Hi guys! I’m an international student who’s just been accepted into Princeton and Dartmouth Class of 2023. I’m currently stuck between which school offer to pick. Any ideas on what I should consider when making a choice?
First of all, congratulations! Being accepting to two Ivies as an international applicant is remarkable.
As for your question, one major difference between the two colleges is probably the location and size. Princeton has more of a suburban location with a medium undergraduate enrollment while Dartmouth is pretty much in the middle of nowhere with a small undergraduate enrollment, so if location is a large factor to you than this is a key difference. This also probably affects the amount of opportunities offered at the schools (I would imagine Princeton would have the edge here). Another thing you might want to consider is the programs offered at each school and which one is better for your intended path of study. This usually plays a key role in people making decisions between two colleges so definitely take a look at that. One more minor thing that may influence your decision is prestige (although definitely don’t base your decision on this). Princeton probably has the edge here but probably not by too much. Hope this helps!
@skompella9892 , thank you so much! There is a lot of insight in the response, and I agree that location plays a major role in the decision making process. Do college rankings give an accurate representation of the strength of the school? I’m stuck between CS and Engineering, where Princeton appears to have a strength.
@mutemwamasheke I do agree that Princeton would be stronger in those fields, and although college rankings definitely do represent the strength of the school I don’t think they’re entirely reliable and accurate (but they should give you a good idea of which colleges are strong in certain fields). Princeton is known to be a bit stronger academically in almost all fields of study than Dartmouth but not by too much.
Princeton is significantly stronger in those fields. I wouldn’t go to Dartmouth unless you have a compelling personal reason to do so.
Were you accepted by any other US universities ? I ask because you intend to study CS & engineering.
Yes, a few examples are Emory (which doesn’t offer engineering) and NYU
@JenniferClint thank you so much for the advice, any other pluses, other than academics?
Princeton has a long history in computer science. Here is a good video of the early history of CS at Princeton. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2012/05/03/alan-turing-princeton-university?section=featured
Alan Turing, called the “father of computer science” received his PhD from Princeton in 1938. John von Neumann joined the faculty in 1930. All computers today are designed with a single memory for programs and data first described by von Neumann in a paper in 1945; computer scientists call this the von Neumann architecture. The first stored program computer, the MANIAC (mathematical and numerical integrator and computer) was built in Princeton starting in 1947. The first commercially available IBM computer, the 701 was built based on the MANIC design. Princeton engineers have had an important role in the development of networking and the Internet. David Boggs BSE ’ 72 was a co-inventor of Ethernet. Robert Kahn MS *62, PhD 64 co-invented the Internet protocol TCP/IP. The largest cloud service provider with over 2 million servers was started by Jeff Bezos EE & CS, ’86. Stanford, Princeton, and MIT are frequently cited as having the best computer science PhD programs. Google has established an AI lab across the street from Princeton University. The lab builds on several years of close collaboration between Google and Professors of CS Elad Hazan *2006 and Yoram Singer, who will split their time working for Google and Princeton. Eric Schmidt BSEE ’76 is the former Executive Chairman of Google. The engineering school founded in 1889 was one of the first engineering schools in the US.
You wrote “any other pluses, other than academics?” You need to first tell this forum your specific interests. Dartmouth has a ski slope on campus. Does that interest you? Fraternities are important at Dartmouth and have a minor role at Princeton.
@mutemwamasheke Princeton for a few reasons. Stronger prestige, reputation, stronger in most fields including the ones you re interested in, more research and teaching resources and better location (although location can be subjective).
If you have a strong personal reason for going to Dartmouth then by all means to go Dartmouth, it is an amazing school. But if you dont I d be hard pressed to find a reason to turn down Princeton for Dartmouth.
@mutemwamasheke You’re very welcome. Other pluses… let’s see…
Dartmouth might be a little more homogenous than Princeton. As an international student, the Greek life might not appeal to you. On the flip side, both student bodies are affluent and Waspy (google it 
) so you’d have some adjusting to do regardless of which school you pick. That’s true of most elite/expensive American universities though and they are making efforts to diversify the student body at both places. Princeton’s financial aid is unparalleled. That could be a big advantage for someone in your situation.
Congratulations on making it this far. No mean feat.
@PtonAlumnus You are a font of wisdom!
Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it!
Probably for CS and engineering the edge goes to Princeton. Some reasons to think about Dartmouth instead is if you want to be in a more secluded and nature-filled area, then Dartmouth might be more enjoyable. Also, if you really like cold weather Dartmouth has plenty of that 
. Congrats thought, and good luck!
I do really love Dartmouth, but Princeton has the edge.