Princeton / Stanford

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>I am having a really tough time deciding between Stanford and Princeton. I intend to study Economics, with a definite lean towards the quantitative side, so lots of statistics / mathematics classes.</p>

<p>From the academic perspective there's not much between both universities, although I Stanford does seem to have a bit of an edge in engineering, which is a sort of back up for me. It would be nice to know that I wouldn't be disadvantaged in any way if I decided against economics for any reason.</p>

<p>I guess the deciding factor comes down to the environment. Stanford seems to have a more fun and lively student body, with a big emphasis on sports. I am definitely an outdoors person, and I am quite keen on running in college (even if just at a club level), although it seems to be a bit superficial to base my choice on weather. I am an international student who has received nothing but sun for the past 15 years, so a change in scenery may be good.</p>

<p>I'm not sure if I am romanticizing things a bit too much, but the appeal of the east coast also is huge. I definitely prefer Princeton's Gothic architecture over Stanford's - it adds a sort of grandeur and you get the sense that there are deep traditions in the place. The west coast appears to have a large emphasis on technology / entrepreneurship / start-ups, with the presence of Silicon Valley. This is great, but I don't quite identify as a techie, and it seems like most of the international organizations / financial institutions are in New York. How much of a difference does this make? I'm sure job opportunities will be equally good coming out of both schools, so does physical proximity play a significant role in the undergraduate experience? I also like the idea of being able to pop up to NYC on the weekend. For what it's worth I'm not particularly attracted to I-banking though, more of applying statistics/economics to real world problems.</p>

<p>I've heard much about Princeton's supposed reputation as an elitist, rich white boys' school. I'm don't qualify for financial aid, but I'm not sure if my parents would be willing to fork out extra money for an eating club - would that detract from the overall experience at Princeton? I've also read that Princeton is a little conservative.</p>

<p>Overall however, it seems that Princeton offers a more intimate, LAC experience, with more opportunities for undergrads. The study abroad programs look great. (Very keen to do one in France. Stanford's Bing doesn't seem to have Summer programs, and overseas seminars look to be quite selective) I also like the equal emphasis on the arts as well as science. </p>

<p>Stanford however, offers a more diverse experience, and a more balanced life between academics and ECs.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any advice that might help me? Would much appreciate it :)</p>

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<p>If you want to be part of the New York atmosphere go to NYU or Columbia. A trip to NYC from Princeton is the same as one to SF from Stanford. People do it occasionally, but mostly during breaks and never every weekend. I’m not sure how often people at Princeton leave campus, but it seems like people at Stanford rarely leave for more than a convenience store run during the school year.</p>

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<p>“I’ve heard much about Princeton’s supposed reputation as an elitist, rich white boys’ school.”</p>

<p>This is a long dead stereotype, as you can see by looking at the statistics. For instance, Princeton has the same male to female ratio Stanford (namely, ~50/50), and is just as diverse. That and a large majority of Princeton students get (significant) financial aid. </p>

<p>Same goes for Princeton being conservative. Of course there are conservative students on campus (as there’s every kind of student on campus), but the general lean is left. </p>

<p>I really think you should visit each if possible - there’s no replacement for getting a sense of the environment than by being there :)</p>

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<p>Congratulations on your acceptances. You can’t go wrong.</p>

<p>

That’s what we thought, too. But things have changed over the years.
[Princeton</a> University - Princeton University offers admission to 7.29 percent of applicants](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S36/44/74C02/index.xml]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S36/44/74C02/index.xml)</p>

<p>From the link:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Most surprising to me is that first generation students outnumber legacies.</p>

5

<p>Congratulations. What a wonderful dilemma you face. I agree re visiting. If you can at all swing it, do it. The campuses are very, very different - our child was able to eliminate one of these two schools over the other based on feel alone (with a view, ironically, that perhaps the optimal plan/hope would be to attend one for undergrad, the other for grad school). </p>

<p>Also agree with others re these outdated elitism, conservative, and diversity stereotypes. Both schools are diverse in every possible way. FWIW, I lived near Stanford for many years and, though I could be wrong, always felt it seemed pretty conservative, more so than Princeton and certainly, say, Cal or Harvard. Those actually on campus may have better feedback. </p>

<p>Finally, weather. Sounds like you have a sensible, flexible perspective. Bear in mind that Northern California weather, while certainly more moderate and arguably desirable than the the east coast’s come winter, is no sunny San Diego. You’ll see plenty of grey skies and rain in Palo Alto.</p>

