<p>I am applying to Princeton and I was wondering what programs they are best at. I heard they have a good engineering and economics program, is this true? I want to do either business or engineering btw.</p>
<p>Princeton offers few programs, compared to most research-led universities. However, almost all programs that they offer are highly rated especially programs such as economics, mathematics and physics.</p>
<p>Of the 41 “areas” (graduate departments) ranked by the National Research Council in 1995, Princeton covered 29. This was one fewer than Harvard, the same number as UCSD, and more than Indiana, Maryland, or WUSTL. Princeton ranked 2nd overall in graduate humanities departments, 4th in physical sciences and math, 5th in engineering, 8th in social & behavioral sciences. As for more recent graduate department rankings, USNWR currently has Princeton tied for 1st in Economics, Political Science, and History; tied for 2nd in Mathematics; tied for 3rd in Sociology; tied for 5th in Physics; tied for 7th in English; tied for 8th in Psychology.</p>
<p>So, Princeton has many academic programs; they generally rank in the top 10 if not the top 5 at the graduate level. The major rankings do not cover undergraduate departments, but you can safely assume that graduate program quality carries through to undergraduate programs at Princeton (which is not necessarily the case at all other schools). </p>
<p>Princeton does not have a medical, law, or business school.</p>
<p>Among other things, Princeton is known for the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs.</p>
<p>The Princeton Engineering School ranks quite high. Its engineering alumni are however more likely to go to Wall Street or PhD programs then academia than to work as engineers.</p>
<p>Princeton pretty much has strong departments in every discipline it offers.
Some departments that typically are not ranked in the NRC graduate rankings, but in which Princeton is strong: Near Eastern Studies (modern); East Asian Studies (Chinese, Japanese); and, African-American Studies.</p>
<p>Radiant, it might have been better to post this question on the Princeton board, but here’s a response. </p>
<p>Though Princeton is smaller than many of its peers, it focuses on core disciplines and theoretical research and that focus has made it a leader in many fields. I encourage you to review Princeton’s ranking in the most recently released 2010 National Research Council ranking of graduate programs at universities across the U.S. In the core arts and sciences, Princeton is second only to Harvard in this analysis. Those two are relatively close with a modest gap between the top two and the third and fourth and then a very large gap between those four and the fifth and sixth. </p>
<p>While the NRC ranking is just one survey of departmental strengths (and it has its detractors), it is the one most widely referenced and seen as the most authoritative. The benefit of strong graduate programs to undergraduates may be smaller at some institutions but at Princeton there is no separate graduate faculty. The professors who have made Princeton’s graduate programs famous also teach undergraduates.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/1006939-princeton-2010-national-research-council-nrc-rankings-news-item.html?highlight=National+Research+Council[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/1006939-princeton-2010-national-research-council-nrc-rankings-news-item.html?highlight=National+Research+Council</a></p>