Princeton? Yale? A WEEK TO DECIDE :SSS

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Hello, CCers
I have enrolled at Princeton University, and was extremely excited until I received THE CALL. Yale, my dream, offered me a place after being waitlisted... I am beyond in shock, and extremely excited! However, before I cancel on Princeton once and for all, I just wanted to hear some perspectives from Yalies, and have these Qs answered:-</p>

<ul>
<li>How was your freshmen experience at Yale like? Did you get a lot of support, considering it is a relatively large university? HOW IS THE ADVISING? </li>
</ul>

<p>-How is the workload/grade inflation/deflation? Is the workload comparable to Princeton? Or slightly less? And is there a severe case of grade inflation, or do the grades simply reflect the work you put in?</p>

<p>-Is the student body friendly, overall? Can you go up to people during orientation and just start chatting, or are people slightly arrogant?</p>

<p>-In regards to those doing premed, what options do you have to major in for bio besides MOL biology? And are people really competitive? Also, is the premed experience at Yale significantly better than you would think at Princeton?</p>

<p>-Is it hard to get into a cappella groups, or the newspaper? I've always wanted to join!</p>

<p>-And last of all, is the sketchy neighborhoods intimidating? Have you EVER felt unsafe, or had something stolen, etc?</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

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<p>I’m not a current student but I also had the Yale Princeton decision, and chose Yale, so I can tell you a couple things.</p>

<p>Yale doesn’t have grade deflation like Princeton does. So while its probably easier to get an A in some classes, I’ve never heard a Yale student tell me it’s easy to get an A. During Bulldog Days the newspaper had an event, and they told us that pretty much anyone can write an article for the paper. You don’t even have to write a regular column or a certain amount of columns–if you want, you can be one and done. I was personally more involved in the business side, because they let you sell ads in the community. I saw that as a really good opportunity to get some sales experience. I also didn’t get the big deal about New Haven. Driving into the city it seemed sketchy, but the areas around Yale didn’t seem any different from your average city. A group of us prefrosh wandered around for a couple hours around midnight, and I wasn’t scared much at all (I’m from a very small town).</p>

<p>As for the people, it is my personal experience that of the three Pre Frosh programs I attended (Columbia, Princeton, Yale) I met the most people and had the best time at Yale’s Bulldog Days. There were definitely some cool people at all three, but it was definitely easiest to meet people at Bulldog Days. I couldn’t tell you why. And those will be the kids in our class, so don’t worry about making friends too much. People were cool there.</p>

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<p>- How was your freshmen experience at Yale like? Did you get a lot of support, considering it is a relatively large university? HOW IS THE ADVISING?</p>

<p>The advising is great. Each freshman is assigned a freshman councilor and a freshman faculty advisor. Additional, you have you dean who serves as your chief academic advisor and in some cases you can even have peer liaisons (who are upperclassmen). There’s tons of advising - however, once you get to college you realize that the advising is really more of a selling point than it is an actual help (this is true at every college) until you get to be a junior/senior and need to work on your senior project/essay.</p>

<p>-How is the workload/grade inflation/deflation? Is the workload comparable to Princeton? Or slightly less? And is there a severe case of grade inflation, or do the grades simply reflect the work you put in?</p>

<p>Workload is comparable to Princeton (workload at all ivies is going to be comparable) although grade deflation doesn’t really exist. I hesitate to say we have inflation because people here work HARD - people don’t play around when it comes to their grades. That means that people genuinely do earn their As.</p>

<p>-Is the student body friendly, overall? Can you go up to people during orientation and just start chatting, or are people slightly arrogant?</p>

<p>No one is arrogant because no one has friends yet! The student body on the whole is probably too nice - to a point beyond your wildest dreams.</p>

<p>-In regards to those doing premed, what options do you have to major in for bio besides MOL biology? And are people really competitive? Also, is the premed experience at Yale significantly better than you would think at Princeton?</p>

<p>I would say the pre-med experience at Yale is infinitely better than it is at Princeton. No one is fighting to best the curve, so there’s a lot more community. As far as majors go, you can major in anything - you’ll soon learn that at Yale it’s not common for History majors to be going to Harvard medical school (I know one and another sociology major doing the same thing next year). Major in whatcha loveeee.</p>

<p>-Is it hard to get into a cappella groups, or the newspaper? I’ve always wanted to join!</p>

