Stanford vs Princeton: Accepted

College Search & Selection
1

hi there college confidential community!

I am a male rower who has been recruited to Stanford, Princeton, and Tulsa, and have been accepted to all 3 schools (in their own ways, hard to explain) for the class of 2022.Currently I am struggling to decide between Stanford and Princeton and would appreciate any insight on offer. I know that ultimately they are both amazing schools and cannot go wrong.

I have visited all 3 schools, but between S and P they are both very different in terms of vibe and student body- the ‘laidback’ atmosphere is more prominent at Stanford. I cannot say whether I prefer that more or less, so not much of a deciding factor however I do appreciate the sort of ‘preppy’ aura at Princeton. Architecture isn’t a huge deal for me either.

Weather would typically not be a factor for me at all, except for the fact I am a recruited athlete and would have to train year round. Rowing, in winter, is not particularly pleasant as it’s long months of indoor training which I would find at Princeton. At Stanford, we can be on the water all year round (sun!). That being said I grew up on the West Coast and wouldn’t mind a change of scenery.

In terms of academics I am undecided about my major at this point so am reluctant to choose a school based on the ‘rankings’ of a certain pathway, but I am leaning towards the STEM route, specifically health studies and not CS. From my understanding, both schools are great for that anyway.
One thing that is attractive is Princeton’s perceived focus on undergrads and professor: student ratio, but on the other hand, Stanford’s access to grad school resources and research opportunities can’t be ignored- particularly in terms of the Co-Term program.

As an athlete Stanford’s athletic program is of the best in the country, versus Princeton’s ‘Ivy Leauge’ athletics. In terms of my sport of rowing, Stanford ranks supreme in this area. Stanford’s support for athletes in terms of resources, facilities, and academic support is hard to come by.

I also see Stanford as a university that will gain more prestige in the coming years due to it’s prominence for technology, silicon valley, etc. That’s not to say Princeton prestige is to be ignored, still one of the best in th country.

Despite all the positives about Stanford there is something about Princeton’s unforgettable feelings on campus that I can’t ignore. Maybe a gut feeling or may just be me being an indecisive teenage boy…

Thanks for any feedback!

2

You have great choices. Is the bottom-line price tag (including travel) an issue?

In this case you might want to give the highest weight to the rowing particulars. Which coach did you like better? Would you be a star at one school and average at the other? What kind of academic support do they give their athletes? Were the team members full-of-themselves or welcoming? See if you can talk to some of them about positives and negatives.

Let us know what you decide!

3

As you stated, you can’t go wrong with either P or S. Ultimately, my best advise is to go with your own “gut” feelings.

When my son was making his list of schools to apply to, we had a specific strategy with which then we prioritized based on my son’s desired factors. The first and foremost was the institution’s overall undergraduate quality and experience. While we don’t take any college rankings seriously, it’s really no surprise that Princeton comes in as a perennial #1 at each new publication of the USNWR. Princeton’s students-to-teacher ratio of 5:1 is the best there is. Coupled that with their Preceptorial Method, which is a modified version of the Oxford tutorial, what you have is an outstanding undergraduate learning experience.

By intention, Princeton has set their institutional focus on undergraduate more than graduate students. Their undergraduate population is only 5,232 while the graduate population is 2,747. Stanford, on the other hand, has about 2,000 more undergraduate population than Princeton and about 11,000 graduate population. Again, by institutional design, Princeton doesn’t have Law, Medical and Business schools. Princeton’s endowment per student is also perennially ranked #1 with $2.7M endowment per student, while Stanford is ranked #5 with $1.5M. And Princeton’s alumni giving, an important signifier of undergrad student satisfaction, is also perennially at #1.

Since you mentioned it, HYP has that elite “Ivy League” prestige while Stanford has its own “Stanford prestige.” While Stanford prestige might still grow and no matter how much it could possibly gain with time, it still isn’t the same as the HYP’s Ivy League mystique. And it’s not like HYP and other Ivy League are at stand still while Stanford forges ahead leaps and bounds with prestige-building. It’s not that my son and I don’t like Stanford. When we made a priority list of colleges to apply to, Stanford was 4th on our list after HYP, and that was strictly based on our assessment of undergrad qualities and experiences. My son loves Princeton as the right place to get his undergrad degree while he’s aiming at Stanford as one of top few grad schools to apply to. As an undergraduate-focused institution, my son would rather bet on the institution with 2,000 less undergrad students. Less chance to get lost in the shuffle.

But these remarks are my and my son’s take. Everyone’s needs are different. Ultimately, as I stated at the very beginning, go with your own gut feelings after exhaustively investigating on undergrad quality comparisons. Good luck with your decision making. Either way, you’ll be in a great place.

4

^^^This. I’d add: do you have any friends at either school that you can trust to talk honestly about their experiences and not try to sell you?

5

OP - Take a look at the profiles of the class of 2021 rowers that were recruited to Princeton: “Heavyweights Bring In Deep, Talented Class Of 2021”

http://goprincetontigers.com/news/2017/10/25/heavyweight-rowing-heavyweights-bring-in-deep-talented-class-of-2021.aspx

6

Congratulations on your success and hard work. Both Princeton and Stanford are beautiful campuses. And you have a tough decision.

Stanford’s sports program is always #1. Stanford football is a perennial Top 10-20 team. The Stanford men’s soccer team is the 2-tIme defending national champion. The Stanford women’s soccer team is currently #1 in the country and a perennial College Cup (Final 4) participant. The women’s volleyball team won the championship last year. Swimming, tennis, blah, blah, blah, you get the point. About 15-20% of the campus are recruited athletes at Stanford.

