<p>Why would or did you choose princeton over yale?</p>
<p>If for some weird reason I got into both of these schools, I would by a narrow margin pick Princeton. I love the atmosphere and vibe of the campus (Princeton has insane school spirit), the buildings are beautiful, and I like how the administration runs the place. Also, tigers > bulldogs.</p>
<p>I’m not scared of the surrounding area at Princeton.</p>
<p>I just visited both schools back to back as part of a grand tour of schools in the NYC general area. For what they’re worth, maybe not much, here were my quickly formed impressions. (I stayed over night at Yale and visited two classes; I did not spend the night at Princeton, but I did spend a long day on campus, had a long lunch with a family contact who is a junior, and saw one class.)</p>
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<li><p>Both campuses were MAGNIFICENT, one urban, one not</p></li>
<li><p>Yale seemed more diverse in terms of visible subcultures (preps, jocks, urbans, artistes, Euros); Princeton just felt more homogeneous in dress, style and vibe</p></li>
<li><p>Yale’s Campus has more buzz: people running around everywhere, all kinds of things happening everywhere; Princeton felt more like a pleasant, leafy retreat</p></li>
<li><p>Virtually every Yalie I met had this very chill, open, friendly, intellectual demeanour; I got a sense that people are very happy there in general; the students at Princeton seemed a little more anxiety ridden</p></li>
<li><p>Definitely a more prominent science/engineering culture at Princeton; proportionally more artists, singers, musicians running around Yale</p></li>
<li><p>Yalies seemed a tad more swept up in their extra-curriculars; Princetonians in their academics, perhaps</p></li>
<li><p>Though Princeton is a very cute town, I got a sense that you can exhaust its offerings quickly; many more student oriented coffeehousess, cafes, bookstores and entertainment offerings adjacent to Yale campus, though not too far from campus there are some sketchy areas (there are even three gay bars within a 5 minute walk of the Yale campus, for example)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I don’t really agree with some of the interpretations based on observations above. I think the above poster is perhaps merely reobserving the surroundings/suburban setting of Princeton and applying it to the way he/she perceive things. Princeton’s just as diverse in its own right from my own observations, and you’ll find lots of activity at both; just that Yale, being immersed in a city, will feel livelier in that regard. Then again, maybe it’s all just subjectivity. Hell, I thought that Yale seemed more homogeneous in the type of student that went there, which I felt had to do with a sort of unilateral political atmosphere, a quality that I feel less affects Princeton’s campus. Again, probably all interpretation and taste at this point, especially when comparing schools that are already so strong.</p>
<p>Everyone is entitled to an opinion.</p>
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<p>Really? It seemed to me that Princeton students were the most homogeneous of the schools that I visited, but that’s just my opinion</p>
<p>^ More homogeneous in attitude than in attire/style, if you sort of see what I’m saying. Regardless, the differences are generally going to be subtle.</p>