Dartmouth vs. Princeton vs. Columbia?

DartmouthForever
Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:56:08 +0000

Tough decision. I didn’t apply to Columbia, but I was choosing between Dartmouth, Princeton, and a few others at this time last year.

I was never convinced that Columbia has a real advantage in helping its students secure internships. Maybe they get shoddy ones during the school year, but I never met a single Columbia student who had a really great internship during the school year. (Maybe Columbia is better for the field in which you’re interested, but I want to go into high finance–and I found Columbia’s location to be of no benefit to me.)

Anyway, if you’re looking for the traditional college experience, it’s definitely Princeton or Dartmouth. I would lean more towards Dartmouth if you want pure tradition. Honestly, we have so many–Greek life, bonfire, Winter Carnival, Green Key, hockey game vs. Princeton, midnight snowball fight, “Worst Class Ever,” The Dartmouth 7, etc.

Two things that turned me off from Princeton were the Eating Clubs and grade deflation. The eating clubs are way more exclusive than Dartmouth’s social scene, which is completely open. (See some of my other posts for more information if you’re interested.) And grade deflation created a visibly tense, competitive environment in the classroom, which I didn’t like at all. One of the reasons I came to an Ivy was to learn from my peers, and at Princeton, I felt like that would be compromised, since your peers are actively disincentivized from helping you.

Anyway, I would visit both Dartmouth and Princeton. They’re terrific schools.