<p>3365, Princeton is known for its focus on rigorous undergraduate education. It has neither a business, medical or law school; its graduate school is well known for Physics, Math, and many fields in the humanities. Someone earlier mentioned the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, which is both an undergraduate major (a selective one) and a world-renowned public policy institution. </p>
<p>Princeton has extremely loyal alums: the giving rate is about 60%, higher than that of any other school. And we have the world's greatest reunions: P-Rade brings in the bucks for Princeton. :)</p>
<p>They are good at UNDERGRADUATE education, that is why they rank so high on UNDERGRADUTE lists. How do graduate programs translate into a good undergraduate experience?</p>
<p>In the most recent National Research Council rankings of faculty quality Princeton ranked #1 in Philosophy and Mathematics; #2 in Physics, Astronomy, French, and German; #3 in History and Religion; #4 in Classics and Spanish; #5 in Economics and Comparative Literature; #6 in Ecology and Music; #7 in Political Science; and in the top 20 in numerous other core academic disciplines. That, coupled with the fact that unlike many major research universities it is largely (though not entirely) an undergraduate-oriented institution, means that Princeton undergrads are studying under some of the very best faculty in the country in almost every core academic discipline imaginable. That's why a lot of people think it offers the best undergraduate education in the country, though of course that's open to dispute.</p>
<p>Besides, Albert Einstein used to hang there. How cool is that?</p>
<p>I think this is a legitimate question. Why don't you guys do a side-by-side comparison of say, Columbia or Stanford vs. Princeton? I'm particularly interested in why Stanford is almost always below Princeton when their programs are comparable, with Stanford having topnotch professional schools in addition? </p>
<p>Also, beefs, graduate rankings are important to undergraduate rankings because the resources devoted to graduate programs trickle down to undergraduates (i.e. professors who are drawn by strength of grad programs, TAs who are often grad students, maintenance of journals, etc).</p>
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Also, beefs, graduate rankings are important to undergraduate rankings because the resources devoted to graduate programs trickle down to undergraduates (i.e. professors who are drawn by strength of grad programs, TAs who are often grad students, journals, etc).
<p>Are you kidding me? I hate Princeton, and I love hating it, but it is clear why Princeton is ranked so high. Amazing students, amazing faculty, amazing education, amazing research.</p>
<p>I did not realize Princeton was considered better than Stanford. Maybe in some pockets of the population, like on the East Coast or on CC. But in general, Stanford is as highly regarded as Princeton and both are among the top 5 universities in the US.</p>
<p>Princeton is very balanced, and has strong departments in every field while Harvard is mainly strong in the social sciences, Yale in the arts, Stanford in engineering etc. Besides Princeton is refered to in many films and TV shows. Who seriously has NEVER watched the Fresh Prince?</p>
<p>Princeton is probably ranked so high because its campus gets shown an average of 5 times per episode of House, MD. And that's not including how it already gets shown once per episode through the opening credits.</p>
<p>Obviously, the stellar television ratings conferred to the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital have trickled into the rankings of its real-life university counterpart. :)</p>