<p>Best of luck with your decision!</p>

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<p>I had the same choice (though for grad school in economics). Some thoughts about economics at the two places. At the undergrad level the two places are more or less equivalent. A big advantage for Stanford is that the business school is right across the street from the econ department so you essentially have twice the number of faculty members. A slight drawback (but likely less so at the undergrad level) is that Stanford is very strong in theory while they aren’t really known for their empirical group (Caroline Hoxby is a big name but she’s pretty much it). As for Princeton, no business school but that doesn’t really matter because you have BCF right next door and the ORFE department two minutes away. Princeton has a great theory group but also a very strong applied group. When you work on your JP and senior thesis you will be working with some of the most well-known economists in the world (and some pretty smart grad students will be helping you as well). In this regard I would pick Princeton (though you can’t go wrong). If you plan to go to grad school in econ/finance I would again pick Princeton (Princeton accepts 3-4 of their own each year and typically sends them to MIT, Harvard, and Stanford). If you want to work on Wall Street, again Princeton. If you want to work in Silicon Valley, Stanford may have an edge (neither of these are big edges but they exist).</p>

<p>On the culture/life front, other posters can tell you more.</p>

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<p>I’m also choosing between Princeton and Stanford right now and am planning on pursuing engineering. I feel pretty much like you do in terms of the environment at both-- Stanford would have nicer weather and seems really friendly/laid back. Being from the west coast myself, I’m much more used to the atmosphere there. Princeton’s reputation for being elitist or whatever concerns me too. I think any claims that Princeton lacks diversity are dated stereotypes (it seems pretty diverse to me), same goes for the rich stereotype. But it seems pretty preppy and feels like it could be elitist in comparison to Stanford. In terms of political orientation, I think both (like pretty much every college in the nation) are fairly liberal, so I wouldn’t worry about the conservative reputation for either. </p>

<p>However, I like that Princeton is smaller and more undergrad focused. I also like the liberal arts emphasis. I think for most non-engineering majors (and even some engineering majors) Princeton probably has the advantage. But I guess I didn’t really give you too much real advice, but I’d be curious to hear which way you’re leaning as you get closer to making your decision. I’m actually going to attend the Princeton Preview in the next few days, so maybe I’ll have a better sense of the students/atmosphere then and I’ll be able to give you more helpful comments. :)</p>

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<p>I was totally worried about the preppy stereotype – and then I attended Preview and went, “huh, they’re pretty normal people.” I’m now a BSE computer science major, class fo 2014. :)</p>

<p>Study abroad options are indeed great – you can get so much funding…! – and I haven’t had any real problems with elitism here. (From Stanford CS majors, on the other hand…sigh.) I strongly encourage both of you to come to Preview and get a feel of the school for yourself! And make sure you spend time hanging out with normal students, not just prefrosh, if you can…</p>

9

<p>I went to Stanford and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in Economics. My advisor actually never learned my name because his focus was on his grad students. He canceled countless office hours meetings with me, and we ended up only meeting once. Admittedly, he is a well known economist, but he apparently found teaching undergrad classes beneath him. In our one meeting, he mixed me up with another student and kept calling me Julie, which is not my name, even after I corrected him. </p>

<p>Stanford is fantastic for grad school, but for an undergraduate, I’d have to give the advantage to Princeton. My cousin attended Princeton and loved her experience there.</p>

<p>And check out this editorial from today’s Daily Princetonian:</p>

<p>[Dear</a> prospective members of the Princeton Class of 2017 - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2013/04/11/32896/]Dear”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2013/04/11/32896/)</p>

10

<p>^. My son had totally different experience from you: he also graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford and was the valedictorian of one of his double majors. He had many offers from graduate school/consulting firms upon graduation. In the end, he just could not refuse the offer from Google.</p>

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<p>^wow your son is a beast</p>

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<p>That’s not necessarily a totally different experience because you’re talking about different things. He wasn’t saying that no one can do well at Stanford… he was suggesting that the average undergrad doesn’t get that much attention.</p>

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<p>

I hope that the 5.69% acceptance rate, and the possibly 75% yield indicate the other way around. about 43% of Stanford admits are HYPSM cross-admits and about a 1/3 students are those cross-admits.</p>

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</p>

<p>…why?</p>

<p>10char</p>

15

<p>Yeah those are again totally different things.</p>