<p>There is a similar thread under the Stanford forum, so I thought I'd start one here to provide some information to those potentially interested in Princeton. To the prospective applicants, alumni/ae, and current students: what exactly makes Princeton so great, or puts it above in your minds to HYS?</p>
<p>To start, what attracts me most to Princeton:
-excellence in a huge range of fields, so I'll be safe no matter what major I choose
-undergraduate focus
-pretty campus
-strong music/arts programs
-good proximity to home (Boston)</p>
<p>-Undergrad focus obviously
-Integrated Science (This is a really really big one for me)
-Strong Econ department (side interest)
-Pretty Campus + Good Scientific Facilities (Plasma physics labs for example)
-Proximity to home as well (NYC- BTW the Red Sox do indeed suck)
-Strong Financial Aid Program (much stronger than HYS in my mind)</p>
<p>To start, what attracts me most to Princeton:</p>
<p><em>mom bustles into room and cleans up formatting</em></p>
<p>-Excellence in a huge range of fields, so I'll be safe no matter what major I choose
-Undergraduate focus -> Focus is on undergraduates.->Undergrad focus obviously :)
-Pretty campus
-Good proximity to home (Boston)- proximity to home as well (NYC- BTW the Red Sox do indeed suck)
- Beautiful, sophisticated location with easy access to major cities.
-Small(er) campus so everything is fairly nearby
-Integrated Science (This is a really really big one for me)
-Strong Econ department (side interest)
-Good Scientific Facilities (Plasma physics labs for example)
-Strong Financial Aid Program (much stronger than HYS in my mind)
-Lots of research opportunities
-Woodrow Wilson School
- Strong music/arts programs
- World-famous faculty teaching intro courses (and learning students' names!)
- Social scene
- Happy student body
- Amazing resources and brilliant classmates.
- Prof. Cornel West
- Sir Andrew Wiles</p>
<p>Do you think someone mentioning that I would be a good candidate for integrated science in my rec would help? It would be a rec from the professor under whom I did research so it would obviously fit in.</p>
<p>So, I walk into my freshman seminar this fall, and i find out that my professor (who is taking 3 hours out of his schedule every week to teach constitutional law to a group of 12 freshman) is none other than the provost of Princeton - the 2nd most important person in the entire university.</p>
<p>When on the 2nd day of my Astrobiology Class last fall (GEO/EEB 255 - Life in the Universe for those who want to know more), I found out that we would be going to Yellowstone National Park for 10 days of field experiments on the hydrothermal features, and that would be our LAB component, thats what confirmed Princeton was where I should be. </p>
<p>Other than that, check out how awesome the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is at <a href="http://www.eeb.princeton.edu%5B/url%5D">http://www.eeb.princeton.edu</a>. This spring I will be working in Dr. Jeanne Altmann's Amboseli baboon laboratory, and I hope to follow her to Kenya for one semester.</p>
<p>(1) Fantastic professors like Harvard, Stanford, Yale except they are focused on undergrads. This point has been repeated so many times but it’s true.</p>
<p>(2) Exceptional Financial Aid</p>
<p>(3) Lovely campus, very welcoming community, access to Woodrow Wilson School</p>
<p>(4) Professors who actually care about their students (and no TA’s who are told by Professors to just give out A’s unless the work absolutely is a disaster (cough, Harvard, cough).</p>
<p>(5) The most freshman seminars, one of which is led by the President of the University… talk about commitment to nurturing undergrads</p>
<p>And many more things depending on what you’re specifically looking to get into.</p>
<p>Stanford, Yale, and Harvard are all great schools as well - I don’t mean to bash them they really are great but IMO save Harvard and Stanford for grad school.</p>