Princeton / Stanford

YanksDolphins
Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:17:01 +0000

I had the same choice (though for grad school in economics). Some thoughts about economics at the two places. At the undergrad level the two places are more or less equivalent. A big advantage for Stanford is that the business school is right across the street from the econ department so you essentially have twice the number of faculty members. A slight drawback (but likely less so at the undergrad level) is that Stanford is very strong in theory while they aren’t really known for their empirical group (Caroline Hoxby is a big name but she’s pretty much it). As for Princeton, no business school but that doesn’t really matter because you have BCF right next door and the ORFE department two minutes away. Princeton has a great theory group but also a very strong applied group. When you work on your JP and senior thesis you will be working with some of the most well-known economists in the world (and some pretty smart grad students will be helping you as well). In this regard I would pick Princeton (though you can’t go wrong). If you plan to go to grad school in econ/finance I would again pick Princeton (Princeton accepts 3-4 of their own each year and typically sends them to MIT, Harvard, and Stanford). If you want to work on Wall Street, again Princeton. If you want to work in Silicon Valley, Stanford may have an edge (neither of these are big edges but they exist).

On the culture/life front, other posters can tell you more.