<p>I've been accepted to Princeton, Cornell, and Duke and w.l. @ Harvard and am interested in engineering (ME or EE) Princeton seems like an awesome school, is there any reason I should not choose it over Cornell or Duke besides whether I think its a "good fit"?</p>
<p>Only thing I could see if is Cornell is better in your engineering program. I would research that. I doubt Duke or Harvard is better, but cornell might be. check</p>
<p>For engineering, Cornell would probably be the best of those three.</p>
<p>Of course, I’m not too knowledgeable about Princeton’s engineering program, so I’d definitely research them all. I know Harvard is pumping a lot of money into its new engineering department, but I don’t know what level it’s at yet.</p>
<p>I just realized ME is mech eng. and EE is electrical. Cornell is 10 and P is 12 for ME.</p>
<p>For EE Cornell is 8 and P is 10.</p>
<p>They are close, but cornell is better. So neglecting fit, definitely Cornell.</p>
<p>The one thing I’d like to note is that when you’re an undergraduate, picking a college based on small differences in specific majors is probably not the wisest idea because the slight advantages that make one college slightly better than another probably aren’t going to make a huge difference to an undergraduate. If you were a graduate student with a specific focus between MechE and EE, that might be different.</p>
<p>Go to Princeton, go to Cornell, and pick the one that appeals to you more. How comfortable you with your college experience will make more of a difference for you than a two-rank difference.</p>
<p>You can wait and go to Harvard</p>
<p>I live near Cornell and from what I have heard it can be a cold place. It may be the easiest Ivy to get into, but they make an effort to weed out students. Congratulations on all of the acceptances. I also have a tough decision to make. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Not everyone on the waitlist will get in… harvard waitlisted over 1000 people</p>
<p>Great advice. Princeton’s engineering school is superb–no chance that any program comparisons would rule out the school. Princeton and Cornell are fantastic schools, you can’t go wrong. Location/weather are different. School size somewhat different. Princeton’s intense commitment to undergraduate education is special, something that sets it apart a bit from many (not all) other ivies-perhaps including Cornell. It’s a bit snobbier/more pretentious, but not tremendously so (consider that only if you’re hypersensitive to that issue).</p>
<p>^My high school fits the snobbier stereotype really well, so I’ll be used to that at Princeton (I bet it’s not too bad).</p>
<p>I agree with Silly Puddy. Choose the college that you like more. I go to Princeton and I’m not ME/EE (we call it ELE here btw), but I am Computer Science in the engineering department. Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>go to cornell and make room for us princeton waitlistees!!!..lol jk…listen to the advice of the people above me, compare finaid packages, and decide which school is best for you…we can’t do that for you</p>
<p>yes please! its my dream to go there :(</p>
<p>but all bias and jokes aside, Cornell is the best out of those for engineering. Plus if you are a prestige-hunter deep down, Cornell holds more prestige over many other top schools, even if Princeton isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>Plus, Cornell’s campus is GORGEOUS too.</p>
<p>I think you will realize sooner or later that choosing a school over a difference of 2 rankings for a major is a little silly. This supposed difference will never really affect you in your undergraduate coursework, especially because you will be taking pretty much the same classes/basic materials. It’s much more important for graduate school. I’m an engineer and chose Princeton over MIT (which is clearly a stronger technical school), but am very happy with my courses (when compared to my friends at MIT, I’m confident in saying I’m just as prepared) and enjoy the overall experience more. </p>
<p>But in the general vein of things, yes, consider the finaid package, visit campus, hang out a bit. See if you like the university more, but don’t let a list of rankings (esp w/ tiny differences) dictate your decision!</p>
<p>Go to Cornell and open a spot for me at Princeton!!!</p>
<p>I think it is a matter of personal fit. My sister went to Harvard AND Princeton and I can tell you why she told me son NOT to go there (she loved it, she wants her daughter to go, so it isnt a slam on the school)</p>
<ol>
<li> It is in a small town so all your activities and you life revolve around school for the most part. If you like city life or a vibrant outside community then Princeton (while a lovely town)is sedate.<br></li>
<li> It tends to be more conservative (say compared to Harvard) so if you are very liberal you might enjoy Harvard more (don’t know about Cornell).</li>
</ol>
<p>She wanted her quiet, friend-focused, doesn’t like the wild life daughter to go to Princeton. She thought my son would prefer the liberal,noisier Harvard.</p>
<p>They are ALL great schools (congratulations!) so pick the one that feels right to you.</p>
<p>although I would also like you to go to cornell so that you would open up a spot for us on the waitlist, if it were me, I would definitely choose princeton due to its focus on undergraduate engineering, smaller size. Plus cornell is extremely intense from what ive heard, large classes, hard grading. Many of my friends that have gone there have not had a good experience.</p>
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<p>Jamie, this is a stereotype that is simply not true. Based on opinion polling done on both campuses, there is no significant difference in the political leanings of the student bodies at the two schools. You can find those political poll results in the following post:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061947257-post101.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061947257-post101.html</a></p>
<p>Your comments about Princeton being in a small town are absolutely correct. Still, its a small town that gives students the choice of being in either New York or Philadelphia in about an hour by train and the train pulls right up to the edge of campus. There are many people who live in the town of Princeton and work in NYC. The city is not a short subway ride away as it is at Harvard (where I went to law school) but in some ways, Princeton is more centrally located in the power corridor between New York and Washington DC than is Boston. The combination of easy access to three of the countrys most important cities, New York, Philly and DC, and a beautiful suburban setting where the best of nature can be enjoyed as well was a winning formula for me.</p>
<p>My daughter , soon to be a junior at Princeton , is very engaged in the arts. She loves New York and when not in a play or concert goes often to partake of all it has to offer. I would say about Princeton that yes it is a very affluent and beautiful suburban town. Nassau Street is virtually right outside the campus. Students in minutes can run to the new yogurt place, head to Small World Coffee or grab a quick bite at Panera.Princeton students are busy, engaged people. It isn’t as if they are sitting around bored. As for the campus itself it is just pastoral.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider is how convenient it is to get to the Newark airport to fly anywhere(the air train is great).</p>
<p>Finally the class sizes, depending on one’s major , are not too large. My daughter is being taught a history class Monarchies by a professor knighted by the Queen. I think that is something, actually.Even for a beginning level german class she was delighted with the caliber of instruction by her German born grad student.</p>
<p>You want reasons why you SHOULDN’T go to Princeton, so I’m going to list some things I don’t like. Keep in mind that I love being here at Princeton though. </p>
<p>I’m an engineer here, and the fact that Princeton sees itself as a liberal arts college makes it sometimes difficult for me to engage conversations with people who say… hate math and loves english/politics/etc. </p>
<p>Also, there are annoying distribution requirements, even for engineers, that require you to take classes you probably won’t be interested (i.e. those that make you write essays, give you tons of readings instead of problem sets, etc.)</p>
<p>There’s also a mandatory writing seminar class all freshmen must take for one semester, which I found TERRIBLE. </p>
<p>These are just some stuff that I dislike about Princeton, and may not even apply to you because I’m sort of a hardcore quantitative guy who hates qualitative stuffs. If you wanted me to list good things about Princeton, I can go on and on…</p>
<p>In any case, make sure to come to the Princeton Preview and see how you would like living the next 4 years here :)</p>