I’m an international student from Latin America and I am facing a choice I could’ve never imagine I’d have, and at the moment I have no idea which way I’ll go. I appreciate any imputs and specially guidance as to which aspects I should evaluate to make the best choice for me.
Some things that are important to me:
• My main areas of interest are International Relations / Public Affairs. While Princeton would offer me WWS (its undergrad program is more focused on policy than IR,) unfortunately HKS does not have undergraduate studies. Therefore I’d likely go into Harvard undecided. How essential should intended major be when choosing a school?
• I want a school that has a strong campus feel. Schools with the “the city is my campus” mentality are not appealing to me. For instance, I’ve been to Columbia and NYU and didn’t like them. On the contrary, I really liked Yale.
• I am bilingual and want to become fluent in a new language (no previous knowledge at all) during my college years. Will any of the schools be superior to the other for this?
• I am a bit worried about how competitive, especially in terms of social/extracurricular life. I am big on study groups, learning through discussion, etc and certainly want an environment that is cooperative and not too stressful on that sense.
That is all I can think for now. I am certain I’ll be able to get a magnificent education at both colleges so I’m thinking my decision will come down to the intangibles—I am hoping I can attend both Visitas and Princeton Preview. I am definitely lured in by Harvard’s name brand, specifically abroad where Princeton is not as well-known, but I’ll try to make that insignificant in making a decision.
Everyone important in the IR/Public Affairs world, including those in your country, will know and respect a Princeton degree. So put that concern out of your mind.
Both schools are obviously superb. Both will give you a superb education and amazing connections. Both will have study groups and collaborative vibes if you seek them out. And yes, both will be competitive. (But you got into them, and will be able to handle the competition. And there are extraordinary academic support services should you want them.)
Harvard has less of a campus. It’s more urban. Princeton is more of a country club. Harvard has its secret/selective clubs, Princeton has its eating clubs. Harvard students hang out in Boston, Princeton students in NYC.
Go to which school appeals to you more on a gut level, and where you think you’d be happier to spend four years of your life. You can decide based on absolutely subjective and personal factors. You can’t go wrong here. Congratulations!
After reading @katliamom’s reply to you (Do note that Princeton holds its own for IR/Public Affairs),
I would say think about the type of person you are and how easily you feel you tend to make friends and/or socialize, or if you even feel you have a definition of yourself as social with an intention on hanging out with others.
Being in an urban environment has just one advantage over the more campus-into-town type of place: You can walk almost anywhere you need/want to go, and there are so many opportunities to explore by foot or on public transportation.
There is much you could do in Harvard’s part of Cambridge to give yourself a small town experience, if you should choose.
Princeton’s campus is quite lovely, and the sense of being there quite special. I got the sense of the “Hallowed Halls of Academia” there almost immediately, without the noted bustle of Harvard, which offers its own sense of the grand idea of the old institutions, just knit together across many streets.
Well, this is a most excellent problem to have! Congratulations! One thing to consider- ease of travel. When my daughter was going through the college selection process, we realized that traveling to and from Boston would be far easier from Harvard, with its close proximity to an international airport, in comparison to Princeton.
Congrats to OP! Great choices to have and even tossing a coin to decide would be fine. But here are things to consider:
if you go to any small village in Latin America or in the world for that matter its more likely that people have heard of Harvard not Princeton. As a public official or government person it is not just a matter of school prestige it is something that will bring you instant credibility. How important is it to your career in IR/PA, only you can know.
Harvard College is right next Kennedy School of Government, which is where US Congress holds its orientations. Every week you would have top government officials from around the world giving speeches and holding seminars there too.
Of course with its many professional and graduate schools Harvard has one of the largest networks outside of the US.
In terms of feel and vibe you won’t know it until you visit both campuses. And I also agree with @misty88981 that if you travel often BOS has non-stop to most places and is only 10min away from campus while Princeton is far more inconvenient.
I personally don’t like Harvard’s campus. It’s too touristy. You obviously have two great choices, but as far as name recognition goes, it’s going to be hard to find someone who hasn’t heard of Princeton. I mean I’m sure there is a remote Amazonian tribe somewhere…
To me, Princeton sounds better for you. Harvard is pretty notorious for being competitive and, IMO, the campus is not as pretty or contained as Princeton.
Both schools will offer you excellent academics. Think back to your why Harvard and why Princeton essays. Go with the one you feel strongest about. There’s no wrong choice.
There is no wrong decision. If it is at all possible, however, visit both campuses now that you KNOW you are admitted rather than hoping you get admitted. Knowing for certain that this will be your home for 4 years, not merely guessing at it, will likely help you arrive at your decision. What you plan to do and focus on for college is easily found at both universities. Good luck and this is called a great choice in life.
I would NOT count on people outside of the US recognising Princeton as easily as Harvard, even those supposedly „in the know“. There are really only two universities that have the same instant worldwide name recognition, and they are Oxford and MIT. They may have heard of Princeton, but will not immediately recognise them as the equals that, academically, they are. The brand just isn’t as strong.
I agree that it sounds as if Princeton will make you happier, but going into a field where the Harvard brand will make a difference, you‘d have to feel sure you won’t keep second guessing yourself.
Of course, you might go for a BA at Princeton and do on to do a grad degree at the Kennedy school. No idea whether that is even a realistic option.
