<p>author walter kirn, princeton class of 1983, argues in a short editorial of sorts that "the greatest benefit of [an ivy league] education is social, not intellectual." in his chilly recap of his undergraduate days, he portrays himself as a public school kid surrounded by silver spooners, but neglects to mention he's a PU legacy, the son of a tiger from the pre-coed class of 1960.</p>
<p>This has been done time and time again.</p>
<p>Did you see the piece on Princeton in The Atlantic a couple years back?</p>
<p>I don't think this was a fair piece at all.</p>
<p>Should have read "Princeton's X-Factor". Not all the Ivies are equal when it comes to alumni networks; I hardly expect a boost from Columbia upon graduation. It may be, though, that not choosing an alumni-recruiting-heavy career would deprive one of many such connections in any case.</p>
<p>on a random note, it took me awhile to realize that "time" was not the "X Factor" (upon reading title of thread).</p>
<p>There seems to be a constant theme in the Harvard article along the lines of students wanting a more intimate fit for their undergrad years. Also many of the smaller schools offer academic scholarships based on merit .
In all fairness though, yield rate should have been mentioned to keep the article better balanced.</p>
<p>Come to think of it though a student can get the best of both worlds.....
A large research institution with the feel of a small LAC...</p>
<p>PRINCETON!</p>
<p>Haha, this author seems to believe that the Ivies ought to have different course bibliographies! And to offer a so-called comparison with Macalester College, as though the latter were some sort of hayseed cc is, absurd.</p>
<p>This entire article is absurd... but just like Douthat's book about Harvard, when someone dislikes Princeton... its NEWS!!! Well, more accurately, it sells!!! Think about it.... Harvard rejects roughly...18k kids every year? Now lets multiply that by... 20yrs... thats almost 400k kids who are now adults and who certainly welcome this kind of article.</p>
<p>of course, byerly, time's new editor, richard stengel, is a princeton grad, class of 1977. he recently took over the reins from another tiger, jim kelly '76. and stengel's first fall college issue features not one but two princeton-centric articles, with the second on "how VIPs get in" (the interviewee could just have well singled out albert gore, jr., harvard legacy/two-time arrestee):</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_III%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore_III</a></p>
<p>Did you miss the cover, scottie?</p>
<p>Byerly, nothing wrong with that article, but it does not mention Princeton and does not belong on this board.</p>
<p>no one in their right mind turns down Harvard</p>
<p>Well, Amnesia, last time I checked, I believe I confirmed that Im in my right mind as you put it, yet I turned down an offer of admission to Harvard as did a number of my classmates at Princeton. (I did choose Harvard for law school.) Remember that approximately 20% of those accepted to Harvard choose to go elsewhere. Most often they go to Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT and other leading schools, though sometimes they turn down Harvard for attractive honors programs at local schools. Many others simply never apply to Harvard, instead choosing to apply to Harvards competitors. While there is a great deal of overlap in the applications to these schools, there is not complete overlap.</p>
<p>In this season of anticipation regarding the results of the USNWR rankings, we should all remember that the choice of schools is a very personal one and that one students preferences might be very different from anothers. It would be a terribly boring world were this not so!</p>
<p>Hold on...you can get accepted to BOTH Harvard AND Princeton? I thought the Ivy League made sure that people are only accepted to one of them (except perhaps if you're a disadvantaged minority???). Also, you could turn down Harvard for financial reasons. I.e., if you're a top student from an upper-middle class family (150k a year range), 45k a year is still going to hurt, but you're just above the financial aid bar (or at least a substantial one--you might get a little, but it's still going to be expensive. On the other hand, a top student could go to a local state school (like the University of Kentucky--where I'm from), and go there and get money, and instead going to the HPYSM for grad school. It depends on your point of view. So there are other considerations when talking about going to the Ivy League.</p>
<p>no.... oops.</p>
<p>when i say harvard, i really mean the collective TOP SCHOOLS</p>
<p>princeton harvard, flip a coin. i think princeton is better for undergrad... the facebook founder zuckerberg even has said in interviews that harvard is a "generally unfriendly place"</p>
<p>so, i mean... come on. Davidson instead of Harvard? why!?</p>
<p>Because the group of people who "said no to Harvard" is even more small and elite than the number of actual Harvard students?</p>
<p>It would be interesting to compare statistical data from matriculants and rejectors at Harvard.</p>
<p>I thought that this whole article was interesting. It really does try to shine some light on the fact that there are other good colleges out there besides those in the Ivy League. So many people have aspirations of attending an Ivy League university simply because of its reputation.</p>
<p>Weird...I'm from the Midwest (as is my brother, obviously). When my brother went to Princeton, he really didn't feel like a "fish out of water," so to speak. Granted, this was after the time period the author wrote about, but the article seemed to err on the side of scaring Princeton hopefuls away.</p>