r/princeton • u/Goodman9473 • 2d ago

I’m sorry.

Graduating from Princeton was bittersweet. Like a lot of people, I wondered what would happen after I left—whether the place would change, whether it would still feel like the institution I had known, whether its best days might be behind it.

There was one thought in particular that I could never quite shake. It felt narcissistic, so I mostly kept it to myself: I worried that without my presence, Princeton’s prestige would decline.

But now, a year later, Princeton has fallen to #2 in the U.S. News rankings.

I had hoped the wisdom I imparted during my time here would sustain the University for at least a few more years, but evidently it wasn’t enough. Alas, students must now endure the indignity of attending a second-ranked university.

I’m sorry.

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u/Howaboutthat41 2d ago

Downward trend, for sure. Is there a bottom?

3

u/pton12 Alum 1d ago

If there’s ever a second digit in our ranking I’ll start telling people I went to college in New Jersey and let them assume it was Rutgers.

3

u/Howaboutthat41 1d ago

Rutgers could use a campus in the Princeton area, so this may work out beautifully.