<p>Does it make any sense to be applying to both these schools? They don’t seem to have much in common, only strong academics. In fact they seem like opposites, Stanford has tons of race/class interaction supposedly while Princeton has eating clubs…</p>
<p>They both have an ‘o’ and ‘t’ in their names. And an ‘n’.</p>
<p>Actually, there are some similarities, although the two universities are very distinctly different. They were the two schools i was choosing between (even though I had already enrolled in Stanford at the time).</p>
<p>do you have specific topics you want to know the similarities and dissimilarities about?</p>
<p>^ Yes, student life, sports, partying, race class interaction, the campus (yes i know only stanford has palm trees), and the area outside of campus (which I heard are pretty similar but what’s different?)</p>
<p>THANK YOU</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert of either institution, but these are my observations:</p>
<p>Student Life
Princeton life is much more academics-centered. At Stanford, there is a more balanced approach to academics and ECs. for example, during hell week at Princeton: everyone is locked in their rooms just studying for finals, not a person outside. During hell week at Stanford, people are outside laying in the grass studying together or goin to Jamba Juice. (I went to both during their spring hell weeks, Stanford in june 09, Princeton in may 2010). princeton is more artsy and i would call it more liberal-arts-ish than stanford. at the same time, though, stanford students seem to delve into random interest topics a lot. </p>
<p>Sports: Stanford is definitely way more sports culture. It may not have the best mens’ basketball and football team, but other sports are also popular. at princeton, from the people I talked to, sports just are not anywhere near being a big attraction. also, stanford has a larger recruitment program and offers athletic scholarships, whereas princeton, and the whole ivy league, do not offer athletic scholarships.</p>
<p>Partying: Stanford seems closer to the average state college in terms of partying style. From students I know, hard liquor is really popular at Princeton, as well as getting high from almost anything. Non-substance parts of partying, I’m not really sure. Stanford has the national frats and sororities that offer parties. princeton eating clubs have parties and some can be more exclusive than frat parties at other colleges.</p>
<p>Race/Class Interaction: High at both. There is just the stigma of high-class people at Princeton, but it doesn’t seem true with most people. There are some groups of students at Princeton that follow the stigma. Some are children of wealthy families, others are children of Princeton faculty, others are just the New England boarding school type people. The same people are present at Stanford in smaller numbers, but it is not a real interference at either school from what I could see. Very small percentage of students. </p>
<p>Campus: There are 3 different styles of campus appeal, in my opinion. Colonial-style: Princeton is reputed as the most beautiful campus by people who prefer colonial style architecture in a college campus (compared to other ivy league schools, UVA, Duke, Wash U in St. Louis, etc.) Urban style: basically just a campus in the city. Western-style: I think Stanford is the most beautiful campus in this area. Personally, I love California/Baja architecture, so I prefer Stanford, but its really just your taste. Both are amazing campuses, just depends on your style.</p>
<p>Area Outside Campus
Both are wealthy suburbs. Palo Alto/Mountain View area: wealthy towns with professionals from Silicon Valley, LOTS of indians and asians who immigrated to work for the tech companies (i am from an indian culture background, and i personally dont like having so many indians around, but thats just me). There is some stuff to do but it’s definitely not city-type college town. Not lots of clubs or things like that. Lots of coffee shops/cafe-type places, many high end restaurants. You can go to San Francisco if you want, but I hear students don’t go very often.
Princeton: I live in New Jersey, and I think Princeton is an incredibly boring town after about 2 days. It is a similar type town with high end restaurants, coffee shops, little boutique shops, stuff like that. Princeton is a very affluent town with lots of professionals, and their kids who go to Princeton High School. ehh i don’t like the town as much as Palo Alto. And in winter, the town of Princeton is just miserable, but I just know it as a local resident (about 30 mins away) and not as a college student.</p>
<p>Personally, when I made my decision, I just felt like I belonged at Stanford more because of the balanced culture, the structure of the academic programs, the different academic focuses from Princeton, and the general atmosphere.</p>
<p>I know several people from NJ who just wanted to get out and away from the Princeton culture (people who lived there and in surrounding affluent towns). For alumni and their kids, it’s a typical wealthy country club style life. Several of those kids are coming to Stanford because they wanted to get away from that.</p>
<p>Thank you very much I think I will be applying to Princeton from this. Of course I would definetley prefer Stanford, but Princeton doesn’t seem way too far off. Thanks</p>