<p>The singing groups are extremely competitive - that’s all I’ll say. The newspaper is a huge time commitment. If you do decide to pursue either, know that those will eat up a huge chunk of your time (it’s not high school anymore - which is both good and daunting!).</p>

<p>-And last of all, is the sketchy neighborhoods intimidating? Have you EVER felt unsafe, or had something stolen, etc?</p>

<p>I’ve never felt unsafe. If you’re anywhere near campus, then you’ll be fine. As it turns out, there’s no reason you’ll ever need to be off campus (you’ll have to really go looking for trouble in order to find it).</p>

<p>Yikes… i sounds kinda blunt in this post. So I’ll close with YAY!!! CONGratulations!!!</p>

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<p>-Is it hard to get into a cappella groups?</p>

<p>One point is there are MANY groups unlike most every other college in America. If you have decent experience, it’s likely you’ll be tapped by one group or a few. If you’re GREAT, you’ll really be courted.</p>

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<p>You rush the newspaper, meaning you show up, put in time and effort, etc. It’s an activity you choose and it will demand time if you want to be an editor.</p>

<p>You can major in poetry and be pre-med. It’s just a bunch of classes, not a major.</p>

<p>Every 17th Yale student bites strangers, so be careful whose mouth you put your hand near. You can buy a clicker that runs from 1 to 17 to keep track.</p>

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<p>I think these schools are very different in ways not questioned in your original post. Yale is an urban campus with a broad range from poverty to affluence. Princeton is an affluent suburb with a median family income nearly $100K and median home prices in the $400-500K range. Yale has many opportunities to giveback to the needy within the community whether you tutor school children, repair bicycles, Big Brother/Big Sister, etc. and I believe Dwight Hall, the agency that coordinates this, is the largest student group on campus. Especially for prospective pre-meds, those type of ECs would show a selflessness that I’m sure is attractive. Finally Yale has an excellent medical school which provides many research and other activities to prospective pre-meds. Yale prides itself on a democratic residential college system randomized prior to matriculation. Princeton social life as an upperclassman often revolves around self-selected eating clubs which says much about them. I would go with your heart where you would feel happiest but I think there are substantive differences here which should make this choice easier than perhaps a Yale-Brown match-up discussed on a similar blog.</p>

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<p>YaleDadandGrad</p>

<p>Princeton is located 8 miles from Trenton NJ and there significant opportunities for community service with many activities coordinated through the Pace Center [url=<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/pace/home/]Home[/url”>http://www.princeton.edu/pace/home/]Home[/url</a>]. One of the two major pre-orientation programs at Princeton is Community Action involving a week of community service and numerous students are not only involved in community service at school, but go on to work in the public service field, through internships sponsored by Princeton and Princeton graduates or through organizations such as Teach for America. Princeton students tutor in Trenton schools, teach and tutor in prisons, work at the local hospital, work with special olympians, work as EMTs in the local communities etc. etc.</p>

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<p>How was your freshmen experience at Yale like? Did you get a lot of support, considering it is a relatively large university? HOW IS THE ADVISING?</p>

<p>My freshman experience was AMAZING. Yale is such a fun place - there’s stuff to do ALL THE TIME (which sometimes gets stressful) but rest assured that fun is to be had here. With Master’s Tea, study breaks, organizations, parties, etc. etc. there’s no end to how many people you’ll meet and the fun you’ll have.</p>

<p>The advising is ridiculous (at least for freshman year). You basically have everyone at your disposal. There are freshman counselors (who are seniors in your college), your freshman adviser (who is a member of the Yale faculty), a peer liaison for underrepresented communities (also upperclassmen), and your residential college dean. You can actually have more if you REALLY want to and go after it. You can meet professors who can serve as advisers, you can go out and get a tutor, etc. Unlike eatingfood, I do think the advising is more than just a selling point. It’s really useful if you seek it. One thing to know about Yale is that virtually the world is here for your taking - you just have to go and take it. No one’s going to present it to you on a silver platter. Same goes for advising, although people make the effort to speak to you.</p>

<p>-How is the workload/grade inflation/deflation? Is the workload comparable to Princeton? Or slightly less? And is there a severe case of grade inflation, or do the grades simply reflect the work you put in?</p>

