<p>I'm going to be a senior in high school this September, and I'm trying to do more research about all the schools on my list. Four of the schools on my list are Ivies, including Harvard and Princeton. As you can see by my screen name, Princeton is my first choice rigt now. I like it more than Harvard because it's smaller, it's in a suburban area, and it seems more rigorous. I'm not trying to be arrogant and act like I'm guaranteed to get in to both. I realize that I may not get into either school. I just want to know more about Princeton and what makes it so great. I also just posted a thread under the Harvard section asking people to clear up a few things about Harvard's undergraduate program (if anyone would like to reply to that too). If anyone has any details about Princeton (eating clubs, study abroad, libraries, or the epic senior thesis) that can help, I'd be happy to read them. Thanks!</p>
<p>You can’t get into Princeton unless your a prince of a country. This is not a joke.</p>
<p>That’s SO untrue. At least 12 people from my school go to Princeton each year! And not a single one of them is royalty.</p>
<p>you might want to search the forum for keywords such as “eating clubs”, “study abroad” and whatever else you want to know about first. there are a lot of threads</p>
<p>harvard is holy, princeton is princely. you choose.</p>
<p>Actually, you don’t have to be a prince. You could be a duke, earl or marquis, maybe even a thain. Princeton is much more diverse these days. They’re even thinking of changing the name to Royalton to emphasize this broader mindset.</p>
<p>1) Why is Princeton your first choice if you don’t even know why it’s great? Are you just picking random, big name universities?</p>
<p>Princeton is the best school for undergraduates. It has the number one Economics program, and is very highly ranked in almost all majors. It is consistently ranked as having the most beautiful campus. From 2002-2008, Princeton University was ranked as the #1 University in the world. (By Newsweek, I think.)</p>
<p>Harvard is focused more on graduates. The professors tend to ignore undergraduates and treat them as second class students.</p>
<p>In recapitulation, Princeton is the #1 school for undergraduates, Harvard is the #1 school for graduates.</p>
<p>Year in and year out, when given the choice, admitted applicants choose Harvard over Princeton 3 or 4 to 1. Can that many intelligent people be that wrong that much?</p>
<p>Go with the winners.</p>
<p>“admitted applicants choose Harvard over Princeton 3 or 4 to 1”</p>
<p>It’s not quite that extreme. The cross-admit rate is about 65% to Harvard and about 35% to Princeton. So it’s just under 2 to 1 go to Harvard.</p>
<p>Saugus, Princeton is my first choice because, like I wrote in my original post “it’s smaller, it’s in a suburban area, and it seems more rigorous.” Read much?</p>
<p>If you could read, you would notice that I wrote “I also just posted a thread under the Harvard section asking people to clear up a few things about Harvard’s undergraduate program (if anyone would like to reply to that too).” and in that other post, I was saying how I heard that Harvard is more focused on grad schools. </p>
<p>So yes, I already know these that Princeton is focused on undergrad, and yes, going to a school with a big name is a plus. And I would hardly call Princeton and Harvard random. ??? That’s so stupid.</p>
<p>The reason I posted this is just to get info that I may have missed.</p>
<p>Try Duke. You’ll like it.</p>
<p>Thanks jamescchen! I’ll check out their website. I know they have strong economics and Political Science programs, and that’s what I’m interested. Good suggestion.</p>
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<p>The choices of Princeton and Harvard may not be random but they are obvious. Everyone and their brother wants to go to Princeton or Harvard. It does look like you’re picking schools based on reputation.</p>
<p>It’s also hard to take this thread seriously unless I had some indication that you really have the credentials to be admitted to both of these schools.</p>
<p>Okay I just posted my credentials here for Pea, but I clicked on “edit” and deleted it all to write this: I realized that it doesn’t really matter what you guys think. It’s up to the admissions officers. If they don’t like my application, I won’t get in. Theyr’e the only ones who need to see my “credentials”. Unless your an admissions officer, I don’t have anything to prove to you.</p>
<p>Why is everyone being so negative? It seems like you’re being realistic. She said she realizes that it’s possible that she might not get into either school, and she’s just asking a question. jeez.</p>
<p>and Pee, sorry, I mean Pea, why wouldn’t someone want to go to a school with a good reputation?</p>
<p>Wow! Your credentials are impeccable. It looks like you can write your ticket anywhere.</p>
<p>@natsherman–Intelligent people, can, however, be fooled by the name or prestige of a school</p>
<p>You forgot the sarcasm tag, Pea.</p>
<p>And seriously, credentials are necessary. If you have a 1700 on the SAT, no athletic ability, and are white, you shouldn’t be applying to Princeton. There was nothing to indicate you did or did not have such characteristics, which is why we wanted to know what they were. A much more succinct statement of “I have a 2250+ SAT and 3.9 GPA” would have been sufficient.</p>
<p>Finally, why Harvard and Princeton, but not Yale?</p>
<p>My dad wants me to apply to Yale b/c he went to Yale med and loved it (even though i’m sure it’s quite different from Yale undergrad), and the only reason I haven’t asked is that I haven’t visited the campus yet. He’s taking me up at the end of the summer.</p>
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<p>I was not being negative. I had no idea I was talking to someone who was at the top of her class at Phillips Academy which she posted and then deleted.</p>
<p>I was also not being sarcastic. I posted that I was not being sarcastic earlier but I think the post didn’t go through. Either that or someone deleted it, but I would like to think someone was not able to delete a post that I made.</p>
<p>The remarks are being edited on this thread.</p>