<p>So I just got into UMich Ann Arbor (yay), and am debating whether I should even apply to Princeton.</p>
<ol>
<li>Probably won't get in.</li>
<li>Long, boring application - maybe I should use the time to do other applications.</li>
<li>Don't know which is better for CS</li>
<li>Don't really care about prestige, so which is better in terms of a good CS education with research opportunities (I know Mich has a lot but don't know much about Pton)</li>
</ol>
<p>Should I just stick with this acceptance and not apply to Princeton? I'm inclined towards 'yes', but maybe I should keep my options open (assuming I can even get in).</p>
<p>I've also applied to schools like the upper tier UC's, GTech, Cornell etc.</p>
<p>What attracts you to apply to Princeton in the first place? Its one of the top research universities in the country and has a stellar Computer Science department. That being said, you will be fine at UMich or UIllinois, although their undergraduate focus pales in comparison to Princeton where their career advisors and professors will set you up with the best research projects and offer you connections to the most elite jobs.</p>
<p>Unless applying to Princeton will affect your Michigan admission, i can’t see how it would hurt to apply. Prepare yourself for likely rejection though as Princeton has like a 5 or 6 percent admit rate.</p>
Location - I lived right next to Princeton for 10 years, so I’ve been in town loads of times and I think Princeton is a nice quiet town. Also I sort of prefer East Coast to MidWest but that’s not really something huge
Princeton offers an ORE undergraduate major (this is rare for most undergrad schools - Cornell & Georgia Tech do it, maybe Columbia, I don’t know who else) which I’ve been thinking about double majoring in with CS.
Pretty sure I don’t want to do greek life, so I guess the whole no-greek-life thing doesn’t affect me.
Good university overall (well obviously, it’s princeton), but I don’t know much about their specific research in CS etc
Parents, haha. They think I should apply but I don’t see much of a point considering Mich is already so awesome.</p>
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<p>Actually I’m worried about spending too much time on Princeton’s abundance of supplemental essays that I don’t spend enough on Stanford/Brown/CMU - my 3 remaining schools, all of which I know for a FACT I want to go to. I think i’m inclined not to apply unless I can find something truly unique about Princeton in terms of CS that I can’t find at my other colleges.</p>
<p>Oh wasn’t aware that was not a possibility in the first place. One less reason not to apply, haha.</p>
<p>Okay… what about Brown? Is it worth applying there for CS if I already have UMich?</p>
<p>I like the idea of an open curriculum and all, Providence seems like an interesting place to live, and I know top CS companies recruit from there as well. But is Michigan CS way better / more respected anyways? I don’t know if I’d choose Brown over Mich if I had both opportunities. If cost was not an issue, which should I choose? (if UM, then I won’t even bother applying to Brown).</p>
<p>For many students, cost winds up being the major factor in the final college choice. Any of these colleges could wind up having the lowest net cost, depending on your circumstances (especially your family income level and whether you are a Michigan resident). Have you crunched your family finance numbers through each school’s Net Price Calculator?</p>
<p>Michigan, Princeton and Brown all have excellent academics (in CS and in many other fields). Any differences in this area will be outweighed by the amount and quality of effort you put into your classes. You’d get somewhat smaller average class sizes and perhaps more personal attention at Princeton or Brown. Brown and Princeton are more selective than Michigan; I think it’s fair to say they wind up with higher concentrations of truly “amazing” kids from all over America and the world. The Ivies (esp. Princeton) may open more doors in some career fields (like investment banking). However, in CS, your skills and internship experiences are likely to matter more in hiring decisions than the college brand. </p>
<p>Princeton v. Brown? In my opinion, if cost isn’t a factor then it probably ought to come down to how you feel about eating clubs, the Open Curriculum concept, an urban v. suburban setting, etc. (“fit” issues more than CS department quality). If you have no strong “fit” preferences and you’re happy with everything Michigan has to offer, then maybe you’re done with this process. If cost is a big factor and you do qualify for need-based aid, then toss in another application to a school with really good FA (Princeton > Brown) and see what happens.</p>
