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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I went to Harvard for undergrad and grad school, and taught there for many years. The location is great, and the opportunities are many, but undergrads are truly an afterthought in terms of the professors, they could care less about teaching, and they are hired for their research credentials/academic accomplishments and grant money they can bring in, not teaching.  I moved to DC, and my DD decided to go to Princeton over Harvard. I was a bit concerned based on the eating club/conservative reputation (of course based on my experiences in the 19070s!) but her choice was absolutely the right one, at least for her. She had a fabulous experience at Princeton, very undergrad focused, so had incredible opportunities with professors for research, money from Princeton thrown at her for various summer projects (largest endowment per student by far), beautiful and safe campus but a quick trip into NYC or Philly for weekend jaunts.  Eating club scene much more open and less preppy than the reputation, and paradoxically much less based on social/economic background than sororities or finals clubs or other social organizations at city schools, because parties/activities at Princeton cost nothing or close to nothing (unlike Penn/Columbia even Boston, where have and have-nots separated by who can afford to go out to dinner at fancy places or clubbing). Eating club costs covered by financial aid. [/quote]

I'm not sure how the eating clubs are currently perceived.  When I went to Princeton in the early 80s, there were three that were very preppy and composed primarily of wealthy private school graduates, one that was heavily Jewish, a couple that were similar to frats or sororities at a big state school, one that was for the artsy kids and stoners, and a bunch that had a broader cross-section of students.  Some have since closed and the reputations of the clubs change over time.  I was fine joining one, the other members were nice, and the food was definitely a step up from Commons (the main cafeteria), but it seemed like an archaic system compared to the residential colleges at Yale.  I think every generation of Princeton students makes its peace with the eating clubs, but as long as the university tolerates a system that requires students to declare their "social major," the school will have a reputation for exclusivity that to some extent is deserved.[/quote]

Any school that accepts 6 to 7 percent of applicants has a deserved reputation for "exclusivity."  There's just no getting around that.[/quote]

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