<p>yay i'm back!</p>
<p>Deal (on putting down the vocab book). Ya know, 'twasn't I who ran for the dictionary, but when I feel myself assailed by those who are beholden to literal currents, I'm going to invoke in my defense the type of weapon you accused me of misusing, if only to reify my ability to use it.
To invoke your namesake, F Scott Fitzgerald:
"Genius goes around the world in its youth incessantly apologizing for having large feet. What wonder that later in life it should be inclined to raise those feet too swiftly to fools and bores."</p>
<p>Purely anecdotally, I thought I'd mention that several people have told me "You should go to Princeton" after I do the ****<em>ty, aloof arrogant kind of stuff (that would paint me as a "superior sonvab</em>tch) I did in my previous two posts.</p>
<p>DO NOT visit during the summer. It's a waste of time. If at all possible, visit during the school year and see each school in action. I cannot stress how important it is to do so if you can afford it. Stay overnight with a student if at all possible (perhaps and alumn from your high school?). It's the only way to decide.</p>
<p>wow! What's your homepage?
Wikipedia.com/SATwords/insults?</p>
<p>How is it that I've never seen Princetonians on this boards bash other school, but I've seen Princeton bashed by CCers from Stanford and Harvard? Not Princeton compared to Stanford and Harvard. Princeton bashed!
And we have jingoism? "belligerent foreign policy"? </p>
<p>I'm confused.....</p>
<p>I would definitely advise visiting the colleges. The campus cultures are rather different (my credentials: I stayed at Stanford a month during summer '03 and I'm Princeton '09), but neither one is worse than the other, per se. Yes, Princeton does have eating clubs, and while they are a major part of the social life at Princeton, they are not by any means the end-all-be-all. When I stayed at Stanford, it seemed like dorm parties and greek life heavily influenced the social scene on campus. Nevertheless, many different opportunities/activites (especially cultural ones) were available on campus, even during the summer.</p>
<p>Ultimately, location and financial aid was the biggest reason why I decided not to apply to Stanford early (this was back in my junior year), because although California is amazing, I wanted to experience the East Coast lifestyle as a young adult. Stanford is strong across the board (as is Princeton), and I strongly believe that if you have any significant doubts about applying to Princeton ED (since it is binding), apply to Stanford SCEA.</p>
<p>Best of luck this year! :)</p>
<p>They're both incredible schools (in terms of academics, student body, everything)... I honestly don't think you can go wrong with whichever you pick. They were my top two choices and the ones my final decision was focusing on; I ended up picking Stanford, but I came very close to going to Princeton too. And no, I didn't pick up any "jingoism" at Princeton; the kids there all seemed very down-to-earth, not stuffy or conceited at all. So please ignore people who bash it just based on stereotypes along those lines. As for the eating clubs, while I did end up deciding that they were too restrictive a social scene for me, I didn't feel that most of them were "elitist" or anything -- they seemed to foster a lot of community among their members, so if you're looking for that (I wasn't -- got plenty of that in HS), Princeton would be an excellent choice. However, it was more white than Stanford, so if diversity matters a lot to you, S has the edge. S also has very interdisciplinary science programs, a good deal of flexibility, a California location (right near the best city in the world :)), a history of / focus on fostering research/innovation, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Anyway... it just depends on what matters to you and what you're looking for in a school (ooh, I'm so insightful), but don't worry too much -- I'm betting you'd be very happy (and well-educated!) at either.</p>
<p>why is ED more forgiving?</p>