<p>I’ve run the calculators, but they’re not accurate for any of my schools. The small business that my family owns throws the calculator way off, I think. I’m OOS to Michigan, so the only money i’ll be getting from them may be in the form of scholarships (if at all). However, this isn’t a problem as we have a large net asset worth and would not require aid to sustain 4 years of college. But for some reason, calculators for most private colleges (like Cornell’s) throw out figures like $20k a year… which would obviously be great, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. In any case, finance isn’t a problem - we can afford full freight if we had to (I have discussed all of this with my parents).</p>
<p>I guess Princeton would be a better option than Mich for me since there are much smaller class sizes and Michigan’s can be huge I’ve heard. Hopefully I’ll get accepted off my deferral at Cornell, so I won’t have to attend either (assuming I can even get into Pton), but I guess for now i’ll just apply.</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> I wish these schools didn’t each have a hundred supplemental questions.</p>
<p>^ Even at Princeton, you won’t get consistently small classes in every department at every level. See if the online course listings show enrollments for courses that interest you. </p>
<p>For example, Princeton’s COS126 (“General Computer Science”) shows a maximum enrollment of 246 students. Maybe a similar class at Michigan has ~400 students. However, once you get above a certain enrollment size, it doesn’t matter much. A lecture is a lecture.</p>
<p>It’s true, though, that Princeton’s college-wide averages are better than Michigan’s. The Common Data Set and the US News site have those numbers.</p>
<p>According to US news: 74% of classes at Princeton have less than 20 students. Rest above 20.</p>
<p>But at UMich it’s 46% with classes with less than 20 students, 36% with less than 50, 18% above 50.</p>
<p>So there’s that.</p>
<p>I was thinking… and I checked the common data set for princeton. My SAT I is in the bottom 25% for all 3 sections (730CR,750M,710W). Considering this, my chances would drop quite a bit. Is it still worth the time to apply? Sorry… I’m just really confused if I should.</p>
<p>You might not get into any of the schools on your list because the acceptance rate for U of Michigan is a lot higher than those schools(except Georgia Tech).</p>
<p>^^^That is why he/she applied to a variety of schools AirforceWuhn. He/she is in an enviable position right now since he/she just didnt rely solely on reach schools for admission.</p>
<p>Don’t trust common data set numbers to be reflective of class sizes for specific subjects. In particular, CS has seen swelling enrollments at many universities.</p>
<p>Wow…I guess there’s no avoiding it then. Oh well. Do many students not get to interact with their teachers personally because of such large class sizes? Would I just be better off finding a smaller school and applying there? Almost all good CS schools have such large student bodies so I honestly have no clue where else I could apply. Other than maybe CalTech/Harvey Mudd, but there’s no way I can get into those.</p>
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<p>Yeah, I realize that. I’m actually not expecting getting into any of my remaining schools, and I’m completely content with going to UMich (also got into a few safeties w/ scholarships but I’ve decided that UMich is better for me). That being said, I don’t see any harm in applying to a few reaches since if I get in, it’s great, and if I don’t, then I still have another amazing school to fall back on. I started this thread more because I wanted to know if it was worth applying anywhere else now that I’ve submitted all my applications except 1 (Stanford). But I’m in no way anticipating that i’ll get into any of these (hopefully Cornell though, haha).</p>
<p>Why aren’t you applying to UNC, Duke, Penn, and USC? You might get more financial aid from these schools than Michigan and they all have good Comp Sci programs.</p>
<p>I was originally going to apply to all of those (except USC) as well as Dartmouth, Brown and Princeton if I didn’t get into UMich. However, now that I HAVE gotten in, since Mich is the superior school in my opinion (well for CS at least), I don’t think I should apply - especially since I can afford it anyways. Also a couple students from my school last year got into Mich’s CoE and received pretty generous merit scholarships (but didn’t attend). Hopefully I can get one too since my stats are around/higher than theirs, but even if I don’t i’ll still be able to afford it.</p>
<p>I guess all I’m looking for now is something that’s as good as Mich for CS, but also has smaller class sizes. Whether they give a lot of aid isn’t really a problem.</p>