Princeton / Stanford

Valdog
Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:37:52 +0000

Congratulations. What a wonderful dilemma you face. I agree re visiting. If you can at all swing it, do it. The campuses are very, very different - our child was able to eliminate one of these two schools over the other based on feel alone (with a view, ironically, that perhaps the optimal plan/hope would be to attend one for undergrad, the other for grad school).

Also agree with others re these outdated elitism, conservative, and diversity stereotypes. Both schools are diverse in every possible way. FWIW, I lived near Stanford for many years and, though I could be wrong, always felt it seemed pretty conservative, more so than Princeton and certainly, say, Cal or Harvard. Those actually on campus may have better feedback.

Finally, weather. Sounds like you have a sensible, flexible perspective. Bear in mind that Northern California weather, while certainly more moderate and arguably desirable than the the east coast’s come winter, is no sunny San Diego. You’ll see plenty of grey skies and rain in Palo Alto.

Best of luck with your decision!