Hey everyone! I’ve recently been admitted to Stanford, Princeton, and Yale, and I am having the hardest time choosing which school I would like to attend. I plan to major in International Relations and I know that Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School is widely known for this field of study. At the same time, I adore the sense of community, diversity, and easy-going nature of Yale and Stanford.
I would highly appreciate it if anyone could give me their opinion on this decision – any argument or point is valid!
@ThatCaliGirl There is not much to be said about differences in quality, opportunities etc since there are practically none. In general Princeton and Stanford have slightly higher ranked IR/international politics/political science departments but there isn’t really enough of a difference to base your decision on that.
The choice is down to fit. What kind of environment do you prefer? Obviously Yale, Princeton are more similar to each other and Stanford is a bit more different. Out of the three probably Stanford is the most easy-going as you say.
Personally I would go with Stanford cause I find the school vibe more dynamic, innovative and vibrant than the other two, I like Stanford’s strong, quirky and irreverent school spirit, the campus and the weather. But that is just me, there are also many reasons in favor of the other ones.
@Penn95 Thank you so much for your input! I am visiting all three schools later this month, but my college counselor suggested I make a mental choice this week and use the visits as a way to confirm/deny that choice. At the moment, I am leaning more towards Stanford. The only thing that concerns me is that it is only a few minutes away from home and that it is known for placing an emphasis on STEM-related majors.
@OHIvyCA That is very interesting! I’d been talking to a few Yale students and they all seemed to say the campus was relaxed and easy-going. Would you mind sharing more information about the Yale environment?
@ThatCaliGirl I get the point about being close to home. initially that can seem like a con because you can’t wait to get out of home, but trust me as you go on with your college career, having the ability to go home for a weekend, eat a home-cooked meal and see your family can be a big plus.
Regarding the STEM point, i don’t think that should be a concern. Stanford has some of the very very top social sciences and humanities departments in the world. Maybe it is true that fewer undergrad students enroll in these majors compared to Yale or Princeton, but you will still have the same quality of resources, student body and professors. In fact it could even be a good thing, since it means smaller class sizes and more access to professors in your field. I feel studying humanities at Stanford would be really cool cause you have both the quirky intellectual side of the school (which is very much there), and the more pre-professional, Silicon-valley and STEM element, so it keeps things balanced.
But in terms of actual quality of humanities departments Stanford is top. The fact that it is also top in STEM doesn’t take away from that.
Yeah I agree with your counselor. Research the schools in depth before you visit, rank them in your head and i feel after your visits you will have your answer.
Both nice campuses. Very cool students, but the communities were vastly different. Princeton students were more reserved, conservative (not necessarily politically), and academically focused. Many students seemed overwhelmed and they hated how hard all the classes are.
With that said, I spoke with a Yale student and he said that the curriculum of many intro classes is the exact same as Princeton intro classes. That means that, at least during your freshmen year, you will be drowning at both schools Yale was much different because of how metropolitan it was. Also, it felt very ghetto, yet the buildings were more beautiful than Princeton. Personally, I loved the vibe of Yale and how much detail there was in the architecture. If you have any questions DM me.
I would take Princeton because of their undergraduate focus. The campus itself is beautiful and agree that the Princeton students seem reserved as @DryMango mentioned.
Hard to imagine thinking Yale has a “ghetto” feeling having visited there often in the years since graduation. Sure it isin a city and not the suburbs like Stanford and Princeton but the campus is beautiful and those parts of New Haven that may be run down are not areas students would use unless they were looking to do community outreach (which is a popular use of EC time). I know of students who coached middle school math teams, coached debate to local high school students and acted as mentors, and taught bicycle repair to New Haven kids. It is great that you can go to the admitted students’ programs and see where you feel like you fit best. I’m not sure why it is beneficial to try to make up your mind before you get there since presumably you will learn so much more with a couple day visit than you could have reading the website or even taking a 2 hour admissions visit in the past. Good luck making your decision and I hope you strongly feel the pull of one of your options to make the matriculation decision easier.
@YaleGradandDad you’re right. The word ghetto was probably too strong of a word, but objectivity speaking, Yale is more dangerous according to a professor that I spoke to. She said that there is a lot of petty crime because it is so integrated into the city. I also felt that the streets surrounding Yale were very dirty, but that may have just been because I was there in the weekend and there were a lot of people there.
There are homeless people walking around near campus, which starkly contrasts Princeton safe and clean campus.
