Hello! I’m a high school junior and I have been looking into colleges lately. I, undoubtedly, am very interested in the Ivy League due to their prestige and the calibre of their academics. Nevertheless, I want to find a school that is most suited to me and excels in the fields that I want to study in. Princeton University has definitely caught my attention, but, no matter where I look, all I see are people commenting that Princeton is outstanding in pretty much everything. If you were to rank three majors at Princeton as the best, which ones would you choose?
Princeton’s courses in English literature and creative writing appear to be among the most engaging in the nation:
https://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/tools/training/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/
http://flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america
Well known for its math department.
Princeton is tops in a lot more than 3 areas! Math, CS, Physics, Biology, ChemE, History, Philosophy, East Asian Languages and Literature, etc.
What the school is noted for is less important than how it how it manages in the field(s) you’re interested in.
Princeton is known for its architecture, for the Institute of Advanced Study, which has hosted luminaries such as Einstein and Nash, as well for almost being called "Belcher College. It is also known for being one of the oldest colleges in the USA, being established in 1746.
Levity aside, let me be brutally honest with you: unless your father is donating $5 million to Princeton, you are an Olympic-level athlete in something like rowing, you have won a number of top level national prizes, or you have come to national attention through acting political activism, etc, the chances that you will attend Princeton are extremely slim. It’s the same as asking “Guys, on what should I spend the $10,000 that I’m going to win in the lottery tomorrow”.
Furthermore, your question has everything backwards. You first figure out what you want to study and then you look for a college which has a good program in that major. You do not decide on the college, and then look for your major.
Go back to the drawing board, and decide what you want to study, do some research on your own, and then come back here.
PS. Success in college and in life is not about “prestige”, it’s about Fit and Finances.
Regarding the Institute for Advanced Study, note that it has always been independent of Princeton University. Einstein, while formally associated with IAS, had no formal association with Princeton University. Nash, however, received his PhD from Princeton University.