<p>mk so im on spring break now, and since sunday ive been on a road trip with my friend touring the big 3, aka prince, harvz, and yale
he got into them all, i got into princeton, was rejected from harvard, and didnt apply to yale
but anyway, although ive been to harvard and princeton before, I was extremely underwhelmed this time around. it was most likely because i got into stanford 5 months ago and have been playing it up in my mind for so long, but there were fundamentally a number of things i didnt like about the schools as compared to stanford
primarily, I talked to a lot of people who had to choose princeton (it was a REALLY common decision), and really none of them could give me a truly compelling reason. they were most commonly things like they got a better financial aid package at princeton, the sports team was ranked higher at princeton, etc. at harvard, too, as strange as it seems, an overwhelming number of students didn't get into anywhere else, so harvard was their logical choice.
further, there were many social aspects that i didn't particularly like. at princeton, for example, most people dressed up for class, and for someone who goes to school in sweats almost every day, this didnt really appeal to me. also, at both harvard and princeton, although everyone seemed very open and accepting, there was a very small gay population, and truly that's a really big deal to me.
i don't know, im rambling at this point, but to me, after this visit, the choice seems very clear. what do you all think?
do you have to make a similar decision?</p>
<p>Oprah!, are you the guy who posted an ‘Oprah’ thread in Stanford 2013?</p>
<p>what is your secret? :(</p>
<p>When I was reading an information thing on Princeton with dozens of photos of students, the way they dressed was really apparent, like you mentioned. The typical male student had a combination of sailing shoes, khakis, and a sweater. Other options included sweater vests, button-down shirts, leather walking shoes, nice jeans, and plaid shorts in warmer months. The occasional student had a t-shirt. That preppy, old-money style is certainly not me. I’ll wear a collared shirt once a week or so (not a polo, usually a nike or under-armor), but most times I’m wearing athletic pants/shorts and a t-shirt with a possible sweat shirt. Style really shouldn’t matter much, but for some reason I was just really turned off by the way people dress there. </p>
<p>If others want to see how typical students dress, check out these two links:
[Princeton</a> students image by fanman888 on Photobucket](<a href=“Photo Storage”>Photo Storage)
<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/05/0418/m/3a.jpg[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/05/0418/m/3a.jpg</a></p>
![http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/05/0418/m/3a.jpg[/url]](http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/05/0418/m/3a.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>^EXACTLY
that’s precisely what i thought. like i can dress up nicely once or twice a week, but otherwise it’s mainly sweats. and i dont want to be shunned there because i dont conform to that hahahahahah
and Ivy - yes! i am! <3</p>
<p>Although USC is not nearly as prestigious as Princeton, I’m having tough time with it. And unlike your visit to Princeton, when I visited USC I was unexpectedly impressed. The people were cool - a nice mix of different types of students - the campus was pretty and bigger than I thought, the surrounding neighborhood wasn’t as scary as I had read online, the Viterbi engineering professors were friendly and seemed genuinely interested in us prospectives, I loved the suite I stayed in - which is a housing option for freshman… the only thing was the food was a little eh, suspect.</p>
<p>So my decision became more confused with my visit. I’m waiting for Admit Weekend to make my final choice. Can’t wait! I hope I fall in love with Stanford because despite my pleasant experience at SC, I continue to lean heavily towards Stanford. There’s just a slight bit of doubt, and with such a huge decision as the next four years of my life, I’d rather be 150% sure I made the right choice.</p>
<p>I wish I could be as sure as you… Congrats on your eye-opening experience! :D</p>
<p>Oprah!: Come to Stanford!</p>
<p>No, but seriously, you sound like Stanford would be the place that would bring you the most happiness and the place where you would be most comfortable and you would be able to let your guard down. I also got into another Ivy but I’ve had so many thoughts about Stanford for the past couple of months that any other school really underwhelms me compared to the Farm at this point.</p>
