<p>anyone have any insights on this argument</p>
<p>the residential college system at princeton is a shadow of the Yale/Harvard version. They just recently instituted a 4 year program and even that's optional. The colleges at Yale and the Houses at Harvard are far more developed and provide a far more integral part of the life of the college. As for eating clubs, that's personal preference. But the very divisions in residential and eating options at princeton, I think, are problematic. Everyone is part of a residential college at Yale, even if you live off campus. You get alot of ameneties both as a freshman and as an upperclassmen by having the incredible resources of your college and other colleges at your disposal.<br>
And, from my own personal experience, the food is better at Yale ;)</p>
<p>go more with feelings than with facts. the facts will have you running in circles. pay most attention to the impressions you get of the campuses when you visit.</p>
<p>good luck! i had the same exact struggle last year. i went to the princeton april hosting weekend and then the yale bulldog days. anyway, i'm sure i made the right decision now.</p>
<p>just remember how lucky you are to have such extraordinary schools to choose from! don't freak out too much--see it as a positive, not a negative!</p>
<p>I personally like Princeton's campus much more than Yale's campus</p>
<p>At Princeton in my d's residential college she has academic and personal advisors, a glittering array of outside speakers, trips to Broadway shows, the opera, and major league games, international films with accompanying food, fun trips, free stuff, visiting faculty to talk about choosing the major, etc. etc. The amenities and opportunities are endless. Her only problem is finding the time to take advantage of even a percentage of it all. </p>
<p>The residential colleges at Princeton are extremely well funded by the University -- unlike those at Yale, where each one's social programs are funded by alumni and therefore the offerings from one to another are uneven.</p>
<p>Members of this year's entering class who wish a 4-year residential college affiliation will be able to have one. Many Princeton students jump at the chance to room with friends from other colleges by the time they are juniors, though (as several students have said above), and as of next year they will continue to be affiliated with their residential college for all four years.</p>
<p>aparent is mistaken. each residential college at YALE has its own social funding set aside equally by the university - to fund master teas, trips, party funds (yes, the colleges each fund at least one party suite, where such things as kegs are subsidize). They are also uniformly funded when it comes to advising, tutors, and the college seminar program. Alumni contributions such as scholarship opportunities, internships, and art funds are extra and are not related to the social aspects of the college.</p>
<p>Where does aparent get this stuff, anyway?</p>
<p>Um, try the Yale Herald and the Yale Daily News: <a href="http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=2616%5B/url%5D">http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=2616</a>
<a href="http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.11.10/features/front.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.11.10/features/front.html</a>
<a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=6784%5B/url%5D">http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=6784</a></p>
<p>disparities among colleges is a student misconception,
if you actually read those articles you would see that social fund is equitable among the colleges :</p>
<p>"Although students like Galluccio have noted discrepancies in college funds, Trumbull Master Harry Adams said the system was designed to be equitable.</p>
<p>Each year, the University puts money into Master's Funds in each college to be used primarily for social events like study breaks and college dances."</p>
<hr>
<p>Miller emphasized that all colleges at Yale have "appropriate funding to run an active, engaging cultural and educational life for their students." She added, "What makes events successful is not money but people</p>
<hr>
<p>While declining to go into the details of the Council funding process, William Sledge, Master of Calhoun College and former Chair of the Council of Masters, praised the new policy for doing "a remarkable job of ensuring that every college has roughly the same amount of money per student," despite the fact that all colleges have very different endowments. </p>
<p>Krauss cautioned that the system is not perfect and only equalizes colleges in approximate terms. The Council does not try to equalize funds for Master's teas, which means that some colleges, such as Saybrook, can invite fewer speakers than others. "While the money is the same in general," Sledge said, "we're always struggling. Colleges have different leaders and we want to celebrate these differences, not make them sources of unfairness. I think the opportunities available to students in all colleges are roughly comparable."</p>
<hr>
<p>As the princeton colleges age, so will they accrue the special funds and donations that the Yale (and Harvard) colleges have that have individualized them. I would say, though unsupported, that the princeton colleges are currently the bare bones when it comes to the Yale college. And all those disparities at Yale are the result of a long history of donations to the colleges, which princeton colleges do not have yet. For instance, do the colleges at princeton have individual scholarships or internships or even celebrity fellows (Harvey Keitel is the Branford celebrity fellow)? I doubt it. They all sound the same.</p>
<p>I DID read the articles. You are quoting one side of the argument! I tend to be very interested in the views of students who are talking about their experience on the ground. If you read my posts, you will see I do the same in discussions of Princeton.</p>
<p>you are quoting the student perspective, I am quoting the College Master's perspective. Who do you think is more correct when it comes to funding? And nothing on the student perspective even related to social events anyway, which was the statement you made. Students never see what they have, only what they don't have...</p>
<p>"Students never see what they have, only what they don't have..." I don't share that anti-student bias.</p>
<p>Hey, can we keep things positive, please? This petty arguing is tiresome.</p>
