<p>I'm an international student from India (never lived in the US) and I got admitted to both Princeton and Yale for the class of 2011. I got a full financial aid package at both places, so that really isn't a factor in deciding where I should go... I'd appreciate any help in deciding. I'm not certain about what I'd like to pursue as a major, so even that isn't a factor. I just want to know which College will be a more fulfilling experience for the next four years. I know it's a personal choice, but any insights would be helpful. Thanks.</p>
<p>if you're not quite sure about what you want to study, you're safe at both places simply because they're strong in so many areas. that being said, based on my observations, yale is a larger school and therefore has more to offer in terms of resources and opportunities. however, within the fairly large research institution are 12 communities that give you the benefits of a small, lib-arts type college like princeton. </p>
<p>This is the residential college system and one of the biggest reasons why i'm deciding on yale. read a few posts on CC about it and you'll understand why so many schools (like princeton) have tried to emulate it and why it makes yale such an amazing school. great academics, superior reputation AND unbeatable residential/social life--what more could you want?</p>
<p>my advice: go with yale and join me in the class of twenty-eleven!!!!</p>
<p>P.S. leptite, you'll find PLENTY (maybe more than you'd like to know) of other yale v. princeton threads on CC, just do a search for them.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. I was thinking that if I could manage a visa, I could visit the campus to decide. I don't suppose Vanderbilt comes into the picture, does it? I got through there as well...</p>
<p>vandy is a very interesting place...but it's also in the south. i was born and raised in the south and let me say that as a minority it's not necessarily the most comfortable place to be...haha...no but the ppl in general are really nice and i'm assuming TN is the same. the only thing about vandy is that i noticed that alot of ppl are really ignorant in terms of cultural understanding...i'm not trying to overgeneralize or anything so don't take offense. but just keep in mind that in comparison to schools like princeton and yale where their students hail from all walks of life, i would say that it would be easier to assimilate with students who also come from a different environment then those at Vandy who are mostly upper-middle class Southerners who have not ventured beyond the Mason Dixon Line...haha j/k j/k but honestly, let's just say that the environment is very different</p>
<p>Hey! Yale rocks!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm in a similar predicament, though I'm deciding b/t Yale and Stanford. You should definitely visit both. I think Yale would be better if you enjoy a more urban campus, because Princeton is very rural. You'll do great wherever you go.</p>
<p>I would hardly call Princeton rural.
Yes, the town itself is pretty small, but it's just an hour away from NYC and Philly.</p>
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let me say that as a minority it's not necessarily the most comfortable place to be...and i'm assuming TN is the same.
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the only thing about vandy is that i noticed that alot of ppl are really ignorant in terms of cultural understanding
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those at Vandy who are mostly upper-middle class Southerners who have not ventured beyond the Mason Dixon Line
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<p>crazedjunior, the majority of Vanderbilt students come from regions outside the traditional south. I'm from New York and I have met students from many different walks of life at Vandy. Theres lots of cultural diversity here and your comments are way off-base.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.vanderbilt.edu/admissions/diversityGeo.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.vanderbilt.edu/admissions/diversityGeo.php</a>
<a href="http://www.vanderbilt.edu/admissions/diversityRCE.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.vanderbilt.edu/admissions/diversityRCE.php</a></p>
<p>If you want to be happy come to Yale!</p>
<p>If you want to be happy come to Princeton!</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>You should really try to visit one or both schools. That would be way more important than anything we say.</p>
<p>college2332 i apologize if my comments seemed at all derogatory. most of the comments i had written were in joking manner and not at all serious. what i was trying to get across was that in comparison to yale, vandy's atmosphere appears more similar to other schools such as duke, uva, and unc. i dunno how to really say it but for me instinctively, it felt as if vandy had a more southern appeal to it...not necessarily that the demographics of vandy's students were all from the south. the political climate as well appeared a bit more conservative than yale...like i said again, i didn't mean any offense whatsoever...hopefully that got it straight ^_^''</p>
<p>If you want to be a lawyer, go to Yale.</p>
<p>If you want to be an investment banker, go to Princeton.</p>
<p>Well .. considering your situation and all I would recommend Princeton even though I will be attending Yale. Princeton has Cornell West. Since you're a person of color, especially brown I think you would be amazed by him. Then again he's just one great professor. GO TO YALE as we kick Harvard's ass.</p>
<p>Yale: History, Politics, Law
Princeton: Anything Math, Science related</p>
<p>Actually, wis3ly, almost all the data out there shows Yale is much stronger than Princeton in the sciences.</p>
