Princeton vs Emory

frazdmom · 04-22-2007, 10:22 AM

My son is having a hard time deciding between Emory and Princeton. He is a senior in high school and has been accepted by both. At the time he is interested in accounting. Anyone with any opionions that may help him with his decision?

Intel2007 · 04-22-2007, 02:17 PM

I'd choose Princeton, but I may be just a tad biased. Has he visited the schools?

frazdmom · 04-22-2007, 03:45 PM

Yes he has visited them both and commented that if it were based on campus alone, Emory hands down. But he is also aware of the bonuses of attending an Ivy League school. The bottom line is the choice is his to make. I am just reaching out to anyone who may have some insight, pro or con. Thanks for the response.

Lord Asquith · 04-22-2007, 04:30 PM

If your son visited Princeton during April Hosting, when it was cloudy/rainy/windy so not too many students were outdoors (one week earlier or one week later would have made a world of difference), then I urge your son to not base everything on only that campus visit.

Any majors or academic plans in mind? Any career plans in mind?

midatlmom · 04-22-2007, 06:54 PM

I can't speak to accounting--I don't think Princeton offers it as a major. If he is interested in math, Princeton has one of the top departments in the country. I don't know anything about Emory's math department, but I don't think it is considered on the same level.

As to other factors, I believe that Princeton is an amazing and vibrant school. It has top-notch academics in pretty much every field, it is placing a lot of money and emphasis on becoming even stronger in the arts than it already it and it has a wonderful president and administration. The student body is incredibly interesting, smart, involved, but yet not very competitive with one another. The resources that Princeton provides are extraordinary and of course it also has world-wide name recognition.

I happen to think that Princeton's campus is beautiful and I really like its location. Your son might prefer to be closer to a city and Atlanta is a wonderful place. However, Princeton is not too far from NYC and Philly and kids do go into the city with some frequency. I guess I would be inclined to not make such a decision based on the campus alone. I think that factors should as strength of academics, strength of student body, and resources offered should be key.

Good luck to your son.

whyivy · 04-22-2007, 09:57 PM

Princeton hands down

frazdmom · 04-23-2007, 01:09 PM

Thank you all for your replies. Midatlmom your words are also mine and you are right they don't offer accounting as a major but they do have a great economics program.

He has had the benefit of being involved in a wonderful program Princeton has for high schoolers, so he is also aware of the many benefits that Princeton does offer. I unfortunately feel he thinks he is missing out by not seeking out a change of environment.

I suppose I just wanted to hear from some others to make sure I wasn't giving him biased opinions. Either way he only has this week to decide. I know he will do fine at either school. He's a bright guy so I am sure he will make the best decision.

This is a great forum, I wish I had found out about it sooner. I will have to be sure to let him know about it as well.

guppy8888 · 04-23-2007, 03:28 PM

at first i thought it was a troll becuase its such a ridiculous question....
sorry, im a little biased.
obviously you know what i think...
a friend of mine had difficultly choosing between winsconsin and princeton. her parents let her make the choice, and she chose winconsin. then her parents said wrong choice, your going to princeton. now that she graduated, shes so glad her parents told her to go to princeton...
of course, im not saying you should FORCE your son to go to princeton, just maybe help him make the right choice.

midatlmom · 04-23-2007, 05:27 PM

One of the things you could mention to him in connection with change of scene, is that he could, of course, study abroad or take summer programs in different countries. For example, for kids who take Russian first year, Princeton offers a subsidized summer program in St. Petersburg which sounds like an amazing opportunity. There are even courses where you spend fall vacation or spring break traveling--for example, there's a geology seminar where you go out to Yellowstone to do fieldwork in the fall and I don't think it costs extra. If you live in NJ, or close to Princeton, could he spend this summer going somewhere else--trip across country or something (obviously that might not be economically feasible), so he could get away from the area for a while?

Obviously, I'm biased, but I would definitely chose Princeton over Emory.

Lord Asquith · 04-23-2007, 06:28 PM

There are a number of freshman seminars that involve traveling. I was in one where we went to the Sierra Nevada mountains and Death Valley for fieldwork, and this spring there was a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Both are totally free! (I'll even admit that I enjoyed a pretty nice steak dinner, and a dinner buffet in Las Vegas, on the University.)

No other university can rival Princeton's resources per student, and the benefits are quite direct, in the form of subsidized travel, subsidized private lessons (e.g. for musical instruments), research money, study abroad grant, summer project grant money, service grant money, thesis research money, you name it!