Stanford v Princeton - STEM

Boondocks
Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:21:05 +0000

Your daughter’s decision really shouldn’t be made on the supposed strength of the STEM programs. So many kids change their minds that choosing a school by the strength of a given department or field should be way down the list on her criteria (I started out with a chem major as a preference at Princeton, never took a chem course, graduated as a psych major, and can give you endless examples of people who did the same thing).

Both Stanford and Princeton have incredibly strong programs in all of the STEM majors, filled with internationally-prominent professors. The academic opportunities at both schools will be way more than she can take advantage of.

There are both Princeton people and Stanford people in Silicon Valley; there are probably more Stanford people there, but mostly because Stanford grads are more likely to want to be live there. A Princeton degree is certainly not going to put her behind a Stanford degree if she eventually winds up aiming for Silicon Valley (and the chances that your daughter wants to go to work in Silicon Valley four years from now are smaller than you think).

I’m sure I’ll get people spouting all kinds of statistics and evidence from both directions to prove that I’m wrong about this, but the two schools are really a tie academically. Her decision should be made on her feel for her fit at each school. New Jersey can be a long way for some California kids, and the weather is completely different. Other kids really benefit from experiencing a completely different region than where they spent their first 18 years. Princeton’s size and overall feel is different than Stanford’s.

She should choose based on location, size and overall atmosphere.