<p>For the most part, they reflect the work you put in. Certain classes are curved and curve varies. (I’m premed, and most premed courses seem to fit into this category.) But, for example, a lot of the political science classes are easy (it’s supposed to be an easy major). That’s mostly because showing up to class is all you really need to get an A. (BUT, this is not true for ALL classes.)</p>

<p>-Is the student body friendly, overall? Can you go up to people during orientation and just start chatting, or are people slightly arrogant?</p>

<p>The student body is ridiculously friendly. Even the people who look like ******bags turn out to be some of the coolest people you’ll meet here. Going up and starting conversations is totally acceptable, and possible. </p>

<p>-In regards to those doing premed, what options do you have to major in for bio besides MOL biology? And are people really competitive? Also, is the premed experience at Yale significantly better than you would think at Princeton?</p>

<p>There’s also an Ecological and Evolutionary Biology major (EEB). And even within the “Molecular Biology” major, there are 3 tracks - neurobiology, biotechnology, and then the standard track. So, it’s pretty open in terms of choices. It’s not that competitive. The “competition” comes in classes where the work is curved, and even there it’s not really “competition.” EVERYONE is willing to help each other out, with notes, study groups, etc. and the curve only makes one want to work harder, not screw the next person over. I’m pretty sure the premed track sucks equally everywhere. The question would be where might you enjoy it better? I can’t answer for Princeton, but premed courses here are only bad in 1. Chemistry just sucks, and some professors are boring and 2. Science Hill can be far. BUT, Dr. G, the chem lab instructor is AMAZING and there are some great faculty in the sciences.</p>

<p>-Is it hard to get into a cappella groups, or the newspaper? I’ve always wanted to join!</p>

<p>Not a singer, but SO many people are in a cappella. Just try out. And for YDN, if you want to just write, it’s possible. IF you want to be a staffer, you have to devote time to it.</p>

<p>-And last of all, is the sketchy neighborhoods intimidating? Have you EVER felt unsafe, or had something stolen, etc?</p>

<p>I’m from an urban setting, so New Haven doesn’t scare me at all. Honestly, it’s not that bad. People are always exaggerating. New Haven is an urban city, and like any urban location, there are certain common sense “Things to keep in mind.” But, you only need these for when you’re travelling off campus, which happens maybe twice a month or once a week. Otherwise, the area immediately around campus is safe. I’ve walked all over campus - from Stiles to OC, from Alpha Delta to Silliman, etc. at late hours of the morning and have felt perfectly okay. Sometimes situations happen - but they’re relatively rare around campus. Safety should not be that much of an issue.</p>

<p>Personally, I think you should choose Yale. You seem to like it a lot and quite frankly, I think we’re much better than Princeton - subjectivity aside. Princeton is so dry to me and I really can’t imagine anyone having fun there, much less being cooperative.</p>

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<p>midatlmom</p>

<p>I have no doubt that Princeton students enter public service fields and there are somewhat local opportunities as such and I did scan the report from the Pace Center you linked to further educate myself. Nevertheless, the Student Volunteer Council at Princeton reports 536 involved undergraduate students in 2009 or 11% of the student popuulation. Dwight Hall reports 3000 involved students or 58% of the student population. Eight miles to Trenton seems a long way off as I can hardly remember traveling that far from campus as an undergraduate unless I was visiting NYC, going to an intercollegiate event, or traveling home. As I’m sure Princeton students are as good hearted as Yale students, I’m going to asssume that they think the eight miles to Trenton is a big distance too. I stand by my initial thoughts that the Princeton experience is limited by its location in an affluent suburb for those who have an interest in local public service.</p>

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<p>Well, Yale is the better choice. Objectively speaking, of course. :)</p>

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<p>I’ve always thought Princeton was full of ******s. It was the only ivy i didn’t apply to.</p>

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<p>^ I think Princeton’s pretentious reputation is somewhat unwarranted. I got into Princeton too, and when I visited, I didn’t notice any of the stereotypical, pretentious vibe everyone attributes to the school. That said, it’s nowhere near as alive as Yale, and the environment is a bit more stiff and formal. It isn’t as drastic a difference as everyone makes it seem, in my experience. The campus might be different for non-admitted student days though, haha.</p>

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<p>glitter: you also realize that there are probably many WL people with their fingers crossed hoping you DON’T take Yale’s offer! LOL</p>

<p>Regardless, you’ll have a wonderful next four years whichever you choose. Congrats.</p>