<p>Thanks @dyiu13! That’s good advice at any stage in my journey as a writer. Yet the college search stage seems to have come to a rather wonderful close.</p>
<p>I agree, Momrath, that liberal arts colleges provide the superior undergraduate experience for most students. Even after Penn’s heavy recruitment pitches led me to love the opportunities of a university, I still felt like a small college would be the better choice. In fact, what I liked most about Penn was the Kelly Writer House, whose atmosphere brought to Penn what I felt universities were lacking. But it still was not the same. I do believe that Williams, Swarthmore, or Pomona one would have had a very real shot of wooing me away from Penn.</p>
<p>But Princeton’s different. Their enrollment is tiny for an Ivy, and they have twice as many undergraduates as graduate students. Their commitment to their undergrads is so great that we will have library preference over grad students–not something you’ll find at Penn or any other Ivy. Plus, Princeton has the highest per-student endowment of any school in America, so they have so many resources to funnel us. I feel unworthy when I think about it. I have no doubt that Princeton has an awesome grad school, but really, it’s an even better place for undergraduates. For all the same reasons that I believe liberal arts colleges offer a better education than universities, I believe that Princeton is the perfect place for me. It has the best of both worlds.</p>