<p>I'm sure you guys probably have had threads like this for but I'm in the middle of a decision that I really didn't expect to have at all and I'd like some opinions from people who are into this topic.</p>
<p>Princeton or Yale?</p>
<p>I know that it's a personal decision and everyone needs something different but I'm genuinely 50/50 right now (or maybe 60/50, in favor of Yale). I've seen so many statistics and so much conflicting information. Where do you think is the best place to get an undergraduate education, best opportunity to get into professional schools, to make contacts, small class sizes, etc? What about extracurriculars and social life? Even prestige and name might play a role in my decision (though I get the sense that they're at about the same level in that category).</p>
<p>In terms of my academic interests, I'm really into journalism and political science and currently, hope to pursue a career in journalism.</p>
<p>As to journalism, neither Princeton nor Yale offers a journalism major. However, Princeton (which is the school I know about) has a number of journalism courses and an incredibly strong group of professors. Here's a link to the 2008-2009 list of professors (and you can also find a link to the courses given).</p>
<p>In addition, Princeton has an amazing creative writing program, with such professors as John McPhee, Joyce Carol Oates and now retired Toni Morison. The school paper, The Daily Princetonian, is very well known and there are any number of other papers and journals accepting undergraduate submissions. Finally, a number of alumni are well-known journalists, including David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, Jim Kelly, Managing Editor of Time, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation and NYT writer R.W. Apple. And
in the area of political science, Princeton of course offers the Woodrow Wilson school.</p>
<p>You obviously have two great choices and I'm sure that Yale offers great opportunities in both areas. I would strongly suggest that you visit both schools and see if one of them appeals to you more.</p>
<p>Not only that, but if you're really committed, the University Press Club at Princeton is very highly regarded. However, you will have prove yourself quite a bit to become a member. I would check out their website: University</a> Press Club. From what I've heard from fellow students its the real deal. </p>
<p>Otherwise, if you can visit either school, or preferably both, I would think about doing it. Both have programs for admitted students that are generally very welcoming and very informative. April Hosting (a.k.a Princeton Preview) is going on for this weekend and next, but there are other times prospectives can visit. They also have some sort of live chat thingy on certain days when undergrads answer questions online, so I would ask about that too. Good luck.</p>
<p>-you will get more attention at princeton with smaller class sizes.
-no grad schools at princeton to take up professors time.
-princeton has the woodrow wilson school.
-princeton kids claim to have amazing social lives.</p>
<p>in my opinion, and USNEWS's opinion, there is no better university to get an undergrad education than princeton</p>
<p>
[quote]
-you will get more attention at princeton with smaller class sizes.
-no grad schools at princeton to take up professors time.
-princeton has the woodrow wilson school.
-princeton kids claim to have amazing social lives.
[/quote]
The first claim is false - the published statistics show no large differences in class sizes between the two schools, if anything, Yale's are smaller.
The second claim is false - Princeton has one of the best regarded graduate programs in the country. What you mean is that there are no professional schools, but those have separate faculty anyway.
Princeton does have Woody Woo, which is a great program, though how it relates to journalism is unclear to me.
