Princeton or Yale

uheaven
Fri, 04 Apr 2014 22:18:01 +0000

@midatlmom‌ That’s an excellent point you make about grade deflation. Naturally, engineering is a tough discipline everywhere but I hope the deflation would sort of even out the field.

Your campus question really puts everything in perspective. At the summer program, we had certain boundaries which basically meant that we were restricted mainly to the Yale campus and the few streets that immediately bordered it (which didn’t have much besides a few restaurants, a Starbucks and a bookstore). So yes, I think it was solely the campus beauty that was attractive since that’s pretty much where we lived. And if Princeton is supposed to be even prettier then I don’t think I should have too many qualms. Also–how easy is the trip to NYC? I mean I’ve heard it takes about 90 minutes but is there a direct train/bus service or something? Do Princetonians usually go there for Broadway plays or weekends etc?

I think @aparentoftwo has the ‘most recognized list’ right. The ‘HYP’ of the US is shortened to ‘HY’ here for some reason. These are usually the schools that people mention when talking about prestige. I think it has something to do with the fact that many famous leaders have studied there in the past (even if we talk about Pakistan–Benazir studied at Harvard, Imran Khan at Oxford and Rehmat Ali at Cambridge).

But then again, this is all about something a friend calls ‘cocktail party points’. I’d imagine employers all around the world would be more interested in how well these schools rank (more so with engineering since Yale’s ranking is a far cry from Princeton’s) than how many times they’ve heard the name.

The alumni loyalty is definitely one thing about Princeton that’s stood out the most. From the wonderful interview I had to the giving rates, it definitely seems like P’ton alums absolutely love the school–and that’s very good to hear.