<p>So I read a thread on the princeton forum called <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/713600-yale-math-science-princeton.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/713600-yale-math-science-princeton.html</a> and just wanted the people on the yale forum to be able to respond.</p>
<p>why should/do people choose yale for math and hard sciences (chem and physics especially)?</p>
<p>You’ll have to go to somebody else for an even longer post. But the bottom line is that while Yale ranks above Pton in GRADUATE chemistry and Pton ranks above Yale in GRADUATE mathematics, because they are both top 15 in all three and close to each other in actual rankings, any differences will almost certainly be imperceptible at the UNDERGRADUATE level. It is worth noting that only 1/4 or less of your undergraduate courses will be in your major while 3/4 will not. Moreover, I CANNOT UNDEREMPHASIZE HOW MUCH OF YOUR COLLEGE “EDUCATION” COMES FROM OUTSIDE TEXTBOOK ACADEMICS AS WELL. Consequently, imo, this discussion about specific departments is unnecessary at the undergrad level when both are more than good enough.</p>
<p>Rather, if you get into Pton and Yale, I’d say choose based on the other parts of the college. What gives Yale the edge over P imo? 1) Happiness – Yalies LOVE it, 2) Grade deflation – this kills Pton students and makes them more unhappy, 3) Res. Colleges – Pton tried to create some kind of “res. college” but it doesn’t come remotely close to Yale’s system! Yale’s RCs create a small community within a larger university, allow friendships to blossom that otherwise wouldn’t occur, great for intramural sports/competitions, etc. 4) Pton’s Eating Clubs – lame imo. Yale may have secret societies but they are senior-only and they are a SECRET (therefore they don’t affect campus life as much) 5) Research opportunities – Yale has poured so much money into sciences that they hand out jobs like candy 6) Facilities – all of Yale has been renovated in past few years or is being renovated. That makes a big difference. 7) Graduate placement – Yale continues to outperform Princeton in graduate school placement.</p>
<p>I don’t really know. Among my kids’ cohort, they knew five really strong math students. Four went to Harvard, one went to Yale, only two of them applied to Princeton. My science-oriented roommates at Yale currently (or recently) hold the following jobs: Chair of Oncology at one of the country’s top teaching hospitals, Chief Quality Officer at one of the hospitals that can legitimately claim to be THE top teaching hospital (and frequent author of outcome-research papers), and sailing around the world with his family after 12 years as Director of Oceans at the country’s leading science-oriented environmental group. The first two got BS/MSs in Molecular Biology and then MD/PhDs; the last has a BA in geology and a law degree. They have all had pretty cool careers, in my opinion. But they weren’t chemistry or physics majors.</p>
<p>Reed publishes a handy table (because it makes them look good 
) that shows the grad school prep strengths of some schools. It seems to confirm the relative strengths of Yale and Princeton noted ^^^ above. Also note that Harvard does a good job in this area dominated by LACs.</p>
<p><a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html[/url]”>http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html</a></p>
<p>that reed link is interesting. it seems to me it would also be useful to see where people go, instead of how many. I am sure Yale is amazing, but is there a link with what previous undergrads are doing now? Williams has a really thorough list and amherst has one too, but it is not nearly as thorough.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/physics/after-graduation[/url]”>https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/physics/after-graduation</a>
[Williams</a> College Department of Physics](<a href=“http://www.williams.edu/Physics/]Williams”>http://www.williams.edu/Physics/) [click physics majors after williams]</p>
<p>bump… 10char</p>
<p>An observation: the Reed link is about “percentage of graduates who go on to earn a Ph.D. in selected disciplines” - in footnote at bottom. The charts themselves are misleading as heck but the point is small schools should do better. Let’s say NYU has 8 times the number of doctoral candidates in a field. The percentage should still be lower than Reed’s or Kalamazoo College. Reed has 1400 students total. </p>
<p>I don’t participate in arguments about which school is “better.” Couple of reasons. First, if you analyze the rankings, they are mostly garbage - see the info on this site about how rankings are manipulated. (And spend some time going through the methodology.) At most, they reflect and perpetuate old images, even as schools game the ratings they want to associate themselves with the old names. Second, as noted, differences between schools mentioned in the same breath are tiny compared to the sturm und drang about them. I’m not talking only about HYP but pick any two schools that are lumped together and the real differences between them academically are usually negligible, allowing for differences in strengths between specific programs. </p>
<p>My advice is consistently: pick a school that you like and that has the specific program you want, if the latter is important to you. The important factor in your success is you, not the name on your degree. A Yale degree is not a golden ticket. At most it reflects two basic truths, that people who go to Yale are smart and motivated to begin with and that many start in life with substantial other advantages.</p>
<p>A question that’s generally about science and math isn’t about a program, but is more about the superficiality of rankings. And to be honest, if a person is heavily into math & science, so weighted personally that any relative difference between Yale and Princeton is important, then that kid should be looking at MIT or CalTech because Yale and Princeton are primarily liberal arts schools.</p>