<p>second, actually. but hello.</p>
<p>Lets turn the argument around and focus on education</p>
<p>Princeton doesnt allow double majors???? But i hear it allows mutliple certificates.</p>
<p>Princeton is generally tougher. Its area is very quiant and very sub urban. Princeton is perenially the third best, after Yale. Princeton recently has ranked first in the us news (please dont flame, just for comparison)</p>
<p>Yale, new haven is okay, but Princetons proximity to New York is good.
Yale has a more traditional, and influential residential college system. Yale has very good political science programs. </p>
<p>Yale is colder. Yale has more grade inflation. Yale has a higher student teacher ratio, and more non-professors teaching courses. Yale has a higher placement of students into grad school. </p>
<p>Princeton has cornel west and excellent seminars. Princeton has comprehensive science and economics programs. </p>
<p>Yale and Princeton are damn near equal. I have no idea which to choose. </p>
<p>I love urban areas but might settle for access to New York.
I love diversity. I love warmer weather (similar to Washington, DC weather).
I want to major in chemistry and economics and also pick up a lot of classes in Political Science.
I like good residential colleges that have identity and a sense of close nit spirit. </p>
<p>I ultimately want to get into Harvards MD MBA program (dream, wish). I ultimately want to live in New York or DC. </p>
<p>Which is better?</p>
<p>I STRONGLY doubt the weather is any different between new haven and princeton. If it is, we're talking about a few degrees. Also new york is very accesible to new haven as metro north departs new haven for grand central every hour (the trip takes 90 minutes). Many Yalies go to New York for weekend trips. I bet just as many Princetonites do as well.</p>
<p>Yale's residential college system is four years, f.scottie. I don't know why you perist with this delusion, but freshman have been assigned and are housed together with their college-mates on old campus. They have full access to the college, its resources, advising, dining hall, everything. You simply live with other freshman on old campus to foster intercollegiate bonds. I don't see in anyway how this makes it a three year college. A good case can be made that Harvard's houses are a three year system since freshman aren't assigned until late in the academic year, but that is not for me to argue.</p>
<p>Secondly, it is completely disingenous to compare secret societies and eating clubs. You know well that the two are not the same nor do they serve the same capacity. 10% of seniors are picked to join a secret society. They play absolutely no real role in the lives of 98% of yalies (though they do in world domination ;)). They are the equivalent of an extracurricular activity for seniors. The same cannot be said of eating clubs which provides a fundamental role in the lives of all princetonites and serves a more integral function in the daily living, social life, and eating arrangments of most if not all (indirectly) princetonians. If you must make a comparison, do so with the residential colleges. But since students don't have to bicker or "sign in" for a residential college, I guess that fails as well. </p>
<p>You should post more btw.</p>
<p>Yale is in a bad place in New Haven. I went there and thought it was neat, but I'm really glad I didn't have to make a decision. Princeton, on the other hand, was awesome.</p>
<p>I still remember visiting Princeton. I got there at around 8pm and remember how cool it was to enter under the hanging oak trees. It really was neat.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, which is kinda funny, we all know Harvard Yale and Princeton are known all around the world... and all are good. but, whatever, I would go to Princeton simply for the access to professors</p>
<p>A very self-conscious defense, Scottie!</p>
<p>True -- secret societies can't be compared to eating clubs. Anyone who wants to be part of an eating club can be part of an eating club. Bicker clubs don't tap sophomores, and all five of them accept over half of everyone who bickers that club. There is always space at sign-in clubs, which are held in no higher or lower regard than bicker clubs, so even random drawing is rare. Which club to join is a matter of taste, not a measure of social status. Do you like a club where most people are of similar academic/extracurricular interests (often a result of Bicker), or more eclectic clubs where you can find a good mix of everyone (Colonial, Quad, etc)?</p>
<p>i am in the same position as the OP but my advice is pretty commonplace. i'm leaning towards yale (i want to major in polisci), but i say visit both. i'm going to bulldog days followed by the princeton visit days and missing a week of school and work, but i know it'll be worth it. again, you can't go wrong with either school. i feel that the quality of academics at princeton may be more rigorous and overall a better undergraduate focus, but i feel that the social life at yale (minus eating clubs, plus residential colleges) is the one to which i am better suited. either way, everyone in this position knows it's a fabulous one to be in...so no need to worry!</p>
<p>In numerous years on these boards, frozen-tears' post is one of the most sensible posts I've read on the topic of eating clubs.</p>
<p>Hey! I'm also faced with the choice of Princeton vs. yale, except that I live overseas and do not have the chance to visit either school. And i hate this business of relying on hearsay. But I've decided on Yale pretty much, for the fact(?) that it's socially more welcoming with a broader scope of extracurriculars. Plus the residential colleges.</p>
