Harvard, Yale, or Princeton?

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

no, u gotta go to bristol,
come on, it's only a couple thousand miles!!

u can stay at my house, and go horseriding at weekends!! lol

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Oh come on now Ben, you have to go to harvard now, if only to piss off JD.

edit:lol

Sorry Ben and again I'm sure you'll make a great choice. It's like choosing between lobster, crab, and filet mignon. You really can't make a mistake on this one.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Oh come on now Ben, you have to go to harvard now, if only to piss off JD.

Actually - I don't care which college he goes to. I like Princeton the bestm but he should go to which ever one he thinks is best for what he wants to do with his life. I will however post why I think that Princeton is so great - because I think it is. it's also been rated the #1 college in America for 3 years in a row, while Harvard is only #2.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Cirdan
Your right BoP. It is rewarding to piss JD off.

I guess the lashing out about NJ is just to try getting to me.

edited out

[jerseydevil]

By the way Cirdan - I hate Filet Mignon.

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

i hate any form of dead animal
served up as food

[Ruinel]

Congradulations, Ben.

Your choice of university should be based primarily on the university's reputation in the field you wish to study.

For example, if you wish to study engineering some of the top universities include MIT and Texas A&M University.

The field you wish to study is poli-sci, so you should choose a school that offers the best program on that alone.

From what I know of universities in that field, all 3 of your top choices have a reputation for having the best poli-sci program (top 10 in the nation). You can't go wrong with choosing any of them.

However, you have to decide what is best for you in other matters, as well. You need to consider how you will get to class (your gas/car, bus, cycle); traffic in the area; what the school offers as far as student life; etc.

My first choice in universities, when I was a freshman, was one that was prestigious, but was in a large city. I commuted every day to and from school. My apartment was farther from campus to save on rent because the wait for a dorm was long and the apartments near campus were outrageous.

After my first year, I had enough of the commuting and transferred (because my grades were top) to another big, but well reputed university. The second one was in a small, academic town... much like Princeton... everything in the area was geared toward the students. It helped me focus more on my studies, but also, I made more friends there... because of the proximity we all were to each other. Study groups were much easier to form, as well as meeting friends to chat, or go to the movies. I could easily walk to the huge library, or the computer lab, or to the dining hall.

Harvard University is located in Boston, MA... a population of over 589K. You will most likely run into traffic, and housing problems. I know that Boston's rent is rather high, from a friend of mine. You may end up running into the same problems I did going to a university like that.

Princeton... located in Princeton, NJ. A small, academic community (of about 14K) that is very close to the big lights of NY city. I have to say, that I'm partial to Princeton over the other two because Einstein taught there.

Yale... located in New Haven, CT. A population of 123K, not small town, but certainly not big city.

I'm sure any other information, like campus life, you can look up on their websites.

[gimli7410]

congrats ben. you must be pretty damn smart does it run in the family with tristan As for me im just gonna be aiming for a basketball scholarship to a college like douglas, my grades have never been great or good enough for a university. again though congrats ben

[crickhollow]

Originally posted by Cirdan
Harvard

Boston will give you the best college eperience possible.

Princeton is nice if you want to be close to home but if you want a more cosmopolitan evironment then Harvard is the place to be.

Yale? meh they let Bush graduate.

Congratulations on all your successes past, present, and future.

hey, Mr. Smartpants, GW Bush graduated from Harvard school of business. so there.

CONGRATS, BEN!
As for voting between the three, I'm afraid that my opinion would be rather unqualified, having never been east of the Mississippi river, and having only one fried who has gone to any of the three. Incidentally, she does tell me that Yalies are generally very nice folks.

However, I think JD is making a pretty good case for Princeton....

Yay for you for picking history!

[brownjenkins]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
As for the Poconos - there is far more natural places than just the poconos - which are only 2 hours away. Maine is much further than 2 hours from Boston and I believe New Hampshire is too - I haven't mapped it out. Mt Washington - which everyone thinks of as THE place in New Hampshire - and I have been there - is about 150 miles from Boston. So - it's not like those areas are right next door.

