Choosing ND over Princeton??

cattaset000
Mon, 24 Apr 2017 16:15:53 +0000

I’m currently a freshman engineering student at ND, might be a helpful perspective for you. Through my first year, I’ve absolutely loved ND - the campus, the dorm communities, and especially the opportunities available for engineering students. I’d take into account a few things if you’re deciding between Princeton and ND:

One of my high school friends went to Princeton while I went to ND. He was brilliant - and I'm sure did well his first semester - but he really didn't like the culture at Princeton, especially the highly competitive nature of the classes (from his experience, students tended to not study together for exams because they needed to 'beat the curve'). I'm sure this isn't the case for every Princeton student, but it contributed to an overall culture he didn't like. He transferred to a public school second semester.

Financial aid: I've heard Princeton's FA is excellent, and I know from experience that ND's is as well. The value from either school is incredible, but make sure you have definite financial aid commitments from both schools before comparing.

What exactly do you want to do? A lot of engineers at ND (especially ChemEs) go pre-med, and ND one of the best pre-med programs in the country. I'm sure Princeton does as well, but I'd look more closely into exactly what you want to do / what programs are available in each school. If you're at all interested in business, ND has an engineering-business minor as well as a 5 year engineering/MBA program that a lot of students take advantage of.

Lastly, really ask a lot of questions when you visit both campuses. Talk to students, notice how they interact with each other. That was the biggest thing that attracted me to ND - students were friendly when I asked for directions, they went out of their way to hold doors open, etc.

If you’re getting into both ND and Princeton, you’ll obviously do well wherever you go, and I think you need to find out where you’ll be happiest for the next four years. For myself, that was ND - without a doubt. On the other hand, Princeton will give you a slight advantage with potential employers - but keep in mind your GPA will likely be lower just due to the extremely competitive nature of classes.

Feel free to ask me any other questions you might have - happy to help. Doesn’t sound like you can go wrong with either school, but personally, I couldn’t be happier that I chose ND.