<p>
[quote]
Princeton is very preppy.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yale itself is in a city and is known for it's artsy-ness rather than preppiness
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Let's be honest about the preppiness thing: that's pure stereotype and nothing more. As a matter of fact, Yale takes more students from private schools than does Princeton.</p>
<p>cautiouspessimism,</p>
<p>stereotypes don't come from nowhere. Princeton is widely regarded as a relatively (in IVY league) conservative institution with a preppy/elitist atmosphere.</p>
<p>The eating clubs just help propel that image, and from conversations with several students at pton, that appears to hold validity today.</p>
<p>The reason that Yale might enroll more prep schools kids is because Yale is regarded as more of a English/Classics/Humanities centered institution thatn Princeton is, and these are subjects which prep school graduates tend to pursue more than lower class students who must stick to more preprofessional courses to guarantee a profitable job.</p>
<p>As CautiousPessimism stated, "let's be honest". Princeton's record speaks for itself:</p>
<p>(exerpt)</p>
<p>"JBHE has ranked America's leading universities according to their relative success in attracting, enrolling, and graduating African-American students as well as their progress in bringing black professors to their campuses. Universities are ranked according to a blending of 13 widely accepted quantitative measures of institutional racial integration." </p>
<p>(exerpt)</p>
<p>"A record 55 percent of the 1,229-member (2009) Princeton class is on financial aid, Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel reported at the Sept. 19 faculty meeting. That is the highest percentage at any Ivy League institution based on preliminary reports. Last year's freshman class included 52 percent of students on financial aid."</p>
<p>Diamond, please note that like most, if not all of its peers, Princeton leans noticeably left. However, I do agree that among its peers it is the most politically and ideologically balanced. Some consider that healthy. Some would consider that a form of diversity.</p>
<p>DiamondT,</p>
<p>There are also a wide variety of opinions about eating clubs. You might have run across those who - for a variety of reasons - may be uncomfortable with eating clubs. There are more than enough people, however, that feel that the whole thing is nothing more or less than a forum of socializing.</p>
<p>With regards to Princeton being ridiculously conservative, check this article titled "Is Princeton's Faculty too Liberal?":
<a href="http://hnn.us/articles/10863.html%5B/url%5D">http://hnn.us/articles/10863.html</a></p>
<p>Again, more than a wide spectrum of opinions in the Princeton of the 21st century.</p>
<p>Please don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to argue that Princeton IS DEFINITELY better than Yale or vice versa. They're both kickbutt schools, and if you pick one over the other, be sure to visit and then pick based on "fit". I just want to make sure the OP's question is answered with the greatest fairness.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"A record 55 percent of the 1,229-member (2009) Princeton class is on financial aid. That is the highest percentage at any Ivy League institution based on preliminary reports.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That doesn't strike me as impressive. Even Penn as 60% of its students on financial aid and they are hardly "The People's Ivy"</p>
<p>Theoneo sayeth: "Sure, New Haven isn't the safetst city, but it sure as hell beats Newark and Camden."</p>
<p>(1) Talk about "damning with faint praise"...if the best you can say about your college's city is that it's better than Newark and Camden, you're in trouble.</p>
<p>(2) At least Princeton is not IN Newark or Camden. A Princeton student can avoid Newark and Camden with no trouble at all. Whereas a Yalie can't exactly avoid New Haven.</p>
<p>That would also make for better praise if Yale's competition were in fact a school located in Neward and Camden.</p>
<p>Princeton made MSNBC's list of hot college towns.</p>
<p>I'd still take Yale over Princeton, because New Haven is pretty much the ONLY aspect of the school I can think of that is anything less than stellar.</p>
<p>I found princeton, the town, utterly boring and bereft of activities for college students. It is quaint and beautiful and idyllic for families - not for college students. Though New Haven has its bad parts, it provides ALOT more for Yalies in terms of social life, eating, bars and culture than its counterpart in new jersey.</p>
<p>Why am I not surprised that the edge goes to Yale in its own forum :p</p>
<p>To Post #21 by cautiouspessimism:</p>
<p>But P rarely take our public school kids. They only take private school kids and athletes and minorities in public ones. I don’t think it’s because our public school kids are not up to the standard since some public school kids are actually better than those admitted kids from private schools and get admitted in H and Y.</p>
<p>…four year old dormant thread …</p>
<p>i think academically they’re both the same. i mean really… what are you guys fighting over? A 2 kid difference?</p>
<p>It’s a different atmosphere. WASP really means that they’re located in a suburban RICH area. filled with suburban RICH people. (aka snooty people). my interviewer told me he disliked the food clubs for their elitist nature and social discrimination even though he was in one of the more prestigious ones (ivy i think?) </p>
<p>yale isn’t much better though. my interviewer told me he has never felt so much racial tension in one city before. … and a friend in conneticut told me everytime she passes by there are cop sirens. yale are more chillax rather than preppy though.</p>
<p>however all this you gotta take with a grain of salt because the fact that princeton is entirely preppy is probably not true.