portsmouth new hampshire is about 45 minutes from boston by car... cape cod, known for it's beaches and clubs is about 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours in the other direction (according to how far you want to go out)... skiing and climbing spots are also anywhere from 45min to 2hrs away... and if you are into boating and such, there are a lot of options

as i said, the music scene is also great in town... plenty of musicians and places to perform

princeton is very nice too... i visited a few friends there in the past... like others have said, it is a matter of preference

the only downside to boston is the cost of housing... you will probably find that you will either have to stay "on campus" or rent a place with multiple roomates (4+), unless you're loaded... a vehicle is also somewhat expensive to keep... but with public transportation, you will probably find that you don't need one

if you decide to go to boston, feel free to pm me and i can give you some in depth info... same goes for yale... my father has worked there for 25 years or so and has communicated with friends of mine in the past that went there

i'm sure JD can cover the princeton option and as Runiel said... you can't go wrong with any of the three as far as education goes

[Valandil]

Now see there Ben, look how easy we'll make this for you! We'll just keep fighting it out, then we can have a big vote, and then, once Princeton finishes third, JD will rally the 'Armies of Entmoot' and make you go to Princeton anyway! So you don't even need to bother with making a decision at all... just leave it in our hands... we'll take care of it for you!!!

[brownjenkins]

too funny

nice avatar btw Val

[Beruthiel's cat]

Ben, I'm going to have to agree with the folks that have been encouraging you to try Harvard, simply because Boston is an incredible city! I've only been there once, nearly 10 years ago, and I fell in love with it and want to go back!

There are many other schools to consider, of course. In my community there are several first-rate colleges and universities -- the University of Rochester has first-rate business and medical schools, as well as the Eastman School of Music and Rochester Institute of Technology is equal to MIT in its engineering programs. But your choices are all superb schools and you are sure to make your mark wherever you decide to go.

And, at the risk of setting off JD again, New Hampshire really isn't that far from Boston. My boyfriend's mom lives near Hanover (Dartmouth -- another fine school!) and used to take day-trips to Boston all the time. It's about an hour and a half away.

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by crickhollow
hey, Mr. Smartpants, GW Bush graduated from Harvard school of business. so there.
...

BLAH! Reason enough not to attend Harvard if they'd take him.

[Khamûl]

Congratulations Ben! I would say Troy State, but it seems you've narrowed it down to three and TSU isn't one of them...

Unfortunately, I really don't have any advice to give because I haven't had any experience with Ivy League schools. The only experience I have is that I briefly considered applying to Columbia because they seemed interested in me as an engineering student. But I didn't because New York is quite a long way from my house (btw, I've changed my major since then).

Like other people have said, judging by the reputation of the names, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Last Child of Ungoliant
i hate any form of dead animal
served up as food

tastes a lot better then if you eat them alive though.

[jerseydevil]

For the record - I didn't say New Hampshire is far from Boston - it's not - i know that it isn't. But the border of New Hampshire isn't necessarily where the things to do are in New Hampshire. So you can't just drive to the border and say "well we're here". I only live 12 miles from the PA border - but that doesn't mean that there is anything to do at that border in PA.

Brownkenkins - NJ also has great beaches too - it's not like Boston is going to be a selling point on that.

What he will most likely have to consider is if he wants to live in a city and also the KEY thing - is which offers him the best education for what he wants and which offers the college experience HE wants. The surrounding stuff that you have mentioned with Boston - is all around NJ too.

[brownjenkins]

i grew up near long island and the jersey shore and went many times... so i agree... nice beaches there too... though i'd personally head for santa barbara if i was looking for the best variety in terms of landscape

i live in boston now... not selling... just offering info if he chooses this spot

the $1,000 finders fee from the harvard admin office has absolutely no influence upon the opinions expressed here

[Janny]

Harvard, Yale or Princeton? Hmm, definately Oxford. Nice city and really historic colleges (my sister recently was looking through prospecti and commented on a 'newer' college. 'Newer' meant it was built in the 1600's!).

Also Oxford have these nice varsity competitions with Cambridge. I think it was a moral victory in the Boat Race... Cantab cheating and a judge in a Cambridge cap! Huh! Also, the Cambridge team only had two British people out of nine! I digress...

[jerseydevil]

You know - I thought about this on the way to web-services - everyone is pretty much giving Ben recommendations on where to go as if it's some vacation. Very few people have stated anything about the colleges themselves - what the classes are like, the courses, the faculty or anything. Don't you think that if someone is going to be going to a college that the college is more important than the fact that someone can drive 2 hours and be in the mountains or an hour and be to the beach (especially since all the colleges will not be in session during the beach season)? When I initially started explaining why he should go to Princeton - I posted about the faculty, the library, the classes (such as the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs).

Why don't people post what schools are like - instead of posting what he can do outside school - which is secondary anyway. Just a thought.