<p>I don't know why and I don't know how, but I've been accepted to both of these schools with basically the same financial package. I was set on Princeton, which I got accepted to through the Questbridge scholarship program, until I recently got a call from Yale saying they had picked me off the "likely" list. I'm going hysterical trying to decide which to attend. Which would you choose? I'm posting this on both the Yale and Princeton Forums and would appreciate any input.</p>
<p>Ask both schools if they would be willing to fund transportation costs so that you'll be able to visit both of them and decide for yourself. ;)</p>
<p>you liberal or conservative?</p>
<p>jk.... but only kind of...</p>
<p>Congratulations, nate! Obviously, both schools will offer you a world-class education, but the settings are vastly different, with Princeton in a beautiful, affluent suburb and Yale on a beautiful Gothic campus in gritty New Haven. Yale has the residential college system and Princeton has its eating clubs. Those are just a few of the most obvious differences. Are you able to make visits to both campuses?</p>
<p>I visited Yale last summer and wasn't really blown away. It was okay but the area around it (not only New Haven but the neighboring city where our hotel was was seriously like the boondocks. I'll be spending the night at Princeton in April, and yeah I've always heard their campus is fantastic. I did hear a lot about the residential colleges when I was at Yale and those sound pretty cool.</p>
<p>P.S.- Not trying to offend anybody but I'm a liberal in red country.</p>
<p>whoa I meant state, not country.</p>
<p>Congrats on the Questbridge thing... and getting into both schools. </p>
<p>But as for opinions, you're on the Yale forum... and talking to people like me that have not turned in any private school apps RD (including Princeton's) after getting in Yale EA. You're obviously going to get a biased answer... (and yes, I've read the Princeton version of the thread... ) </p>
<p>As a liberal, Yale will be a great school for you, as Yale often is known for its accepting and relaxed atmosphere among students and faculty. Also, the food is excellent and the residential college system is world renowned. </p>
<p>Now on Princeton... Princeton is notorious for its value on legacy admissions and its atmosphere of elitism. It's eating clubs (not officially affiliated with the university) are often cited to be the foundation of the elite inner circle that excludes others from its social spectrum. The eating clubs required a supreme court ruling in the early 90's just to grudgingly turn co-educational... actually, its not surprising as Princeton only started admitting women in 1969... </p>
<p>Fine... I am biased, and Yale has a slightly murky past of its own... but I think you'll like Yale. It'll be nice to share four years with you in the Class of 2013, if you choose to do so that is...</p>
<p>Congratulations, Nate! Both are great schools. Both will pay to fly you out for your admitted student days. I highly recommend you go to both. While you've been to Yale, staying with current students and going to classes and activities will give you a much better feel for the place than did your summertime visit. The two schools do match one another's financial aid offers, so if one is slightly better ask the other if they can review your offer in light of School X's offer. </p>
<p>Given the same choice, my son opted for Yale. There's no doubt in my mind he made the right decision for him, but obviously your right decision could come down on the side of Princeton. Factors that swayed it for him:
*He was guaranteed a spot in the Directed Studies program which has 125 students. Pton has a similar program he would have had to apply to, plus it is capped at 35 students. He really liked knowing he had an assured DS place, as well there being more students in the program.
*There were only two students housed together at Pton when he visited. He liked the bigger suite housing of Yale where it is more like 4 to 6 to a suite.
*He didn't like the idea of eating clubs. He liked the idea of residential colleges so you had a smaller community within the larger one, but with each being a microcosm of the whole.
*He isn't big on drinking. I thought Pton, with its substance free housing options would be the better choice in that regard. However, reading CC posts it seemed like there is a big emphasis on drinking and it is harder to find your niche if you don't drink. There's tons of drinking at Yale, but there is so much else going on that it hasn't been an issue for him.
*Yale just seemed like a happy place to him.</p>
<p>The Woodrow Wilson school could be a big factor for you, though. Some other things you might want to look at are each school's core curriculum requirements in case you prefer one, the academic calendars (I don't remember when Pton has finals, but know my son really didn't like another school having finals after Christmas), and how much it costs to fly to each school from your hometown. If you're still up in the air as the final decision day draws near, those kind of issues could ultimately tip you one way or the other. It's great you're in the position of making the best choice for you from two wonderful options.</p>
<p>I posted this in the Princeton forum, too -- but folks here may want to look at this. An article by a Princeton prof who shares some thoughts about differences between P and Y after a scholarly visit to Yale. It appeared 2 years ago in the Daily Princetonian.</p>
<p>That's a pretty good article for getting at some of the differences in feel.</p>
<p>As a Princeton alum, and the parent of a current Yalie, I think Grafton gets it mostly right. But I do have to say that the rules can be flexible at Yale as well, particularly if you're in a small dept. D has found her profs to be very accessible and flexible with scheduling issues, etc.</p>
<p>It is tough to make distinctions between school at this caliber. But, to be candid, there's no place quite like Yale.</p>
<p>thanks for all of your congrats and advice.
Booyakasha, thanks for the link that was hilarious.
I visited Yale kinda hastily over the summer and was impressed, but didn't really see enough to make a lot of conclusions. The food was great though. The residential colleges seemed really cool, and they evoked a kind of comradery among the kids who shared colleges. I plan to visit again in april (and hopefully ill get the tour guide in the video).
I'm from Atlanta, so either school would be a major geographical change (and are basically the same distance in comparison to distance from Atlanta to there).
I'm hearing a lot about the elitism at princeton (a big turn-off for me) and hope I can test that out when I visit.
Either school would be more than a dream for me, so if I sound nitpicky its just my ignorance talking.</p>
<p>congratulations natethegreat - I'm going to Yale thanks to Questbridge and I am thrilled. It was my one and only application - didn't think twice about it. But then I know Yale very well living just 20 minutes away.</p>
<p>Just because you hear something about a school doesn't necessarily make it true.</p>
<p>See for yourself, and talk to students and professors. You'll be pleasantly surprised.</p>