the interviewer i keep citing went to princeton undergrad and is at yale grad now. and he says he wouldn’t change going to princeton undergrad for the world. he much preferred it to yale (at least for undergrad)</p>
<p>oh geez… i didn’t even realize this was such a old thread.
oopsy.</p>
<p>the op could’ve graduated by now…</p>
<p>^lol, but I guess this thread will come in handy after decisions come out and a couple of people have to decide between Yale and Princeton. I think that’s probably why T26E4 bumped it.</p>
<p>I didn’t bump it. Post #30 is from a new user and is the one who resurrected this fossil</p>
<p>‘stillconfused’ said in April 2009:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/692871-usc-bacc-md-program-vs-yale-vs-northwestern-hpme-premed.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/692871-usc-bacc-md-program-vs-yale-vs-northwestern-hpme-premed.html</a></p>
<p>I can’t speak for stillconfused’s experience. For me, an immigrant Chinese kid who grew up in Detroit, the enthusiasm friendliness and lack of pretentiousness of Yale grabbed me and has never let go. </p>
<p>I visited the Feb of my senior year. I was only some unknown applicant – no one knew me from Adam. But everyone was completely welcoming and seemed to sincerely want me to share in the great time they were having as undergraduates at Yale. On the train ride back to NYC, Yale definitely rose to the top of my list.</p>
<p>I can’t compare to Princeton – all Tigers I’ve known are great folks too.</p>
<p>toughyear: have you had bad experiences with Yalies (besides me?)</p>
<p>Okay listen, I know this is probably the last thing on your mind as a high school senior. This is certainly not what I thought about at all when I was applying to colleges. But now, as a college senior, looking back, here are my thoughts.</p>
<p>Princeton and Yale are both awesome places. Their academics and social scenes are superb. However, most of my friends at Princeton, when it comes to recruiting for finance jobs, applying to law/med school, complain about the severe deflation. Do a little google search on Princeton and grade deflation, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Yale and Harvard (more so Harvard) are notorious for grade inflation.</p>
<p>What does this mean to you? Probably nothing, and it shouldn’t matter to you that much when it comes to your college decision, because compared to cultural fit/departmental strengths, the matter of grade inflation/deflation seems trivial.</p>
<p>So why am I mentioning this now? Well, simply because this is a factor that most kids simply don’t think about. But if you are indeed applying to grad school, and you are a kid at Princeton with the average gpa (which by the way is a 3.3), but still average, compared to a kid at Harvard kid with the average gpa (which is like, a 3.6 or 3.7), guess who wins? Employers and grad schools know that different colleges have different grade policies, but do they care that much? No. Because these schools are still on the same level of prestige.</p>
<p>Princeton grads still get into the best grad schools, etc, but I feel that they are often more miserable about their grades. </p>
<p>So my advice is, don’t decide purely by how easy it is to get an A , but it is a very practical thing to consider. I mean, one of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking that college is the end-all-be-all. No, even if you go to the best university in the world, you are still competing with the best of the best.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>lol… MINE TOO!!!</p>