Princeton too isolated and subarban-y?

midatlmom
Mon, 14 Sep 2015 19:23:32 +0000

I have had children attend both schools. The one at Penn was unhappy for the first year or so, because of the fact that social life seemed to revolve around the Greek system, something my child wasn’t interested in. Things got increasingly better in junior and senior year, mainly I think because my child explored Philly much more during that period.

My two children at Princeton had bouts of both happiness and unhappiness, which related much more to personal issues than the school itself. However, I would say that there was never a lack of things to do and places to go in Princeton and both of them absolutely have loved the University and the opportunities it offers. My daughter who graduated Princeton goes back regularly for Reunions and to see friends and feels incredibly connected to the school, whereas my child who graduated Penn went back once and said it was lame.

I guess I feel that social happiness is a bit of a wild card - it depends on your roommates, your room, whether you join a frat or an eating club you’re happy with etc. What I will say is that as a parent, there was no question that Princeton academically provided a much better experience. Penn introductory classes seemed to be incredibly hit or miss and the university didn’t seem to have leadership that really focused on academics in a thoughtful and consistent manner. The quality of teacher/student interaction was not as strong at Penn - at Princeton, it’s hard not to make personal connections with your professors - plus the advising was much worse at Penn.

The student body at Princeton is probably less pre-professional than at Penn. I also think that Wharton takes up a lot of oxygen at Penn - there are students who probably wanted to get into Wharton who didn’t and the success of Wharton definitely makes students more inclined to think about getting finance or business jobs.

As for the student body, there are entitled students at both universities, but I don’t think that Princeton students are particularly entitled. In fact, in the case of my children, I always felt that Penn students were a little more wealthy - there seemed to be so many kids who came from tremendously wealthy and successful families.