Princeton or Yale depending on the child. Not Harvard. I have a chip on my shoulder about Harvard.

This is a silly and also very hypothetical question. Are we answering because we're bored, or for fun? Here's my answer:

DC refused to even tour, let alone apply, to any of HYP. But DC applied and got into Columbia (before somebody inevitably calls me "jealous", Columbia is harder to get into than Princeton by a few percentage points). DC loves Columbia. Which just goes to show (IMO) that three HYP schools can sometimes seem more similar than they are different, that none of them are necessarily a great match for every kid, and that there are a lot of great alternatives out there.

Another who went to Harvard but would now pick Yale. To the pp who asked are residential colleges at Harvard the same? Same concept but
Not much thought put into making the into a community.yales more thoughtful re undergrads. Princeton - too preppy for me

From a description of the Princeton class of 2019:

Of the students offered admission, 48 percent are women and 52 percent are men; 49 percent have self-identified as people of color, including biracial and multiracial students. Sixty-one percent of the admitted students come from public schools, and 15 percent will be the first in their families to attend college. Sons or daughters of Princeton alumni account for 10 percent of the admitted students. Of those offered admission, 23 percent indicated they want to study engineering, and a record 44 percent of those students are women.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. I think it has a better undergraduate experience than Harvard and a better social environment than Princeton. I like the residential college system at Yale for building cohesion among the study body.The eating club scene at Princeton, even with sign in clubs, leaves something to be desired. Having said this, I think Princeton has a lot to offer.

I basically agree with this, but one irony is that, in the DC area, Princeton has the reputation of accepting more students from local public schools, particularly TJ, whereas it is extremely difficult to get into Yale unless you either went to a private like St. Albans or Sidwell, or are a legacy.

Churchill gets many kids into Princeton, maybe one or two kids into Yale, and hasn't had anyone get into Harvard for years. Maybe Princeton finds the image of its own student body in Potomac more than Harvard or Yale?

My guess would be that, when HYP opened their doors to more students from public schools, Princeton naturally looked a bit further south than Harvard and Yale, whereas the latter initially accepted more public school students from New England. I would also hazard to guess that more public school students from this area apply to Princeton.

I don't think so. I think Princeton has made a concerted effort to admit more public school students and fewer private schools students overall in recent years. They still admit plenty from private school though.
If the geographic factor was significant (I don't believe it is), it would still be outweighed by Princeton's small size compared to Harvard and Yale.

Why do you think that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. I think it has a better undergraduate experience than Harvard and a better social environment than Princeton. I like the residential college system at Yale for building cohesion among the study body.The eating club scene at Princeton, even with sign in clubs, leaves something to be desired. Having said this, I think Princeton has a lot to offer.

I basically agree with this, but one irony is that, in the DC area, Princeton has the reputation of accepting more students from local public schools, particularly TJ, whereas it is extremely difficult to get into Yale unless you either went to a private like St. Albans or Sidwell, or are a legacy.

Churchill gets many kids into Princeton, maybe one or two kids into Yale, and hasn't had anyone get into Harvard for years. Maybe Princeton finds the image of its own student body in Potomac more than Harvard or Yale?

My guess would be that, when HYP opened their doors to more students from public schools, Princeton naturally looked a bit further south than Harvard and Yale, whereas the latter initially accepted more public school students from New England. I would also hazard to guess that more public school students from this area apply to Princeton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. I think it has a better undergraduate experience than Harvard and a better social environment than Princeton. I like the residential college system at Yale for building cohesion among the study body.The eating club scene at Princeton, even with sign in clubs, leaves something to be desired. Having said this, I think Princeton has a lot to offer.

I basically agree with this, but one irony is that, in the DC area, Princeton has the reputation of accepting more students from local public schools, particularly TJ, whereas it is extremely difficult to get into Yale unless you either went to a private like St. Albans or Sidwell, or are a legacy.

Churchill gets many kids into Princeton, maybe one or two kids into Yale, and hasn't had anyone get into Harvard for years. Maybe Princeton finds the image of its own student body in Potomac more than Harvard or Yale?

Anonymous wrote:Princeton undergrad, Harvard grad

hi ted. stop being a bigot

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. I think it has a better undergraduate experience than Harvard and a better social environment than Princeton. I like the residential college system at Yale for building cohesion among the study body.The eating club scene at Princeton, even with sign in clubs, leaves something to be desired. Having said this, I think Princeton has a lot to offer.

I basically agree with this, but one irony is that, in the DC area, Princeton has the reputation of accepting more students from local public schools, particularly TJ, whereas it is extremely difficult to get into Yale unless you either went to a private like St. Albans or Sidwell, or are a legacy.

I've heard this too, that Princeton has strong relationships with leading public high schools in the area, but is less warm to local privates than Harvard and Yale.

Princeton undergrad, Harvard grad

It's great that Princeton has gotten rid of its grade deflation policy. Now if only they could join Yale (and Harvard, I think?) and have exams BEFORE winter break. I had four Christmases ruined by Princeton (and then 3 later ones ruined by a similar law school policy). DD decided to go to Yale!

I didn't think being a legacy really mattered at any of these schools anymore, unless you were the kind of legacy who gifted buildings to the school.

I mean, it might matter in that legacies might be getting good jobs and have the $ to send their kids to good schools, but I didn't think admissions offices moved mountains to accept legacy kids over non-legacies anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. I think it has a better undergraduate experience than Harvard and a better social environment than Princeton. I like the residential college system at Yale for building cohesion among the study body.The eating club scene at Princeton, even with sign in clubs, leaves something to be desired. Having said this, I think Princeton has a lot to offer.

I basically agree with this, but one irony is that, in the DC area, Princeton has the reputation of accepting more students from local public schools, particularly TJ, whereas it is extremely difficult to get into Yale unless you either went to a private like St. Albans or Sidwell, or are a legacy.

I wonder how many asian students interested in stem in this area have yale as their top choice. That could skew things.

Anonymous wrote:Yale. I think it has a better undergraduate experience than Harvard and a better social environment than Princeton. I like the residential college system at Yale for building cohesion among the study body.The eating club scene at Princeton, even with sign in clubs, leaves something to be desired. Having said this, I think Princeton has a lot to offer.

I basically agree with this, but one irony is that, in the DC area, Princeton has the reputation of accepting more students from local public schools, particularly TJ, whereas it is extremely difficult to get into Yale unless you either went to a private like St. Albans or Sidwell, or are a legacy.