This makes perfect sense. Could you elaborate on the difference you see in Rice vs Princeton, besides the size of community?
This represents the challenge of the original question. Nonetheless, River Oaks (Houston) appears relatively understated compared to the richest Dallas suburbs, although the neighborhood lacks an associated university.
Princeton resides near the midpoint of the Northeast megalopolis. Although, thankfully, it’s not immediately apparent, Princeton’s greater metroplex includes 56 million people. The population density of New Jersey itself is greater than that of India.
The other big difference Texans will note is that Princeton students do not bring cars to campus. Everyone walks everywhere. It is very difficult to get permission to have a car, and quite inconvenient to have one. So theyeither walk on campus, or take the train up to NYC or down to DC.
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As others mention, it’s a quaint small town. Think New England village, small college town. But NJ is the most densely populated state in the country and the surrounding area and towns have a lot of people, malls, target, Whole Foods, office parks, think tanks, etc. It is not urban in the way that Penn and Columbia are, but it’s also not rural like Dartmouth. If the concern is that it’s remote or isolated, it isn’t.
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lol I love that you compared it to India because we have a TON of indians living in central jersey. i had no idea about that 56 million number – trust me when i say it feels nothing like that haha!
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Here’s how I would compare Rice and Princeton in terms of their surroundings (with a little bit of scaling):
Rice’s immediate neighborhood is like the town of Princeton. The greater Houston metropolitan area is like the state of New Jersey.
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For historical perspective, when Martians reportedly landed near Princeton in 1938, the area appeared to have a rural character, including that of the name of the specific landing site, Grovers Mill.
Apparently there is a limit to posts for newbies. Sorry for the delay, but thank you to all of the great responses.
I’ve done several of the things recommended, read some posts many times for their wisdom, and poured one out for Orson Welles.
We have a few months to wait for a decision but we’ll be as prepared as possible.
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So, we’ve watched probably more Nicolas Chae videos than a normal person should. Great content and seems like a great kid But, here’s my question and I hope it comes across humble and sincere.
Someone else in this thread mentioned old money vs new money. One thing that old money often is, but cannot see for itself, is pretentious. There is a lot of pretentious feel within the culture of Princeton in these videos; and other videos I have seen. New money is gaudy by the way, just to complete the versus.
Every university has it’s own culture. As an example, I took my girls at different times to visit universities in the south, and sorry Texans, you are not in the south. Southern girls, especially in sororities, have a VERY different culture from other parts of the country. You need to know this before attending or you might feel very out of place and your experience will be horrible.
Here it goes…is Princeton pretentious?
St. Mark’s School in Dallas may have the most similar vibe even though it is a private prep school and not a university.
In my opinion, the campus vibe at SMU is not similar to that at Princeton.
If that’s the vibe you’re getting, then it seems it is pretentious, at least to you. But it matters more what your kid thinks, right?
And here goes…IMO, yes, there are pretentious people at Princeton, but I am guessing a lot of people will disagree. And given its student outcomes and its reputation, does it matter if it is? Given the high retention rate, students are happy. That’s important.
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There’s definitely some of that at Princeton (and other Ivies and northeastern liberal arts colleges). I wouldn’t say it defines the culture there though. There’s a broad range of people from all sorts of backgrounds. With the generous financial aid there are a lot of middle class and lower income kids there. A large engineering cohort that tends to be more practical and down to earth. I think the experience is going to depend on the kid and what group he gravitates toward. The kids I know at or from Princeton aren’t pretentious at all, just bright, confident, approachable, friendly. They’d have fit in and been happy at a state flagship.
I’d probably rely more on the admitted students days to get a sense of the culture. I was thinking of the YouTube videos more to see the campus and buildings.
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@Lindagaf there’s a lot of truth in your post
@politeperson great insight. And we’ve been absorbing the campus views. Appreciate dropping the name for us to watch.
Texans aren’t in the south? Do you mean they aren’t in the southeast?
If you would like to be directionally specific, yes.
But I do not believe if someone uses the slang, “bless your heart” or “y’all”, that they would refer to themselves as living in the southeast. I do not believe a southern belle refers to herself as a southeastern belle. I do not believe it is called a southeastern drawl, or southeastern chicken, or southeastern britches, and the like. I do not believe Neil Young’s song is called Southeastern Man. Southern is the term.
Texas is not southeastern, southwestern, or southern. It is Texas…and we are pretentious and gaudy about it. 
I’m enjoying binge-watching Friday Night Lights. “Texas Forever!”
After only one episode, Walker Texas Ranger 2021 has already won every award possible!!