Columbia vs. Princeton

princeton12
Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:10:37 +0000

Princeton is definitely a cozier, tighter-knit community. It is completely focused on the undergraduate. There is absolutely no doubt about this. The students are extremely nice and friendly to each other (obviously not every individual but the vaaast majority). You’re basically living in a castle, if that appeals to you. I would say that very few people are actually lonely here. The student body is small enough that you are constantly running into your friends. While the eating clubs have a negative stereotype, they do localize the social scene. When you go to the Street, you know you have a good chance of running into people you know. I have gone to the Street by myself, assuming I would into friends. I’ve never been wrong, and my friends at other schools tell me they would never think of relying on ‘luck’ to run into somebody at the party scenes of their schools. Though the eating clubs are integral to the ‘party scene’ here, room parties are also frequent. These usually end with somebody screaming, “ALRIGHT LETS HIT THE STREEEET.” Smaller, “just chilling”, environments to drink and socialize are also common, especially among upperclassmen. New York City is easy to get to, providing you have some time and enough money for the train ticket. Princeton, NJ is not that exciting, but it is cozy. Students don’t generally need to get off campus anyway. There’s a surplus of study space on campus. I will admit the difficulty of finding snacks past 3am, depending on where you live on campus. If you live downcampus it’s no problem, upcampus it’s a bit of a walk down to the WaWa. You feel extremely safe here. People leave their laptops unattended at libraries and the student center to get up and get cups of coffee all the time (obviously still not a good idea but I do it all the time).

The absolute devotion that most students display to the school is inexplicable, but tangible. All the alums I’ve ever met from here share it. The school simply brings scholars together in a way that I honestly think cannot be compared elsewhere.

If you’re looking for a buzzing, energetic, loud community then Columbia is probably best. It’s probably more exciting.