I do want to say that there are more than few cold (32 degrees ish) mornings here in the winter, so hopefully, Stanford will let you use the indoor ERG’s instead of hitting the Bay. :))

7

I have no knowledge of Princeton crew but I only see one Stanford team (women 2014) on the list of Pac12 men’s and women’s champions in the last 30 years. I will admit my bias as a Cal alum (too many crew titles to count), but I would strongly recommend Princeton unless you think you want to be a West Coast person after graduating. Stanford has a definite focus on graduate students versus undergraduates; Princeton does not. As the father of a Dartmouth grad from California, I’d recommend a change of scenery for your college years. There’s a lot to learn outside of class.

8

You have put yourself in the enviable position of having two absolutely amazing choices. You can’t go wrong with either Princeton or Stanford. That said, the two schools do have different vibes (as you have noted) so I’d go with your gut feeling. My best advice is that once you make a decision never look back.

9

“I’d recommend a change of scenery for your college years. There’s a lot to learn outside of class.”

I was brought up in CA for 18 years and spent most of those early years on sandy beaches showing off my six-pack, being pretty oblivious to historical events going on around me and culturally complacent. My first job out of grad school took me to New England, however. Now, I only like to visit CA to see my family members once in a while but there’s no way I’m moving back there even for my retirement. Moving to New England was one of the best things that had happened in my life.

10

I can’t comment on crew at either school, but how you feel about each of the school’s coaches and team dynamic the should get very strong consideration.

What I can say is that the undergraduate experience at Stanford has been absolutely amazing for my D and she is 100% certain that she made the right choice in selecting S over H, Y, and P.

My D., a humanities kid through and through, is in SLE – a living/learning program similar to Y’s Directed Studies and P’s HUM Sequence, but better in that it includes a very vibrant residential component: all of her SLE classes take place in the late afternoon at the dorm and discussions continue well into the night. There is resident faculty that lives on site that regularly opens his home to students and puts together events, BBQs, and field trips on what seems to be practically a daily basis. D.'s other classes are outstanding and her profs are exceedingly accessible – not to mention utterly brilliant and tops in their respective fields.

Forget prestige – both schools are prestigious. The bottom line is it comes down to fit: Stanford has a very west coast feel – its student body is quirky and irreverent, every bit as accomplished as those of its peer schools, but a bit more laid back, IMO. My D would not have “[appreciated] the … ‘preppy’ vibe.”

I would have no concerns about Stanford’s undergraduate focus – from what I’ve seen, the school is very invested in creating the best undergraduate experience imaginable for its students.

D’s approach is the opposite of that of @TiggerDad’s son: H, Y, and P will be there for grad school; she sought to select the best possible undergraduate experience in the best possible environment. For D, that was Stanford.

11

Congratulations on your acceptances! Also, congrats on being part of such a wonderful sport…rowing. BTW, I am in the midst of reading “The Boys in the Boat”. A friend recommended a few days ago. Both are great options…academics, prestige. Having said that, you’re right on with respect to this…“Rowing, in winter, is not particularly pleasant as it’s long months of indoor training which I would find at Princeton. At Stanford, we can be on the water all year round (sun!).”. If you spent most of your life rowing on the west-coast, it is a big adjustment to go east-coast (weather wise). Much bigger than wanting to experience another part of the country.

12

Ditto, congratulations! Go with feel and anticipated major.
FYI, and FWIW, in recent years (in voting with their feet) most cross-admits choose Stanford and that would be my choice as well. The top tier in the US is Harvard-Stanford, and that is not about to change. Your observation that Stanford “will gain more prestige in the coming years” is dead-on. The arc of Stanford’s trajectory in US academia has been amazing since the 1950’s and shows no sign of diminishing. I have never been sold on the “this school blah blah blah undergraduates, while this school blah blah blah graduates.” That argument is over-hyped and specious (popular with parents and with those who are not professional academics at the very best schools). The best scholars are the most passionate about their work and that passion is shared with their students.
Again, congrats. Two great schools. Can’t go wrong. Best of luck wherever you go/row,

13

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet - how did you feel about the rowing coaches and teams? Since you’ll be spending so much time together, the team/coach fit can be almost as important as the academics.

14

To add to the @Prof99 point about schools’ focus on undergraduates…one of the finalists for the fed chairman position is Stanford’s professor John Taylor…who is teaching an undergrad econ course this quarter.

15

@Prof99, there are two reasons why I am encouraging my own kid to pay attention to undergraduate-oriented schools.

First, to avoid getting taught by graduate students instead of faculty. Second, in the absence of grad students, the undergraduates are the ones to get the best research opportunities.

16

@Prof99

I’d like to think that the OP is intelligent enough to appreciate some fact-based “blah blah blah blah” as opposed to your juvenile blah blah blah blah that have absolutely no basis on facts. I DON’T care whether the OP ends up going to P or S or elsewhere as it doesn’t concern me a bit, but I hope folks do take some care in recommending one school over others in a responsible manner. In spite of an opposing viewpoint, I nevertheless appreciated @LoveTheBard’s post, as an example, because it’s based on facts for the OP to seriously consider and not some wild personal opinions.

17

If you were looking at NCAA championships, that’s probably because men’s crew is not an NCAA sport/championship where women’s is. If other sports are important to the OP, then Stanford will win in almost every list. PAC 12 sports are fun to watch, fun to follow. Marching band, cheerleaders, tailgating - all going to be better at Stanford. Look at the events each crew attends. Many might be the same events, but Stanford will go to regattas at Washington, UCLA, Oregon and Princeton will be heading to Boston and NYC more often.

18

You have provided lots of personal identifying information. Coaches may be seeing this…

19

Any difference in financial packages?

20

@naviance but if the OP has already been accepted, what’s the risk?