wearing preppy is certainly not true.</p>

<p>The eating clubs (yes, even Ivy) are much less elitist and exclusive than Yale's secret societies and Harvard's final clubs.</p>

<p>Thanks guys. I'm really excited about getting into Princeton. I think I'm just a little intimidated and worried about the sterotype. What you've said is reassuring.</p>

<p>
[quote]
One time, I was stopped by a bunch of Princeton kids who asked if I owned a yacht. I said "no", and then one of them kicked me in the nuts.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>classic (10char)</p>

<p>Congrats, 121889. We look forward to meeting all of you guys. Be sure to attend the Princeton Preview weekend if you can - it is great for getting a taste of what Princeton will be like.</p>

<p>Don't worry!! The kids are really friendly. My S went to a large urban public high school and he's loving every minute of being at Princeton. He said the biggest thing that surprised him about Princeton is that it's a big party school. </p>

<p>Today he was invited to a nice lunch at a private club with a group of alumni who are providing scholarships and looking to mentor students in his class. He said they were a group of nice, interesting, old men who were giving a lot of good advice to the students. They all exchanged email addresses to keep in touch. This kind of lunch can be seen as being "snobby" but it's nice to see older established alumni interested in the students.</p>

<p>"One time, I was stopped by a bunch of Princeton kids who asked if I owned a yacht. I said "no", and then one of them kicked me in the nuts.</p>

<p>Seriously, echang's right. If you go out of your way to look for snobby, socially elitist people and institutions, you'll certainly find them. That being said, the stereotype of the Princeton student as a polo-wearing preppy is certainly not true."</p>

<p>LOL HILARIOUS!!</p>

<p>Damn. that ended fast. &lt;/p>

<p>Ha.</p>

<p>princeton is soooo snobby. they won't even let me stay another night after princeton preview, gah lee. that makes me really want to go to their school...</p>

<p>Wait, j.shi, what are you talking about? You can always go stay at Princeton whenever you want. I'm going early and staying with a friend from my school. I go up and visit/overnight with friends all the time...</p>

<p>yeah i emailed <a href="mailto:preview@princeton.edu">preview@princeton.edu</a> to stay on saturday night and they said that the extent of their program ends on saturday afternoon....</p>

<p>is there anything i can do to be able to stay one measly extra night?</p>

<p>well, you could ask the people with whom you stay the nights before...</p>

<p>I think they just mean that they can't officially host you that night. I would either ask a friend from school in advance if you can stay with him Saturday night, or ask your new host once you get there. Also, didn't you do the Humanities Symposium? If you're not sure that your new host will want to do it, ask your host from the Symposium (I'm sure you guys are facebook friends or something, right?).</p>

<p>If you are thinking about engineering, Cornell seems like the obvious choice here... obviously it is well known for its department and you'd probably get better job opportunities coming from the engineering department there.
Princeton is awesome for liberal arts stuff, so if you really think you aren't going to major in engineering, Princeton is a better school.</p>

<p>Princeton also has an amazing engineering program... maybe not quite as good as Cornell's, but then again, Princeton has a lot of other things to offer that Cornell doesn't.</p>

<p>Well, I am still unsure if I will be going into engineering or not, and I decided to go to Princeton. I was named both a research scholar and Cornell's most prestigious scholar, and I am still going to Princeton. I've talked to people in the Princeton engineering program, and I know people who have gone through it, and it is really an awesome program.</p>