The fourth claim is true, but it's true about Yale as well.</p>
<p>Both Yale and Princeton are excellent schools and either one could be a terrific choice for the OP. Giving false and misleading information, however, does a disservice to the school you are trying to promote. OP, I agree entirely with tokyorevelation9 - visit both schools if you can. It was what allowed me to make up my mind (it actually made it easy for me) when I was in your position two years ago.</p>
<p>Right, chicagoboy12's bullet points ranged from highly simplistic to just false. </p>
<p>Yale has so much to offer, and has just as much 'academic intimacy' as Princeton, even with more graduate students at Yale, much to their credit (I can't say as much for Harvard). There are plenty of seminar-style classes to go around at both Princeton and Yale, especially for freshmen, where you can get up close with your professors. </p>
<p>I'd even say according to what Eli friends have told me and what I've experienced visiting there, is that Yale offers a unique lively social experience: which is only enhanced by their firmly established residential college system and the offerings of urban New Haven (which isn't quite as gritty as people say). </p>
<p>I was able to visit both schools, albeit at different times, and I later favored Princeton for reasons largely unrelated to my visiting experience. I actually enjoyed both schools and it was difficult to decide which one I liked more, although I preferred Princeton's campus because it was smaller and easier to traverse in my opinion. </p>
<p>So, as others said before, do your research for yourself and you'll have a lot less regret.</p>
<p>How does the Woodrow Wilson school relate? Well, if you read the original post then you would see his interests are journalism and POLITICAL SCIENCE. But you were too busy promoting Yale.</p>
<p>chicagoboy, the political science department and the woodrow wilson school are unrelated majors.
Yale is like hogwarts... they have a house cup between the dorm buildings... if i had gotten in I woulda totally gone there!!</p>
<p>The Woodrow Wilson school focuses on public policy and analysis of national and international issues and trends. If you're interested in political science, you could either take political science courses or try and get in to the WWS (about 90 juniors a year get in). It is considered one of the preeminent places in the country to study public affairs and since the OP mentioned an interest in political science, it is definitely relevant.</p>
<p>Visit. The feel of the two is very, very different. They attract very different kinds of students. </p>
<p>One word about Woodrow Wilson. It truly is a wonderful program, but it is selective. Not everyone who applies is admitted. (Yale has some selective programs too.) Do not choose Princeton ASSUMING that you will be automatically admitted to "Woody Woo" because that is not the case.</p>
<p>You can get an excellent education at either...and you're lucky to have a choice. A lot of it really is about "fit," so do try to visit. Before you visit, I would suggest doing some preliminary investigation about the ECs of interest to you, including journalism.</p>
<p>
[quote]
How does the Woodrow Wilson school relate? Well, if you read the original post then you would see his interests are journalism and POLITICAL SCIENCE. But you were too busy promoting Yale.
[/quote]
I haven't promoted Yale on this thread, I merely pointed out that you were making blatantly false claims. As for the Woody Woo point, you're right, it is relevant, but the posterX style misrepresentation in the rest of your post (actually worse, at least on the grad school bit. posterX mostly cherry picks sources to back up questionable opinions, he doesn't make obviously false factual assertions) made me angry enough that I made a mistake. I apologize for that though. But I don't hold your behavior against Princeton - I assume that you are not actually a Princeton student because you would realize how ridiculous you have been if you were.</p>
<p>BLATANtLY FALSE? I think not.
1) Smaller class sizes - According to USNEWS, princeton has 72% of classes with fewer than 20 kids, only 10% with more than 50, and a 5/1 student to faculty ratio. This beats Yale's.</p>
<p>2) No grad schools- Yes, I meant professional, it was an accident. But still, the presence of grad students is less at princeton because its a higher % of undergrads.</p>
<p>3) Has WW school - TRUE.</p>
<p>4) Social lives - TRUE. All of the princeton students I have talked to say they have fabulous social lives.</p>
<p>Interesting that with the "smaller class size" data, you left out Yale's numbers, which, according to US News are 76% under 20 and only 8% above 50 (student to faculty ratio affects class size, but isn't a direct measure of it, as teaching loads vary. Princeton beats Yale slightly there as Yale's student to faculty ratio is 6:1). Now, these aren't big differences, but to say that Princeton beats Yale on that basis is to misrepresent the truth.
Look, I'm not saying that there aren't legitimate differences that can be drawn (it's true, as you now say, that Yale has more grad students, for instance) - only that the differences you claimed or implied initially (and are continuing to claim in relation to class sizes) were mostly untrue.</p>
<p>Whatevs... in my opinion, Yale is better in most aspects.
But it does come down to the visit, so there's really no point in debating anymore because the OP will hopefully choose on that.</p>