<p>No, no I have not. To clarify: I have attended Yale. hence, my personal experience has validated that Yale is very undergraduate focused. </p>
<p>On this board and in several other places, Yale has been recognized as having a strong undergraduate program compared to other ivy league schools. What I seemingly didn’t make clear was that I have not attended the other 7 schools that make up the ivy league, and that my experience validates simply my statement concerning Yale’s focus on undergraduates. The comparison I made was based on what I have heard and read (I guess I spelled ‘heard’ wrong, sorry). Sorry for any confusion…I hope this clears it up.</p>
<p>Yale has a strong undergraduate focus, as well. Princeton just advertises its undergraduate focus more to ward off the critics who point fingers at Princeton’s lack of professional schools.</p>
<p>The Yale College brochure states, “The most important component of academics at Yale is the faculty’s commitment to undergraduate teaching, dedication for which Yale is justifiably well known. … Yale asks its faculty to put a great amount of energy into teaching in the College. … Many of Yale’s most distinguished senior professors teach introductory courses yaddayadda Jonathan Spence yaddayadda Joan Steitz, etc.” The fact that Yale bothered to write a pretty lengthy section (I only quoted a tiny bit) on undergraduate focus shows that Yale does have undergraduates in mind.</p>
<p>Finally, I wanted to share a post that was made by a current Yale student on Yale’s Class of 2010 admitted students site:</p>
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<p>If you’re an admitted student to the Class of 2010, you can find this post and others like it in the thread “TEACHERS!!!”</p>
<p>If you talk to the students at each one, instead of unsubstantiated rumor, I think you’ll find they all treat their undergrads well. My D is at H and has had amazing profs with great access. This inspite of the continual rumor mongering that H doesn’t have an undergrad focus. All BS.</p>
<p>The philosophy at schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, is that the world is a big place with many amazing schools, and you won’t be a well-rounded student if you stay in one place for the entirety of your education, surrounded by the same people and the same old ideas. This is what HYP calls “inbreeding.” HYP encourages students to attend another school for graduate studies so that the students are exposed to different points of views and different approaches to problems.</p>
Donald Rumsfeld and Bill Frist went to Princeton. So did Aaron Burr…and he killed a man. That can’t be good.</p>
<p>Go to Yale.</p>
<p>I like this game. But here’s an alternative: Advice based on factors that may make one of these two tremendous schools better or worse for one type of person. Then, perhaps, someone can walk away with advice that can help them make the best decision for their future. Any student faced with the decision of choosing between Princeton and Yale is most likely of very high intelligence. Bashing schools based of their alumni (or at all, really) does not seem to be a productive way of aiding these people, and will probably not hold much sway in persuading them either.</p>
<p>How do the economics departments of the two schools compare? And I’m talking about realistic differences as an undergrad. I’m thinking about fulfilling the premed course requirements but majoring in economics/finance because I really like that stuff. Yale offers a program that allows one to be granted a BA and MA in economics by the end of the four years. Princeton offers a certificate in finance. But these things might interfere with being a premed…I just don’t know, simply pondering possible scenarios to help me choose. </p>
<p>The fact is though, I visited both, and my instincts told me that Yale is the place for me in terms of virtually everything but academic details, which Princeton does seem to cover nicely.</p>
<p>I doubt there will be significant, if any, academic difference between the two schools. Pton does tend to be more Ugrad focused, but they’re both amazing schools and you can’t go wrong with either. Go where you feel more comfortable, the BA/MA program sounds awesome too.
It’d be a good thing to do if you want to go and work for a few years before going to med school or grad school.</p>
<p>to be honest, both schools’ economics departments are plenty good for undergraduate study. considered comprehensively, princeton’s may be slightly stronger than yale’s, but any such hairsplitting distinction should not really be the basis for your decision between the two. and i say this to you as a princeton partisan, who would be happy to see you choose old nassau.</p>
<p>What Scottie said. I went to Yale (years ago – but it sure seems the same when I talk to current students). I know tons of people, including close friends, who went to Princeton. All of my Yale friends, and all of my Princeton friends, love their alma mater to death. All of them had great undergraduate experiences; all of them had plenty of contact with famous profs (and great, unfamous profs who later became famous, and unbelievable grad students who are now famous profs). Both schools historically have great economics departments. Princeton’s rates slightly higher, but I haven’t seen the rating with Bernanke gone to Washington. That’s really a push. </p>
<p>I seriously doubt you’re going to do pre-med and BA/MA in economics either place. You could definitely do pre-med with a BA Economics program, or (at Yale, at least) BS/MS in one of the science majors.</p>
<p>One area of difference that no one has discussed – I think the Yale residential college system works really well, and enhances the undergraduate experience a lot, by ensuring that you have lots of friends that you DON’T share common interests with. People at Princeton really love their eating clubs, and I don’t think the ECs are really like frats, but they are definitely further along the fratty scale than I would have enjoyed, and at Princeton the social deck is clearly cut and redealt somewhat after the second year. </p>
<p>I would note, though, that Princeton alumni tend to be very involved on an ongoing basis, much more so than Yalies. So Princeton clearly does a lot right.</p>
<p>New Haven is fine. Princeton is beyond gorgeous, especially in the spring.</p>