If you’re a Calif native, then going OOS may give you a different perspective. I think I would pick P over Y. New Haven just seems more dangerous to me. When my son visited Yale in Nov, I was concerned about his safety.
True IR is an interdisciplinary, applied major. It is a superset, not a subset, of Poly Sci. HYP are not known for their strength in interdisciplinary, applied subjects - particularly at the undergrad level. Of the three, Princeton has the strongest IR masters program. Harvard’s School of Law and their School of Government have cross enrollment with Tufts’ Fletcher School. Yale is known more for Poly Sci and its Law school. Here is a ranking of IR Masters Programs based on a poll of academia (i.e. Poly Sci departments).
1 Georgetown University
2 Johns Hopkins University
3 Harvard University
4 Princeton University
5 Tufts University
6 Columbia University
7 George Washington University
8 American University
9 London School of Economics
10 University of Chicago
11 University of Denver
12 Stanford University
12 Yale University
The link below also includes a ranking of IR Phd and and IR undergrad programs based on a poll of academia as well as an overall school ranking (i.e. all hires) based on a poll of industry practitioners.
It is interesting to note that the undergrad IR ranking (by academia) correlates closely with the Phd ranking, while the ranking by industry practitioners of the entire school (including undergrad as well as grad IR, Gov and Law) correlates most closely with the ranking of the IR Masters program (by academia).
Regarding Yale, have a look at the Global Affairs major, also the Ethics, Politics and Economics major. Both are highly-regarded and selective, and take advantage of Yale’s particular strengths.
Above all, visit, walk around and speak with students and professors at as many of these schools as you can. You’re very fortunate, and you won’t go wrong with any of them, but each is unique.
I wouldn’t really be concerned about subject rankings in IR, which is a highly nebulous and not-clearly defined field. All the schools you mentioned have top-5 Poli Sci, History and Economics departments, and are constantly visited by a stream of high-profile figures.
You’ll have to think about location, culture and residential Environment: Princeton and Stanford are in nice (some say boring) suburbs, Yale is in a small, student-oriented, slightly gritty city, though all 3 have gorgeous campuses.Furthermore, all three are pretty close to NYC, SF, NYC/Boston respectively. Princeton’s social scene is highly stratified by their eating clubs, Yale and Stanford are more egalitarian or inclusive. Yale and Princeton have a greater mass of students involved in global affairs, public policy, politics, arts and the like; Stanford has a greater mass of students involved in engineering and CS.
Agree with above. Yale is a school with an “edge,” an inner city campus with very strong left leaning politics. Stanford and Princeton are much more balanced politically, less politically active in general, and their campuses suburban bucolic. The idea that one of these three schools has the superior UNDERgrad IR program is ridiculous. All are top tier offerings albeit with some regional (Asian vs European vs developing nation state) and conservative vs liberal philosophical strengths (Hoover Institution at Yale? - I don’t think so). Go where you think you most belong socially and intellectually and will be happiest.
I doubt there’s a significant difference in political leaning between all 3, as all are largely left-leaning nowadays, though it might be true that Stanford and Princeton are less politically active.
as @reuynshard said, all three are very liberal. Moderates and conservatives will feel like a minority or even attacked in most cases at all three institutions; however, in my experience, this is most true at Yale. Students and faculty and even admissions officers actively mocked conservative ideologies and were very close-minded in general.
In terms of campus safety, Yale had a bad rep starting around '70, I believe. But Yale has done a lot for the past few decades and things have improved substantially. Yale bought up the nearby shopping areas, redeveloped them, and thus re-secured these areas. Quite a few urban universities today adopt this “Yale model” to improve their campus safety.
Personally, I do not see any significant difference in terms of campus safety, both on campus and nearby campus, between Harvard and Yale; I visited these two campuses often. Both are New England urban campuses, and would naturally have an edge. The only difference is that at Harvard I am willing to venture deeper into city because the city of Cambridge has more to offer, whereas at Yale I find few reasons venturing beyond say 4-5 blocks away campus. In contrast, Princeton has a suburban location. Safety concern is lower; but, at the same time, not much to see beyond the campus.
Caution needs to be exercised. No ranking is perfect. Personally, If I had a kid at Harvard, MIT, or Stanford, I would not worry about my kid’s safety either. They are all fine campuses.
Chiming in to say don’t sweat the safety piece. Whether you prefer an urban or suburban setting is a legitimate setting, but as long as you exercise common sense, you’ll be safe at any of those places. (And crazy stuff can happen anywhere.)
