<p>Our S is finding it difficult to choose between these two excellent schools. We are international.</p>
<p>S is interested in Anthropology and seems to be leaning towards Stanford. Loves the warm weather but is quite able to tolerate the NJ weather as attended HS in the NE. United States but has never visited either university. As parents we consider financial aid to be very important and Stanford Aid requires us to pay $1000 while Princeton requires $4000. </p>
<p>We have read about the undergrad focus of Princeton however and wonder whether this could be the factor that determines the final decision. Also Dad is biased towards Princeton.</p>
<p>(CC keeps messing up and duplicating my post–can’t edit it.)
Stanford has an excellent undergrad too–on par with Princeton’s. (Both Princeton and Stanford have top grad divisions as well.)</p>
<p>If financial aid is a concern, Stanford is clearly better here.</p>
<p>For anthropology, Stanford is top 10, even top 5. Princeton is barely on the map.</p>
<p>NRC ranking (graduate, but relevant):</p>
<p>1 Michigan 4.77
2 Chicago 4.77
3 UC Berkeley 4.51
4 Harvard 4.43
5 Arizona 4.11
6 Penn 3.94
7 Stanford 3.71
8 Yale 3.67
9 UCLA 3.67
10 UC San Diego 3.67
…
27 Princeton 3.30</p>
<p>I had no idea about these rankings and will share them with him and research some more.</p>
<p>He says he is interested in Anthropology because he enjoys both the humanities and sciences esp Biology and history and thinks Anthropology is the perfect combination, but I think he could very well change since his interests tend to be wide. Oh and he discovered theater in hs and loves it. </p>
<p>We were somewhat surprised at the financial package offered by Princeton relative to Stanford. Wow.</p>
<p>Interestingly when I mentioned the dilemma to some people in my country today, the automatic response without much enquiry or analysis was Princeton. I guess it was name recognition?</p>
<p>^^Which country? To be honest (though I don’t like to “rank”), I would say Stanford is slightly “better” than Princeton, but it’s completely up to the student. Also, the location seems 100 times more ideal than that of P…Silicon Vally vs New Jersey…that would be an easy choice for me, but perhaps different for your S.</p>
<p>We live in the Caribbean. Yes I know where both campuses are located and Princeton is actually easier and cheaper for S to reach and close to family in NY. </p>
<p>I’ve heard that Stanford is beautiful but we have never been to that side of the world.</p>
<p>Yeah. It’s hard to choose when you haven’t been to a campus, but is he going to attend Stanford’s (and P’s) Admit Weekends? That could be helpful, but I understand if it’s not possible. Basically, I think, like what has been said on other threads, this could turn into an East vs. West thing…which lifestyle do you like better and why?</p>
<p>It also depends on if the warm weather would be a factor for where he will want to live after graduation. If you think he’s gonna move to CA, maybe Stanford is a better choice. Otherwise, he’s gonna leave his Princeton friends behind (I’d met only one Princetonian when I was in the Bay Area).</p>
<p>Anthropology departments of various school have different focuses. This isn’t chemistry or engineering for which curriculum is fairly standard. So you may want to think about that.</p>
<p>New Jersey is fine, so is the weather in New Jersey. Princeton is probably better known in your country, like in many places around world, because of history, people and events relating to Princeton. However, many things you are using such as yahoo, google, internet, even the way you reach this site are closely related to Stanford, but many people don’t realize that. The problem with Princeton is that there are not many areas of study compared with Stanford, especially when you don’t like your initial interest.</p>
<p>Ha Dpattz. In his case he was thrilled to be accepted to Stanford and then he realized at 8pm the same night on making his final check of schools that Princeton had issued their congratulations. Wow that was for some reason not anticipated.</p>
<p>Regarding lifestyle he loves the laid back lifestyle but performs better academically in a more demanding setting.</p>
<p>Sam he loves the warm weather but has not planned out his life to decide where he’d like to live after graduation. As I said he’s somewhat laidback :-). Plus he likes the idea of anthropology now but I wouldn’t think it at all strange to discover he’d changed his mind to pursue history. On one occasion he or even philosophy.</p>
<p>Unfortunately it doesn’t seem as if he’ll be able to attend admit weekends at either school.</p>
<p>^^Yeah. I think I read saw in an interview that people are laid back, but there is an intense feeling of academia and it makes people want to just work and learn. Personally, given what you’ve said about him, I think Stanford would be a PERFECT fit. That’s just my 2 cents though. </p>
<p>And, yeah, funny story (kind of). My school brings in admissions counselors for meetings and as I junior I attended a Princeton meeting. I thought it was amazing and was completely set on applying to and attending Princeton. But then a brochure from Stanford came in the mail, I saw a guy longboarding (wearing shorts), and I ditched the idea of cold NJ for sunny California…I found that Stanford was my place and it seems like the adcom agreed! :D!</p>
<p>Lol, I ended up not applying to any Ivies…Stanford and Duke were the only “big name” schools I applied to and, what do you know, I’m going to Stanford rather than Duke! :D! Bring on Admit Weekend baby! ;D!</p>
<p>My bold predication on Princeton is that they will get low 50% in yield due to the higher admission rate and the awareness of the grade deflation. They admitted more students this year also indicates they are preparing for lower yield. This means half of admitted will not attend Princeton… Well, I could be wrong, let’s wait and see.</p>
<p>If CC is any indication, with all the kids who are choosing Stanford over freezing cold east coast schools, then Stanford should have a very high yield this year! : ) hahaha</p>
<p>And I totally agree, dpattz. The weather is initially what pushed Stanford past Yale on my list. Then I read more about Stanford and realized “wow this place is awesome!” So it was an easy choice over Cornell. : )</p>
<p>^^Definitely. It’s an easy choice for me over UW-Madison (brrrrr), but not so much for my parents…I got a full-ride there and that looks oh so great to them. :)</p>
<p>I gotta say Stanford. If I had the slightest shot of getting in, I would have been the first to send in my application. What is honestly wrong with the school? Nothing!</p>