<p>According to Sciencewatch.com's Vol.13 Issue #5 evaluation of average science departmental research quality (based on average ranking), Caltech is the strongest of the highest-impact universities in the sciences with a score of 3.14, followed by Harvard at 3.40, Yale at 4.50, MIT at 4.67, Stanford at 5.36, UC Berkeley at 5.63, UC San Diego at 5.78, Columbia at 6.38, and the University of Michigan at 6.71. Princeton is not top ten for the sciences in any of their overall measures. Sciencewatch, by the way, is an extension of the ISI, which is the world authority on scientific research.</p>
<p>I really don't like the town Princeton is in. New Haven is no paradise, but it's pretty close to NYC... and honestly, from what I've heard/read, people at Yale are nicer and more diverse. Plus, the whole residential colleges program seems really nice.</p>
<p>this site may help you out: w w w . t h e u . c o m</p>
<p>I agree with arctic, also. In my opinion, and the opinions of most of the people I talk with on a regular basis (who are in their 20s, 30s and 40s and unmarried), Princeton is one of the most boring towns in the United States. New Haven has become one of the best college towns in the country (it's actually more like a college city -- Yale isn't even the largest university in New Haven), with literally hundreds of stores, cafes, theaters, restaurants, stores, and enormous nightclubs just within a two or three block radius of the Yale campus. On weekends, the students from a 30-mile radius (about 50,000 people) plus all of the yuppies in the entire State (another 50,000 people) pour into the city like you would not believe, and some streets have to be closed because there are too many people walking around. The restaurants include dozens of some of the top-rated ethnic restaurants in the country; within a block or two of Yale, there are two Ethiopian restaurants, ten middle-eastern places, a couple of palatial Spanish (European) restaurants, a dozen or so Mexican, Cuban or Latin American restaurants, and literally 30 or 40 places serving various Asian cuisines, not to mention many others. Prices range from affordable student budget where you can eat for $3.00 to $90.00 per person prix fixe menus that include four courses of wine. The downtown area, which is where Yale is located, used to be a bit shabby, but now it is filled with Starbucks outlets, condominiums that go for a million dollars and offices full of biotechnology companies and law firms with tens of thousands of highly-paid "knowledge" workers. All the old factories have been converted either to biotech space or to very expensive luxury apartments. The Yale campus sits right on the 400-year old New Haven Green. New Haven is one of the oldest cities in the United States and largest cities in the Northeast, and Yale has been there since the city was founded. Also, because the city hall is right across from the Yale campus and the city is not overwhelmingly large, it is very easy for any undergraduate to get intimately involved with the city government. As a result, the city government there is now run mostly by Yale alumni.</p>
<p>By comparison, Princeton might as well be in a cornfield in Nebraska. There are a couple of sandwich shops there.</p>
<p>Also, I like that people at Yale are politically far more liberal than people at Princeton....that's a huuuuge deciding factor for me, personally.</p>
<p>Oh, if you can't tell, I'd kinda love to go to Yale.</p>
<p>Also like to add: Yale combines the best of both worlds I think, in two ways. First, it's a big university, but the residential college program promotes the small liberal arts college feeling. Second, New Haven is not a completely secluded college town in the middle of nowhere, but not a huge city like New York either. Even though I'd love to live in New York City, what I don't like about Columbia is that life revolves around the city, not around the school. Consequently, it's harder to meet people, etc, if you're not very active...and I feel like, when you're in college, you should focus on the college. There's plenty of time to be in the real world or whatever when you graduate. New Haven offers a nice transition.</p>
<p>I agree, arctic. Columbia is the other extreme, and as a result, the campus is basically completely devoid of life. You have to spend an hour in a slow, annoying subway to get anywhere, and then you get there and you're either alone or with the people you already knew. I have spent time hanging out with students up on the Morningside Heights campus many times, and it's a huge complaint (plus, they only tended to hang out with people they know, in their apartments, drinking). Totally different from a "real" campus experience.</p>
<p>posterX, you only mention Sciencewatch.com (which is not a particularly authoritative source - details later). What other data shows that "Yale is much stronger than Princeton in the sciences"?</p>
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I really don't like the town Princeton is in. New Haven is no paradise, but it's pretty close to NYC...
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Princeton is 45 minutes from NYC by train. New Haven is farther away from NYC by any measure. Princeton students very frequently go to NYC on weekend trips; this is much less likely for Yale students (due to distance). Please get your facts straight.</p>
<p>Because of Princeton's proximity to NYC and Philadelphia, Princeton is in fact not isolated at all. Yet Princeton is also not located in NYC, so students have the choice of when they prefer quiet and when they want shopping/eating/crowds. I'll assume you were kidding when you say Princeton may as well be a cornfield in Nebraska.</p>