The Tiger that roars — hail, Princeton! One of the oldest universities in the United States, Princeton University predates the Declaration of Independence by twenty years. But don’t let its storied history fool you — one of the smaller members of the Ivy League, Princeton’s undergraduate program, with its unique requirements for independent study and a student-led project, remains cutting-edge and thoroughly modern.

Princeton: The Basics

Public

Private

Liberal Arts

Research University

Affiliation: Secular (nonreligious)

The Location (Princeton, New Jersey):

The township of Princeton, New Jersey, is small but mighty. Known for its beautiful fall foliage, delicious Italian restaurants, and picturesque public squares, Princeton is pretty as a picture — even before you take the university’s historic campus into account! For a taste of city life, New York City is an easy bus or train ride away.

The Numbers

Admission Rate

 3.98%

Average High School GPA

 3.9

Preferred Standardized Test 

 Either

Average SAT Score 

740-800 Math, 710-770 ERW

Average ACT Score 

 32-35

Accepts ACT Superscore?

 Yes

Application Deadline

 January 1

Accepts Common App?

 Yes

Tuition (Annual)

 $52,800

Enrollment

 4,635 undergraduates

Average Class Size

 <20

You’d Make a Great Tiger If:

  • You have a healthy appetite! Rather than fraternities and sororities, Princeton is home to “eating clubs,” which are typically co-ed and provide a variety of extracurricular and social opportunities for their members.
  • You respect tradition. Princeton students partake in a variety of on-campus traditions, including those at the annual reunions, where students and alumni take part in parades and cheers, some of which date back to the 1890s.
  • You want to graduate debt-free. Princeton eliminated student loans from its financial aid packages in 2001, replacing them with grants, and earning them a reputation as one of the best value-for-money options in American higher education.

Fun Fact(s):

Did you know that Princeton has been at war for over a century? A Cannon War, that is! Since the nineteenth century, Princeton students have had a feud with students at nearby Rutgers University over the ownership of two Revolutionary War cannons. The cannons were eventually ceded by Rutgers to Princeton, but watch out! Rutgers students have been known to sneak onto Princeton’s campus to paint them the Rutgers school colors in the dead of night.

Famous Alumni:

James Madison:
US President

F. Scott Fitzgerald:
Author

Brooke Shields:
Actor

Michelle Obama:
First Lady of the US

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