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John Nash's recommendation letter for Princeton may be the best of all time (Application for Graduate Admission)IMAGE: CHINAFOTOPRESS/GETTY IMAGESBY BRIAN KOERBER JUN 07, 2015"He is a mathematical genius."So ends a recommendation letter written for the late John Forbes Nash, Jr., who was applying to attend Princeton University's graduate college in 1948. The famed mathematician, whose life was the subject of Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind, is globally recognized for his research in game theory, as well as his struggle with schizophrenia. He won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994.The letter, which is dated Feb. 11, 1948 was written by well-known mathematician Richard J. Duffin, who kept it short and to the point:Source: John Nash's recommendation letter for Princeton may be the best of all time

I attended Princeton. If you get into Princeton, it means one of two things. Either you were very successful in high school (not just grades and scores; academics alone won’t get you in), OR your parents or your Uncle or somebody gave Princeton a lot of money.To some degree, I fault Princeton for letting people in because they give money. But to a greater degree, I fault them because they don’t admit it. They are not unlike a lot of schools in this regard. But sadly, the ability to more or less buy your way in sullies the reputation of the school at least among those who know the score. If you were poor or middle income or upper middle income and got into Princeton, you were GREAT in high school. If you were in the upper 1% income, you may just be a rich kid with no special talents.Since Michigan is larger, it is less exclusive. Where 6.5% of applicants get into Princeton, at Michigan the number is 24%.You must remember that for some people, high school was the pinnacle of their life performance. So don’t give anyone that much credit for simply getting in.Forgetting the alleged quality of students, quite high at both places, how do the schools compare? That’s a very complex question because at college, it’s what you make of your opportunities, not what they offer you. At Princeton, you can study Sanskrit, but what if you don’t need to do that? What about size of the schools? Smaller is more personal, more individualized, right? Yes and no. What about the quality of the faculty? My calculus teacher at Princeton had his PhD, like all the faculty, but he couldn’t explain things very well. On the other hand, my Physics teacher wrote the textbook and influenced my life more than any other member of the faculty.My son studied engineering at Ohio State, which is even larger than Michigan. Was he lost at that huge place? Not at all. Freshman year he joined a group of about 12 students who were building an electric car. Their goal was breaking the world land speed record. This optional activity offered no money and no school credit. They worked all nighters on weekends. Let me tell you: the number of kids willing to work all night to get no college credit is small. After several trips to the Bonneville Salt Flats, their vehicle broke the World Record, going over 300 mph. He could not have had that experience at Princeton or Michigan. (Clarification: he could not have had that exact experience, but he could have had an equivalent experience—just not racing for the land speed record). Now he’s a battery engineer. So, you can find very amazing, specialized activities at the largest universities. And some smaller schools are simply too small to offer everything.Bottom line: both are good schools.Addendum: if anyone from the Office of Admissions at Princeton would contradict me for the record: please do so. I’d welcome any statement from someone who speaks for the University that donations no longer influence whether Princeton grants admission to students. I spent over 10 years volunteering for the Office of Admissions, interviewing Princeton applicants, and naively believed that Princeton based its decision on 50% academic and 50% extracurricular accomplishments. I told many students the same thing. The year the Wall Street Journal reported you could pay for your ticket of admission, I resigned as chair of our local school’s committee.

Remember this scene, from Season 3 Episode 8 - "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency".​​Raj mocks Leonard for speaking in an American Accent, and they all had a good laugh about it (may be it helped that they were high).This is a show that makes fun of Geology, Engineering, Non-Klingon speakers, Nerds, Models, Chemists, Pilots, Lawyers and what not. Leonard is mocked because his Alma mater is Princeton, and that too because Sheldon thinks Princeton isn't a good school.It's a sitcom, that's what they do. They mock everything under the sun, even themselves, so just relax dude and have a laugh, that's what this show wants you to do anyway.