princeton vs yale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog in the fight, but orange is a hideous color.

Speaking of dogs, bulldogs drool a lot and require c-sections to give birth, so there's that.

How old are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Pton and my sibling went to Yale. My parents enjoyed visiting P’ton much more and and things like move-in, graduation and family weekends were better organized and more pleasant at P’ton, but we both had great experiences overall. At the time, Yale seemed to have a notably larger LGBT student population than Pton’s, with more visibility, and obviously a more urban setting. There was a serious New Haven crime incident early on my sibling’s freshman year that did not directly affect them but was upsetting (involved friend and dorm mate).

That's weird. What about graduation and move in was better at Princeton? I went to Yale and thought move in and graduation were very well done.

I’m not saying it’s a reason to pick a school, just saying that my parents, experiencing both at the same time, very much preferred that stuff at Princeton and found it somehow easier to navigate and more fun. It’s hard for me to compare academic experiences. Both were good but we studied different areas.

Not sure how this is remotely relevant, who cares what drop off was like two decades ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Pton and my sibling went to Yale. My parents enjoyed visiting P’ton much more and and things like move-in, graduation and family weekends were better organized and more pleasant at P’ton, but we both had great experiences overall. At the time, Yale seemed to have a notably larger LGBT student population than Pton’s, with more visibility, and obviously a more urban setting. There was a serious New Haven crime incident early on my sibling’s freshman year that did not directly affect them but was upsetting (involved friend and dorm mate).

That's weird. What about graduation and move in was better at Princeton? I went to Yale and thought move in and graduation were very well done.

I’m not saying it’s a reason to pick a school, just saying that my parents, experiencing both at the same time, very much preferred that stuff at Princeton and found it somehow easier to navigate and more fun. It’s hard for me to compare academic experiences. Both were good but we studied different areas.

Not sure how this is remotely relevant, who cares what drop off was like two decades ago.

Having done Yale drop off in the middle of a hurricane, I can pretty easily imagine how Princeton may have been a little bit easier to navigate! Tons of people and traffic does make for a rather chaotic experience and I can imagine the suburban setting of Princeton to be a little bit less crazy. Agree I don’t think that’s a reason to pick a school or rule one out but it’s not a surprise to me that parents may have found a calmer environment in the Princeton drop off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know the answers, but I also don’t believe the people saying they’re Yale alumna who wish they went to Princeton instead. I’ve never met those people irl. People who went to both, love them.

I think Yale is a happier place right now, but that’s so kid specific

I do, especially if it's the Yale alum who has a Princeton spouse and has seen first-hand how the Princeton reunions compare with the Yale reunions. They've posted on prior threads.

What? Yalies have a great time and rave about reunions.

Most people know that the Princeton reunions are in a league of their own. There's one Yale graduate who has a Princeton partner who has pointed that out in a number of different threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Pton and my sibling went to Yale. My parents enjoyed visiting P’ton much more and and things like move-in, graduation and family weekends were better organized and more pleasant at P’ton, but we both had great experiences overall. At the time, Yale seemed to have a notably larger LGBT student population than Pton’s, with more visibility, and obviously a more urban setting. There was a serious New Haven crime incident early on my sibling’s freshman year that did not directly affect them but was upsetting (involved friend and dorm mate).

That's weird. What about graduation and move in was better at Princeton? I went to Yale and thought move in and graduation were very well done.

I’m not saying it’s a reason to pick a school, just saying that my parents, experiencing both at the same time, very much preferred that stuff at Princeton and found it somehow easier to navigate and more fun. It’s hard for me to compare academic experiences. Both were good but we studied different areas.

Not sure how this is remotely relevant, who cares what drop off was like two decades ago.

Why are you so hostile, when this ought to be a pleasant enough thread for an OP whose kid has two great choices?

[Anonymous]

I've known quite a few Yale and Princeton graduates and, while this is anecdotal, more of the Yale graduates have struggled as adults than the Princeton graduates. One high school friend who attended Yale was a journalist who committed suicide (leaving behind two teenagers); another family friend has struggled to hold down any job for more than a year or two; and a work colleague ends up in constant hot water with HR due to their volatile behavior. I also know some Yale graduates who've been quite successful, including a friend who is a tenured professor at a top university and a Hollywood producer who is probably one of the most active LBGTQ activists in the country. In comparison, the Princeton people I know have almost uniformly been successful, even when they weren't lighting the world on fire, and steadier overall.

If I had to hypothesize, I'd say Princeton does a better job of preparing young adults for the real world. Princeton is often referred to as a "bubble" because of its suburban location, but I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do. It may make the undergraduate experience slightly less "fun," but then the real world is less of a rude awakening.

