Psych: Princeton or Stanford

midatlmom
Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:42:05 +0000

Stanford has a wonderful psychology department, probably better than Princeton’s (although Princeton is no slouch in this area). However, Princeton is known for the excellence of its creative writing department, which is currently headed by Chang-rae Lee, the author of a wonderful book named Aloft. Princeton has had numerous amazing authors in residence, including Edward Albee, and is about to hold a Princeton Poetry Festival (a pet project of Professor Muldoon). Princeton is in the process of building an arts neighborhood on campus and has a vibrant arts program.

As to religion, Princeton has an excellent department (including Jeff Stout, who is a terrific professor) as well as the Center for the Study of Religion which encourages interdisciplinary study of religion and hosts a number of seminars, symposia etc. In addition, Princeton has a strong and provocative faculty in the area of ethics, including Cornel West, Robert George and Peter Singer.

Princeton affords a wonderful academic experience, as does Stanford. I agree that your best bet is to visit both and see which campus experience, people etc. you prefer.