<p>My DS has a likely letter from Princeton and an acceptance from Stanford. He is a recruited athlete. He is interested in International business, speaks Mandarin and can’t decide between the two schools. He is interested in Stanford’s coterming program with a Masters available in one year. He also likes Princeton’s proximity to home and emphasis on undergraduate education. He really loves both schools and could be happy at either. With an eye toward post graduation employment, can one school help him more?
Thanks for all your CC help and opinions.
<p>What an embarrassment of riches! He can’t go wrong either way. The differences are miniscule and come down completely to personal preference / fit at this level. Congrats to your son!</p>
<p>6 of one, half dozen of another. At the undergrad level, each school is well regarded. Stanford MBA’s program is higher ranked, so if the coterming program applies to MBA, that may be the way to go. However, Stanford’s MBA program is best known for entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Is he getting scholarships, grants, aid, etc…? If not, what type of debt is he looking at? It definitely nice, especially to the ego, to get accepted to both schools. They are both fine schools. But I’d be looking at which one might put him further in the hole.</p>
<p>I think an argument can be made that your undergrad years are a great time to explore a different part of the country. But I agree with the other posters that he’s got two great choices. How much time has he spent at either campus? There are differences after all. Stanford has a population dominated by one state, though Princeton may have an equal proportion of a California sized swatch of the east coast. The dorm/eating arrangements are different at both campuses as well.</p>
<p>Either school will offer exceptional post grad opportunities. With Princeton’s undergrad focus, it’s hard to beat. Excellent IR too. I also think there is less emphasis on sports which may mean a more balanced college experience.</p>
<p>That said, would strongly consider the one that represents the biggest culture shift and would put him in a new part of the Country.</p>
<p>Really, whichever college he chooses for whatever reason (even a trivial one like the weather) will offer an excellent undergrad experience and open the door to wonderful postgraduate options. He’ll also be exposed to a world that will broaden his perspective on himself and life in general.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to leave the ball in his court, allowing him to talk over with you his thoughts about which to choose. So that he can get the full benefit of making his decision, remain neutral while asking him questions, reflecting his thoughts, and helping him get all the info he needs to make his decision. That could mean encouraging him to contact students, profs or alum (admissions can help him with this) or visiting the colleges.</p>
<p>This probably is his first opportunity to make a major decision, so by supporting his taking on this responsibility, you’ll be helping him learn how to make future decisions where there will be far more at risk than choosing between two excellent colleges.</p>
<p>As an athlete, he would probably be better off at Stanford. Stanford, being a Div. 1 scholarship school, treats its athletes like royalty. In the Ivies, athletes are treated like and integrated with every other student (this can be both good and bad), despite the NCAA practice and competition demands required of them. Also, many Ivy non-athletes tend to look down upon athletes, who are (usually erroneously) assumed to be there only because of their sport.</p>
<p>" Also, many Ivy non-athletes tend to look down upon athletes, who are (usually erroneously) assumed to be there only because of their sport."</p>
<p>This is very true. I say this as a Harvard grad. After graduating and being exposed to the wider world, I was surprised to learn that on most campuses, athletes are revered. As was the case with many on Harvard’s campus, I narrowmindedly and incorrectly regarded campus athletes as being “dumb jocks.”</p>
<p>Of course, many such athletes probably benefited from not being revered, and feeling they had to prove their worth by demonstrating their brains.</p>
<p>I would need more information about the sport (like which one and is there scholarship money from Stanford involved) to make a recommendation. Some sports at Stanford could consume your son’s entire life. This is less true at Princeton, although it is still a huge commitment.</p>
<p>Stanford. But then I’m from California and worked within stone’s throw of Stanford for some time. I don’t think he’d go wrong with either pick, it’s more up to a) explore a new culture, area, life or b) have the comfort of home and an understanding of your peers.</p>
<p>Are female athletes “revered” at Stanford too, or just men playing the cash sports? D is an athlete and also interested in the Ivies and Stanford, and so I was wondering which would offer her the better college experience as an athlete. On the Harvard forum, I had seen posts that confirmed what Northstarmom says: that at Harvard athletes are looked down upon, including by professors. I haven’t seen that said for other Ivies, but can imagine it might be similar at Yale and Princeton. Dartmouth, however, seems to value athletes a little more, partly because they compose a greater percentage of the student body.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say athletes are “revered” at Stanford. My kid had a friend who went to Stanford a few years back . He had a <em>star</em> athlete in one of his classes. He thought the athlete wasn’t up to the normal standard for admission to Stanford and that the prof, who normally ripped apart people who said dumb things in class, gave the athlete a “pass.” </p>
<p>My impression–and I have no personal contact with Stanford, so it may be erroneous–is that athletes at Stanford are treated like those in “I Am Chalotte Simmons.” They are a “big deal” on campus, but they aren’t really there to get an education.</p>
<p>I’d suggest that he really evaluate what it means to be an athlete at Stanford, which is something that (I guess) would vary a lot by sport. I know two fabulous students that both attended Stanford as recruited swimmers, and I can definitively say that Stanford’s swim program is both incredible and incredibly time consuming. Neither quite made it to the Olympics, but both have been outstanding students and highly competitive athletes. But the time required for serious swimming and training seriously limited much other involvement at college. I don’t think that it will compromise any of their future opportunities – being a Stanford swimmer brings some opportunities of its own – but it was limiting. Your mileage may certainly vary with other sports at Stanford, and I can’t speak to that.</p>
<p>No idea about what it means to be an athlete at Princeton.</p>
<p>I think most athletes at Penn are respected. It is hard to generalize when you talk about “athletes” and we’ve been over this a thousand times on this forum. A recruited swimmer or runner is likely to have stats well within the range for admission of a non-athlete. Same at Stanford. The top female runner in my state is an outstanding student and National Merit Finalist and is going to attend Stanford as a recruit. That’s why I would want to know the sport of the OP’s child.</p>
<p>I’m not sure you could be more wrong about this. Why on earth would an athlete who doesn’t care about getting an education choose Stanford, one of the top (and probably toughest) academic universities in the world? S/he would be much better off at a lower-tier school that is better in sports.</p>
<p>Every athlete I have known who chose Stanford (and I have known at least 10 of them in the last 3 years), was a top student (4.0 or higher) in high school. They are true scholar-athletes.</p>
<p>The Ivies are also Div. 1, and have sent kids to the Olympics in various sports. So I’m sure a significant time commitment is required. But, since the Ivies don’t give scholarships, the word on the street is that they don’t “own” you like scholarship schools do. Our problem is we’ve heard a lot of such second-hand “words on the street” and don’t know what is true and what isn’t.</p>