As a Princeton resident (and train commuter), Princeton would be a minimum of 70 minutes by train to NYC. If you catch and “express” train from Princeton Junction (which is really i neighboring West Windsor), that would take about 55 minutes if it was on time. But it usually isn’t, so 70 is more typical of an express. But from Princeton University you first need to take the “dinky” train from campus to Princeton Junction. That’s only about 5 minutes of travel, but factor in the imperfect timing between it and your main train and even if your express train were miraculously on time, it would be at least 70.
On paper Philadelphia is only nominally closer. If you pay a premium for the occasional Amtrak you could probably get there in more like 45 minutes. But most trains would mean catching dinky, to NJ Transit to Trenton, ad switching to a SEPTA from Trenton to Philadelphia. Easily over an hour even if you time it just right.
Not suggesting this changes the equation on school at all. Princeton is an amazing school and fantastic small college town.
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My vote: choose the richest school. Choose the school with more undergrad than grad population. Choose Princeton.
Going to the school that’s richly endowed and more undergrad focused has a significant degree of benefits that most aren’t aware of. Princeton is number one in the nation and probably in the world for endowment per student that currently stands at $3,035,615 per student with the closest peer institution, Yale, coming in at a distant $1,866,030 in that ranking ladder. Duke, by comparison, is at $570,926. In concrete, such richly endowed per student figure translates to providing students with quality collegiate experience, such as courses taking place in another part of the world (e.g., ancient Greek archeology in Athens or Japanese art in Kyoto), summer domestic and international internships and various programs that take students to exotic destinations – all fully subsidized. Before my son’s sophomore year ended, he was able to travel to Spain, Sweden and Canada with not a dime out of my pocket. He was to spend that summer in South Africa for a medical internship, fully subsidized, until Covid ruined that plan and much more. Princeton that we’ve come to know, supports just about everything that students aspire to. For my son’s senior thesis project, he decided to request funding for something that he felt for sure would be declined given the nature (not providing any detail) of the project. I, too, upon learning about it, agreed with him. It was farfetched. Yet, his request was granted down to the penny. No questions asked; no follow-up justifications requested.
This next month is going to be a bitter sweet time for him. Sweet because he’s graduating; bitter because he doesn’t want to leave the Orange Bubble.
All throughout his four years at Princeton, he only had one cheap but comfy $40 jacket for winter months. Princeton isn’t San Diego, but it isn’t Boston, either. One jacket, however, was enough to handle all the cold that Princeton winter threw at my son. I’m from San Diego. Never wanted to leave the Beach Bubble, but when I eventually had to for my first professional job in Boston, it was the best thing that could have happened to me as the experience broadened me, the kind of education that you can’t get at a college. It’s naturally apprehensive to allow your daughter to make such a big move, but it’s something I’m sure your daughter will learn to appreciate later in her life.
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Not to digress but just as a point of fact, with an enrollment of only 400+/- and an endowment of $1.2 billion, Soka University has been variously listed as either the first or second highest endowment per student in the US.
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Yes, Soka and Princeton have been exchanging #1 endowment per student rankings over the years with Soka taking #2 spot for the past few years in a row. I mentioned Yale as the “closest peer institution” in the rankings ladder, skipping the mention of Soka.
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