<p>I’d choose Stanford, but good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>OPRAH!!! I’m choosing between Stanford and Yale. i’m visting both for the first time in two weeks so i cant really say anything to compare the two yet but what you observed is not very surprising to me particularly with Princeton. i’ve always heard that things were a little strange at that place. But i am shocked that the Harvard students you met didnt get in elsewhere. I’d think the opposite would be true.</p>
<p>also, did you visit Yale yet? what are your thoughts?</p>
<p>^ Well, we of all people should know how random college decisions are!</p>
<p>ahh the enlightenment of post-admission…</p>
<p>this is something a lot of students in the midst of the application process don’t pick up on. prestige is great, rankings are a good thing to get a general idea of academic strength, etc, but until you visit, you have no idea what kind of fit it will be.</p>
<p>personally, i wasn’t deciding between a few major schools, that route was taken out of my hands. i’m going to rice for a number of reasons: it’s a great school, they gave me a good financial aid offer, i don’t want to go to any of my other options, but most of all, i love it there. i just got back from the owl days, and that erased any doubt in my mind.</p>
<p>while i was there, i met a student who turned down MIT, and he explained that he visited and it just didn’t feel right. a lot of the prospective students there were also debating whether to go to rice or other schools such as caltech, princeton, harvard, or stanford, which is something that would have left me speechless just a few months ago. </p>
<p>Oprah!: while i would caution you in saying don’t be quick to assume people will judge you for how laid-back you are, i would also say that you’re right on the money. if those schools didn’t feel right, don’t go there.</p>
<p>^Oh, and when I visited Princeton last spring, I got the same preppy impression. I basically live in my hoodies, so I would stick out I suppose. </p>
<p>And as a black female, I felt I stuck out a little there. Maybe I will feel this way even at Stanford… I dunno.</p>
<p>Anyway, I didn’t apply to Princeton in the end.</p>
<p>Schee410 couldnt have said it better. Thats why im pretty sure my choice wont really be that difficult once i visit the schools. name is just name, and it really means nothing because undergraduate degrees are basically useless. I’m from the northeast and my parents are so ignorant about colleges. When i got into Yale they thought i would just forget about stanford “because its yale”. I was so annoyed. a girl at my school a few years ago was obsessed with getting into Princeton for her entire life. She got in, went for a semester, hated it, transfered,and now goes to our state school and couldnt be happier. So yeah it all comes down to a place just being right.</p>
<p>@supereagle10, I will not be sure that you can make any decision till the last minute. Let me know your decision when it is done. My S made the last second decision for Stanford>Yale. It will not be an easy choice no matter what you do. Good luck.</p>
<p>Omg Sam so you’re coming to Stanford! </p>
<p>Whoot. I’m so happy =)</p>
<p>Oprah! choose wherever you feel the most comfortable. That said, you’d be terribly misinformed if you thought that many students even have the opportunity to choose across the top few elites. Hardly any Stanford students got into H or Y; very few P students got into S as well; etc. Pt being, you aren’t going to find all too many students who got into more than one or two of HYPS.</p>
<p>supereagle10, I chose Y over S but I certainly did not do it for the name and OF COURSE it should be a difficult decision. Y is highly intellectual, undergrad focus, has a really personal res. college system and strong culture, a vibrant political and arts scene, etc and I didn’t really like Greek Life or athletes. That’s why I chose it, but you should weigh pro’s and con’s and come to your own decision. I suggest you attend admitted students weekends. I absolutely love Y, but you’ll be happy wherever you attend.</p>
<p>@booyaksha, you said not many crossed between HYP and Stanford, how many is not many? 300?</p>
<p>actually A LOT of princeton students that i talked to chose there over stanford
it was actually really surprising
but yea i feel ya</p>
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I visited HYP this weekend too… weird, maybe we saw each other?</p>
<p>I definitely wasn’t feelin Princeton and I feel like Stanford may be a better fit for you… but, who knows! Definitely visit both again and see which one feels more comfortable.</p>
<p>^ HAHAHA</p>
<p>And I second Hippo’s post. WE’RE GETTING OPRAH!!!</p>
<p>hahahahahahhahaha i hate you rocky</p>
<p>Choose where you feel comfortable, I totally agree, but I think Princeton is getting a bad rap here with the “preppy image”. My son goes there and he couldn’t be more casual and “unpreppy”. Many students are from modest backgrounds and take advantage of financial aid. My son never dresses up and wears athletic clothes and tennis shoes most of the time.</p>