Princeton vs. Stanford vs. Yale

Hey everyone!!

I was fortunate enough to have been accepted by some of my top choices during the regular decision round this past week. I’ve narrowed my top choices to Princeton, Stanford, and Yale, but having such incredible options does put me into a bit of a bind. I plan on visiting campus during admitted students weekends, but I want to have established some preferences prior to attending those days in April. I am interested in the humanities-- particularly English (with a creative writing focus) and Philosophy. I believe each school has top notch programs, with Princeton’s creative writing program being especially of note. Yale, of course, is well regarded for the humanities in general, and Stanford has some incredible faculty in those departments. I’m hoping to follow up undergrad with law school, if that helps. At the same time, though, I don’t want my education to be narrowly tailored to a singular area of focus (I’ve had a great time studying physics, for example, in high school, and have been thinking about pursuing some physics degree/minor as well.) I hope to write for campus publications and research in the humanities.

Here are some of my notes/concerns about each of these three schools:

Princeton: I’m not actually that worried about grade deflation and the perceived ‘intellectualism’ on campus, because I feel like that type of atmosphere does suit me. Actually, I’m a little nervous Princeton will not strike the right balance between challenging me as a student vs. a person: this is an intangible gathered from reading and talking to other students, but it seems like Princeton’s emphasis on the classroom experience could potentially take away from the overall undergrad living/learning experience as well. My parents are especially keen on Princeton: I think it probably ‘fits’ me the most, but I almost want to resist that. That concern being noted, however, the professors blow me away and I know the emphasis on undergrad teaching, plus the sheer distribution of resources, will serve me well.

Stanford: I actually had received a likely letter from Stanford and some really thoughtful notes from admissions, so I don’t know if psychologically I’ve warmed up to Stanford than I ordinarily might have. I’m worried that, despite the strength of the particular depts I’m interested in, it is still more of a STEM/Entrepreneurship/tech heavy school. The atmosphere seems less stuffy than Princeton and Yale. Although Palo Alto itself isn’t a huge draw, I think being in such an atmosphere would be a valuable learning experience, particularly because I see myself returning to the East Coast for law school and beyond. It’s also the furthest from home-- I’ve never lived in California before. The possibility of a four year coterm with a Master’s is also really appealing to me.

Yale: This school seems to fit me best by interest (just as Princeton does in terms of personality). I don’t know how rigorous courses at Yale are, though, but I do know that I would to take part in the freshman Directed Studies seminars. I guess my primary hesitation is more of a gut feeling (perhaps irrational): Yale seems more concerned with an upkeep of a certain SJW/politics heavy image, and I don’t know if I myself want to jump on the social justice/political activist train.

I’d love to hear any of your thoughts. Wish you all the best if you’re also going through the college application/admissions process and thank you so much in advance:))