<p>Echang, Princeton has just as many graduate students as Yale proportionally speaking. You are probably confusing “professional” students (law, medical, business, environmental management, drama, art, music, architecture, etc. who have their own facilities, faculty and classes, and which Yale obviously has much, much, MUCH more of) with graduate (Ph.D arts and sciences, who share faculty with undergrad) students. </p>
<p>Undergraduate focus is primarily dependent on the student-faculty ratios in the most popular departments for undergraduates (such as history, biology, etc.) – and in many of those areas, Yale actually has a significantly lower ratio than Princeton. For example, Yale has over 100 history professors, more than any other university in the nation including enormous schools like UC-Berkeley. It also depends on average class sizes. Both Yale and Princeton have thousands of small seminar type classes available; Yale may actually have a slight lead in this regard. Undergraduate focus also depends heavily on the institutional culture overall, the amount of funding available for undergraduate student services such as fellowships, advising, etc. (of which, according to COHE, Yale spends more per student than any other university except Caltech, with Princeton a close third), the quality of the facilities, the integration of faculty into student life overall (as in the residential colleges), and many other factors. </p>
<p>Although professional students aren’t directly a factor, their presence can actually help undergraduates, since those resources are significant, and allow undergraduates to take classes and take advantage of faculty, programs and research that they simply wouldn’t be able to at a university without a law, medical or other professional schools (like Princeton).</p>
<p>In any case, both Yale and Princeton are great, undergraduate-focused universities. If you want to get a sense of which is better, visit for 2-3 days, sit in on tons of classes, stay overnight, talk with as many students and faculty as possible. Don’t make your decision based on what any one person tells you what the “conventional wisdom” is. Because 8 times out of 10 it isn’t totally accurate. Especially if they are biased like some of the above posters.</p>
<p>Good luck with your choice.</p>