Social Scene at Princeton v. Yale, Penn

ilovebagels
Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:30:33 +0000

I went to Penn and visited my brother at Princeton on occasion. The two experiences are very, very different. Princeton is smaller, which means more intimate (potential yay) and more hierarchical (boo).

Penn has more variety in that it has frat parties, big house parties, smaller apartment parties, and downtown Philadelphia both in bars/clubs that are rented out by Penn student groups for parties, bars/clubs and that are filled with non-Penn college students, and bars/clubs patronized by college grad yuppie types working in Philadelphia.

Another difference expressed through anecdotes: my friend visiting Princeton had a solo cup outside and got a citation from a Princeton police officer. Weeks later at Penn, we were walking outside with solo cups and offered a toast to the Penn police officers and nothing happened (of course this is more because Penn police have a very real crime to deal with, whereas the Princeton police don’t have much better to do).

But that was just my perspective and my own biased opinion (like any Quaker, I have a standing jihad declared against Princeton). Princeton is clearly a wonderful school that is loved by its students, as made clear by its alumni giving rate that is significantly higher than Penn’s.

If you can get into either school, you’re doing something right. If you are among the few to have the luxury of choosing between offers of admission between both of them, then visit them both.

I never spent much time at Yale but I hear George W. Bush had a great time there.