<p>But being an aspiring Physicist with interest in humnities on the side, I think princeton might prove to be better academically. Yale's sciences are better than many but not Princeton. Can anyone argue against any of these notions?</p>
<p>hey huda, i just replied to you on the yale board, where i pretty much said my peace regarding your choice of schools. i note on this thread, however, that you add your impression that yale is "socially more welcoming with a broader scope of extracurriculars," and has residential colleges. i suspect that you picked up these impressions through hearsay, which you say you hate. now, i don't know if there is any way to measure things like openness and number of extracurriculars, but i sincerely doubt that they are any higher at yale than they are at princeton. i just don't think it's a valid basis for distinguishing between the two. princeton also has a residential college system. it is currently a two-year system, as it has been since 1984, but by the time you are a sophomore, you will have the choice of living in your college for four years. see the link i have provided for more information. yale has a four-year system, and a pretty famous one at that, but freshmen there do not live in their colleges until their sophomore years. i'm not sure one is better than the other, but there is some basis for distinction and choice. the biggest such basis, however, is location. princeton and new haven are very, very different as college towns, and you'd be wise to investigate the two. as i said before, good luck!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.princeton.edu/rc/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/rc/</a></p>
<p>Huda--You have two great choices. I think that Yale is a great school, with great academics and I believe that the residential colleges are extremely nurturing. </p>
<p>I would like to address your Princeton comments. I think that the range of extracurriculars at Princeton is extraordinary and I'm not sure why you believe that it is less broad than what's available at Yale. Princeton has tons of dance groups, the McCarter Theater, which is one of the best regional theaters in the country, Theater Intime, the Triangle Club, lots of musical ad acapella groups, great sports (lacrosse, basketball, squash and tennis among the standouts), Whig-Clio debating society, community service clubs and opportunities, the Daily Princetonian newspaper and just about any other club you can imagine. The problem at Princeton is finding time to do all the extracurriculars activities you are interested in, not a lack of options.</p>
<p>As to the question of being more socially welcoming, I actually think that the eating clubs are quite inclusive. Everyone who wants to can join a non-bicker club or if you chose, you can bicker and join a club. At least one club (and usually more than one) has a party every weekend that generally everyone can come to and it is really fun to walk up and down Prospect Street checking out the parties that are available. For people who might not have had an active social life in high school, it's a great chance to be part of a social scene, rather than rely on getting invited to private parties. In addition, if you don't chose to go to the Street, there are usually lots of other activities taking place (theater, movies, private parties etc.) similar to what's available at most other schools.</p>
<p>If anything, Yale is more socially unwelcoming/elitist in the sense that it has a lower percentage of students on financial aid and a higher percentage of students from private/prep schools. Princeton has changed a lot in the past decade, and the social and extracurricular scenes are incredibly diverse and open.</p>
<p>percentages of kids on financial aid/minorities does not indicate whether its socially welcoming or not. thats crap, however during my 3 day visit at princeton i did not meet one elitist or arrogant person there (and this includes in the eating clubs). im sure they do exist but i didnt meet them and i met a wide range of people. princeton has residential colleges as well and its a much more open environment than yale is.</p>
<p>Although I'm going to attend Princeton, I'll use the magic word: Visit. </p>
<p>A visit can change your perspective on either of these fine schools. Everyone has their own bias so you really can't decide on a school by (as huda put it) "hearsay." Visit the campuses and choose for yourself. Yale wipes the floor with Princeton in some areas and Princeton destroys Yale to bits in other areas. It's all a matter of your preference and where you see yourself for the next 4 years. :)</p>
<p>There's another great thread on this same topic, at:</p>
<p>Yale's Residential College system is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a college. And don't keep thinking that you have to choose Yale for social life but Princeton for academics. Yale academics are simply amazing. One you reach a certain level of quality, the differences start to become arbitrary and nuanced. You will not be missing out academically if you go to Yale. Quite the opposite.</p>
<p>You also won't be missing out on Pton socially either. :)</p>
<p>i chose princeton</p>
<p>every second i dream about Yale. Every second i keep second guessing my arbitrary decision. Every second i think about 8.6%. But I loved Princeton</p>
<p>Hey Biz, I'm sure you won't regret your decision. I'm sure you wouldn't have regretted it even if you chose Yale. They're both great schools, and I'm glad you chose the one I did too.</p>
<p>Good luck :D.</p>
<p>Here here! :)</p>