Son Admitted to Princeton From Waitlist. Need Help Deciding

[Anonymous]

My son was admitted into Princeton off the waitlist. He was all set to attend Duke and had already started making friends in the Class of 2030 social media page. However, he was shockingly admitted off the Princeton waitlist and now has no clue where to go. He fell in love with Duke but Princeton feels like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Princeton would be about $8k/year cheaper for our family. It's not a massive financial difference, but it seems silly to pay more for a less prestigious college. He wants to study either biomedical engineering or physics.

Does anyone here have a recommendation?

[Anonymous]

No brainer. Princeton and it is cheaper.

[Anonymous]

yes he goes to princeton

[Anonymous]

Congrats to your son on both acceptances. Duke has a better biomedical engineering program than Princeton. To me, it’s odd that you think that Princeton is more prestigious, given the field of interest. The culture of the two places is very different. If your son likes Duke, he should go there. Regarding the financial, call Duke and they may match the offer. (My kid has a couple of friends who did that with success this year).

[Anonymous]

For physics, the choice is obvious: Princeton.

[Anonymous]

He hasn't acceptably made friends at Duke -- the interactions he's had are superficial at best. They won't matter a week into school. So he should choose whichever he would have chosen had he been accepted to both at the regular time. Which one did he like better when he started the application process?

[Anonymous]

Duke and Princeton have very different campus vibes, and in terms of prestige post college on resumes and grad school applications , they’re near identical. As in- neither school will close doors and both schools will open doors that might have otherwise been closed, because of the cache associated with the school name. Princeton slightly higher of course in regards to the second point, but not so much higher that he should go there instead of Duke if Duke is a better fit for his personality, area of the country he wants to live in, and field of study. Truly. And congrats to your kid for having such great schools to choose from!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He hasn't acceptably made friends at Duke -- the interactions he's had are superficial at best. They won't matter a week into school. So he should choose whichever he would have chosen had he been accepted to both at the regular time. Which one did he like better when he started the application process?

I posted above and this is also true. The friends he made on social media prior to matriculating are meaningless. When I went to college, there was a group email where we exchanged AIM names and chatted all summer , for the 100ish kids in my dorm. When we got to school it mattered for about an hour, and then we realized which kids were actually good fits for us in terms of friendships!

[Anonymous]

Princeton, especially with those majors. Unusual for an Ivy, but Princeton is very solid in STEM, even engineering. So you're not missing out on the education for the pedigree.

[Anonymous]

If he would like to live in NYC or Philly he should definitely go to Princeton just for the ease of recruiting. Also it’s easier to get there from DC and has a great alumni base.

[Anonymous]

I would go to Princeton hands down and I'm not a prestige whore. I have a current freshman and their best friend is at Princeton and is super happy-probably the happiest of all my child's 20+ college freshman friends. Duke is fine but always sort of douchey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No brainer. Princeton and it is cheaper.

This

[Anonymous]

Pick the Ivy. More impressive.

[Anonymous]

This is a no-brainer. Princeton is more prestigious and cheaper. The only thing Duke has over Princeton are the basketball games and warmer weather.

[Anonymous]

I have a personal bias against Duke, so would choose Princeton, even if it was more expensive. But that's just me. Other people love Duke.