OP's kid has two great choices, but if I had to choose I'd go with Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've known quite a few Yale and Princeton graduates and, while this is anecdotal, more of the Yale graduates have struggled as adults than the Princeton graduates. One high school friend who attended Yale was a journalist who committed suicide (leaving behind two teenagers); another family friend has struggled to hold down any job for more than a year or two; and a work colleague ends up in constant hot water with HR due to their volatile behavior. I also know some Yale graduates who've been quite successful, including a friend who is a tenured professor at a top university and a Hollywood producer who is probably one of the most active LBGTQ activists in the country. In comparison, the Princeton people I know have almost uniformly been successful, even when they weren't lighting the world on fire, and steadier overall.

If I had to hypothesize, I'd say Princeton does a better job of preparing young adults for the real world. Princeton is often referred to as a "bubble" because of its suburban location, but I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do. It may make the undergraduate experience slightly less "fun," but then the real world is less of a rude awakening.

OP's kid has two great choices, but if I had to choose I'd go with Princeton.

This is hard to reconcile with the 8 suicides at Princeton over the past three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've known quite a few Yale and Princeton graduates and, while this is anecdotal, more of the Yale graduates have struggled as adults than the Princeton graduates. One high school friend who attended Yale was a journalist who committed suicide (leaving behind two teenagers); another family friend has struggled to hold down any job for more than a year or two; and a work colleague ends up in constant hot water with HR due to their volatile behavior. I also know some Yale graduates who've been quite successful, including a friend who is a tenured professor at a top university and a Hollywood producer who is probably one of the most active LBGTQ activists in the country. In comparison, the Princeton people I know have almost uniformly been successful, even when they weren't lighting the world on fire, and steadier overall.

If I had to hypothesize, I'd say Princeton does a better job of preparing young adults for the real world. Princeton is often referred to as a "bubble" because of its suburban location, but I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do. It may make the undergraduate experience slightly less "fun," but then the real world is less of a rude awakening.

OP's kid has two great choices, but if I had to choose I'd go with Princeton.

This is hard to reconcile with the 8 suicides at Princeton over the past three years.

Yale has also had its share of students (and graduates) with mental health issues, as illustrated by the NYT article another poster linked to. Some of this appears to be generational.

FYI, there have been 8 deaths of Princeton students (not all undergraduates) over the past 3 years or so - a time period during which over roughly 10,000 students attended the school. All of the deaths were tragic, but not all were suicides.

[Anonymous]

I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do

Yeah I’d go so far as to say that they see teaching students that they are *not special* as a core part of a Princeton’s education.

They see knocking students off their horse as a key part of helping them mature. For some kids this helps them become stronger more mature adults. For others it really messes with their mental health. Varies by kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do

Yeah I’d go so far as to say that they see teaching students that they are *not special* as a core part of a Princeton’s education.

They see knocking students off their horse as a key part of helping them mature. For some kids this helps them become stronger more mature adults. For others it really messes with their mental health. Varies by kid.

The converse is true is well. If you constantly stroke the egos of young adults for four years, it may build their self-esteem but also set them up for later disappointment when the rest of the world doesn't give them the same constant positive reinforcement.

Obviously, there's a middle ground to be found, but if a 19-year-old's world falls apart because they got a B+ in a college course, that's not necessarily an argument that they would have been much better served attending a school that only gives out As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do

Yeah I’d go so far as to say that they see teaching students that they are *not special* as a core part of a Princeton’s education.

They see knocking students off their horse as a key part of helping them mature. For some kids this helps them become stronger more mature adults. For others it really messes with their mental health. Varies by kid.

My sources say they were, but sure, some families objected to having them described as such.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think they constantly go out of their way to reinforce a sense among students that they are the "best" the way that Harvard and Yale do

Yeah I’d go so far as to say that they see teaching students that they are *not special* as a core part of a Princeton’s education.

They see knocking students off their horse as a key part of helping them mature. For some kids this helps them become stronger more mature adults. For others it really messes with their mental health. Varies by kid.

My sources say they were, but sure, some families objected to having them described as such.

Do you always sound so pretentious?

[Anonymous]

Know both schools.

STEM at Yale won’t be the same experience, though grading may be easier than STEM at Princeton. Outside of STEM, Princeton may be better for kids who love learning and won’t be gutted by less than perfect grades. Some graduates truly rave about their academic experience there.

Socially the Yale community is generally warmer, but plenty of kids at Princeton navigate it well and end up truly passionate about that place as well. Princeton may be better for kids who feel settled and confident about who they are socially.

I know one kid who didn’t feel confident socially in high school, chose Yale because community was the priority and is thriving. Another kid who was happy socially in high school preferred Princeton for its academics.

Sounds like you are leaning Princeton. You really can’t go wrong. Here’s to the great ‘28!

[Anonymous]

What great choices! Yale and Princeton are my favorite ivies. I’ve been to both and they are marvelous places to spend 4 years. I’ve been continuously impressed with the graduates coming out of both places.

[Anonymous]

I had to choose between Yale and Princeton 30 years ago and chose Yale and never regretted it. Absolutely loved Yale.