<p>desi, I was in your position last year. Yale and Princeton are both so fabulous that I found it impossible to choose between them without visiting both. Yes, I had to miss a week of school, but you will see that it is absolutely worth it. (I'm sure you have senioritis, anyway...) I think it's quibbling to argue about which school is quantitatively "better" or has a superior undergrad focus. At this point, the most important factor in your decision should be where you feel most comfortable and where you can best visualize yourself as a student. Good luck! You can pm me if you want more info about my decision.</p>
<p>CrimsonBulldog, Yale's colleges aren't completely individualized either. Compare them to Caltech's houses, where freshmen are selected for personality traits in frosh Rotation. Yale's freshmen are randomly assigned to a college, just like Harvard's and Princeton's.</p>
<p>The individual colleges do have differences. (And, by the way, Yale isn't tremendously older than Princeton, not that it matters, since neither of us will proclaim William and Mary to be #2 best in the US.) They all have their own coats of arms, college masters and associated faculty, and so forth. Each college has its own clubs, they sponsor frequent trips to NYC to see sporting events and watch musicals and theatre on Broadway.</p>
<p>Forbes is known for especially close-knit residents, and is the only College with its own motto: "Die for the Inn!" There are inter-college athletics, broomball... the list goes on. </p>
<p>And as for, "As the princeton colleges age, so will they accrue the special funds and donations that the Yale (and Harvard) colleges have that have individualized them," the eating clubs on Prospect Street serve that purpose. They are funded through alumni donations and their own trusts, and serve that same social function. The upside? The clubs are open to everyone half the week. You belong to one, but you can mingle among them. At Yale, on the other hand, students cannot freely visit among the colleges -- everything is very locked down (much due to security issues).</p>
<p>First of all, at Yale, your ID gets you into every college campus (thought not into their basement or entryways) so I don't know where you get that one. your ID can be used at any undergrad dining hall - no eating club passes are necessary (with the exception, supposedly of Berkeley, whose food is too good to sustain the hordes). It even gets you meals at the law school, school of management, and the medical school which are all, in my opinion, much better quality. And this is true all the time, not just "half the week."</p>
<p>Second, the very system being set up at princeton, with some people being in long established eating clubs while some being newly minted 4 year residential colleges, while others being in 2 year residential colleges and then going independent really sounds fragmentary - and can causes alot of student differences in terms of their access to resources. At Yale, everyone has at base the same deal. At princeton, you are a mixed bag completely, so I find no merit in aparent's criticism of Yale's college's being different in terms of access to resources while at princeton every college is the same. Only 1/4 (or whatever) princetonites have access to those colleges! You could imagine some serious differences in terms of funding or resources or historically accrued "perks", between those who bicker or whatever for an eating club (a semi-pretentious establishment that oddly and anachronistically forms the basis of a large percentage of princeton's social life) and those who opted for the new residential college.</p>
<p>in 2005-2006 Harvard Law School had enrolled 232 Harvard undergrads, 126 undergrads from Yale , 65 from Princeton , 51 from Brown , 33 from Dartmouth, 44 from Columbia</p>
<p>I agree with apple green. Go visit two schools and decide yourself.</p>
<p>I might add that Yale's overall atmosphere is a little favorable, though. Dont get me wrong, Princeton is trying very hard to get rid of its age-old rich tradition of pretentious elitism. However, i must say that tradition is still alive and well and i heard a lots of disgruntles from unhappy middle class students.</p>
<p>Middle-class students don't have social problems at Princeton, as long as they are friendly, interested in other people, fun to be around, and involved in extracurriculars (the most common way to make friends). However, visit both schools, stay overnight and connect with students in your anticipated areas of study and especially in your extracurriculars, and then make your decision.</p>
<p>the truth about yale: </p>
<p>first, it is no less "elitist" or "preppy" than princeton. in fact, it has long had a lower percentage of students on financial aid, and a higher percentage of students from private and preparatory schools. it also has "semi-pretentious" and anachronistic social establishments, in the form of "secret societies." unlike princeton's eating clubs, however, these societies "tap" their members, rather than the other way around, with students choosing clubs. and whereas all princeton students can and do party at its selective clubs (half, remember, are completely non-selective), only a small fraction of yale students ever set foot inside a secret society "tomb." there's a reason books and movies have been made about secret societies and not eating clubs.</p>
<p>second, it is not at all clear that yale's residential college system is "better" than princeton's. it should be noted, up front, that the system is not even a true four-year one, because yale freshmen live together on old campus, and not in their colleges. princeton freshmen, on the other hand, spend their all-important first years actually in their colleges, with all their myriad resources. historically, with a two-year system, princeton students left their colleges after their sophomore years to live in upperclass dorms with friends of their choosing, and not just those in their colleges. most appreciated this freedom. now, with the new two-year/four-year hybrid system, they'll have the option of doing just that, or remaining in their college. either way, they'll maintain their affiliation with their college, as it will continue to be the homebase for their academic advising, among other things. as far as eating, if they leave their college, they can join an eating club, join a co-op, or "go independent." whatever they choose, they always have access to all parts of all residential college facilities, unlike at yale. and they always have access to eating club parties. crimsonbulldog seems to regard princeton's present and future system as "divisive" or "fragmentary." i choose to regard it as a healthy mix of options. i believe most princeton students agree.</p>
<p>that all said, if you happen to have the good fortune of a choice between these two fine schools, do visit both, if possible, before deciding.</p>
<p>f.scottie comes out of retirement for the crucial pre-matriculation courting period .... his first post of Calendar 2006!</p>
<p>Welcome back, scottie!</p>