^^^^ @Tigerle Princeton does not award a BA degree … it is called an AB (the diploma is in Latin) or for engineering, a BSE. Insignificant point but I wanted to clarify as calling it a BA indicates a lack of familiarity with Princeton, which I guess is what you are trying to tell the OP.
Congrats, OP! Are you going to be able to visit either school? To me, Princeton has much more of a campus feel and is less urban, with many fewer tourists wandering around at any given time. Woody Woo is a very collaborative concentration at Princeton.
Princeton students do not hang out in NYC the same way Harvard students hang out in Boston. Princeton is approximately an hour (sometimes more if on a local route) by train to NYC. Boston is across the water from Cambridge. I am also unsure if I agree with calling its campus a country club-like. It’s not that grassy and is in downtown Princeton - its pretty cluttered actually. I agree with everything else though.
The kind of people who don’t know Princeton probably wouldn’t matter for the OP and his/her career prospects. Even back in the pre-internet days in the dark ages in a third world country, we knew of Princeton as “equal” to Harvard (the same people would have been hard pressed to name ivies such Dartmouth or Brown or even Cornell back then). I have a friend on the adcom of one of these and from what he has said plus what OP has said, I would lean towards Princeton, but it is hard to go wrong with either.
@yikesyikesyikes – I’m perfectly aware of the distance between Princeton and NYC. I stand by my statement, since I personally know current (and recently graduated) Princeton students who were in NYC nearly every weekend, finding the town of Princeton a tad, well, boring. As for country club – that’s one of the most common descriptions of Princeton University. You may not agree, but that’s what comes to many visitors’ minds.
Princeton, cluttered? I mean, there are tourists on Nassau Street, but I personally don’t find it as congested or stifling as Harvard Square. Princeton, the town/village is a wealthy town, commuting distance from both Philadelphia (40 minutes) and NYC (60 minutes). It has upscale shops in a smaller, village kind of feel. Campus is green, with gorgeous Gothic style residence halls and modern science facilities. In town one weekend, my teenager remarked we heard 5 different languages walking a few blocks.
Harvard is in Harvard Square, one of the many “squares” in Cambridge. It has certainly been sanitized over the last generation and has become a tourist attraction (the Coop now seems to sell almost entirely t shirts and other paraphernalia, whereas I used to buy jazz records on the second floor).
Both are world class educations and will be known and respected. There is a wonderful mystique of history on both campuses. Personally, I think the opportunities through Woodrow Wilson School overshadow Harvard, but that’s just me.
Reading between the lines it sounds like Princeton is a better fit, but your having a hard time turning down Harvard due to the perception that Harvard is more prestigious.
Harvard offers an undergrad concentration in Government, with the option of taking master’s level classes by HKS professors. The IOP- Institute of Politics- hosts world and national political and gov leaders for semesters or months to lecture and interact heavily with undergrads.
One of my DDs attended Harvard and loved the intensity and bustle of Cambridge, while her sister, who was at Princeton, loved running on the towpath in the woods, rowing on Lake Carnegie, and the eating club social scene. You will have an excellent experience at either…congrats!
I grew up around Princeton - most people actually living there would laugh at calling Princeton’s downtown a village. Princeton’s downtown is one of the more urbanized areas in that part of central New Jersey. I’m not saying it is as busy as Cambridge, but the nightmare of driving down Nassau or Witherspoon or trying to find available and reasonably close street parking for your shopping trip or restaurant outing really disqualifies the campus area from being considered a village in the cultural sense of the term (not legal). The only thing really “villag-ey” about it is the themed architectural style and some of the sleepy businesses. More like a theme park sans the rides than a village.
I do not agree with tigerle that MIT is globally known. I lived overseas for twenty years and travelled the world extensively during that time. I can truthfully say that I didn’t know if MIT was a college, or what (was it like IBM, or AT&T?), until I moved back to the US 15 years ago. Honestly, if we asked the aforementioned Amazonians which colleges they might have heard of, my money is always going to be on Oxford and Harvard. BUT, anyone at all who is going to be hiring the OP has heard of Princeton.
Point is OP, it’s not a popularity contest. Go to the one you like the best. Neither is going to get you a bad degree.
@yikesyikesyikes To each their own, as I also grew up in in the area and know Cambridge to compare the two. Students wouldn’t have a car at Princeton so aren’t dealing with finding parking to pop into Starbucks or CVS nor are they navigating Route 1 so yes, to me, it retains that small town feel.
Cambridge and Princeton are both very wealthy communities, with beautiful historic homes surrounding campus, as well as tourists and a combination of national shops and local shops. To me, the T (the subway), the hustle of Harvard Square, all make Harvard much more urban whereas Princeton campus life feels more self-contained.
In terms of comparing the student body, there are more similarities than differences, as Harvard reports being about 38% white vs. Princeton 45%, Harvard is about 11% international vs. 13% Princeton, Harvard is 16% Pell grant eligible vs. 20% at Princeton, and both schools are about 15% first generation college students.
For an international student travel, both airports are accessible by public transportation – Boston’s Logan airport is about a 30-35 minute subway and bus ride from Harvard Square and Newark airport is about a 30-40 minute train ride from Princeton, so ease of travel should not be a major factor.
