Cross admit, Yale vs Princeton

pianista
Wed, 16 May 2012 02:20:53 +0000

I’m really curious as to what OP ended up deciding. You really can’t go wrong with either choice. I faced the same decision back in my day (and I was prospective applied math/ep&e or ORFE/woody woo). Princeton had been my dream school since i was 5, but somewhere between Dec 15 and April 30, Yale won me over.

I chose Yale because it “felt” right when I visited. I had a lot of reservations about the decision: the departments weren’t as “good”, the campus wasn’t as “safe”, the campus felt foreign (I grew up in the suburbs), and it was farther from home. I ended up thinking about which decision I would regret more, and knew that I would hate myself if I didn’t give Yale the chance. Glassesarechic is right, college is tough. I definitely had a lot of “whatif” moments during my freshman year. It takes time to adjust to college life, but I can honestly say that I have never honestly thought that I made the wrong decision.

You’re right in considering all of the information available to you about different groups on campus and different academic program, but don’t forget to consider the people you meet. There is definitely a different “feel” to the two schools, and while you can definitely be happy at both schools (think about what would have happened if you were only admitted to one and not the other), most people naturally feel more at home at one school than another. That’s where you belong.

In terms of the social scene, I would say that Yale’s scene is probably more integrated than Princeton’s (based on my observation alone). At Yale, freshmen tend to hang out in their colleges, and many do stay best friends with those in their residential college, but as time goes on, people get to know others who are in the same classes or activities. As with any other campus, there are activities that are more socially insular, but people generally have pretty diverse network ties. The greek scene isn’t dominant in that something like 15% of the student population is involved and many of those involved wouldn’t consider their greek affiliation their main “identification” on campus, but the greek scene is alive and definitely a presence on the weekends.