<p>No one can smoke in any dorm because of the smoke detectors, which will activate fire alarms.</p>
<p>I completely agree with the advice not to request a double. That was the biggest mistake of my freshman year. Not only do I despise my roommate, he sexiles me all the time and has completely irregular waking/sleeping patterns because he is a football player. It's absoultely awful not being able to sleep when you need to. A quad on the other hand, you can always force them to go to the common room. DONT REQUEST A DOUBLE. </p>
<p>Also, I live in Mathey and I would say sub-free here is not beneficial in any way. The rooms are not better (Joline is sub-free, and Blair is the nicest part of Mathey) and you tend to make friends with people in your hall so if you drink, you wont be able to go out and drink with them. </p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, if the other Princeton 08-ers want to PM me their name that would be cool.</p>
<p>Also, I have a Dell from Princeton's OIT. I really like it and it comes pre-installed with all the software and ad blockers/firewalls you need, so if you dont want to deal with that, I would suggest buying from Princeton.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your advice 08ers. And for taking the time to provide really invaluable information.</p>
<p>Question: What would your advice be for a new Princetonian ('09)? What should we be doing now? (besides enjoying Christmas :)) Looking at courses? Buying dorm stuff? Is there anything urgent you suggest we start planning soon?</p>
<p>Thanks.
Gia</p>
<p>
[quote]
Question: What would your advice be for a new Princetonian ('09)? What should we be doing now? (besides enjoying Christmas ) Looking at courses? Buying dorm stuff? Is there anything urgent you suggest we start planning soon?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Don't do anything for now. Dorm stuff is easy to get, courses are easy to choose as well, and matric forms won't arrive till midmay.</p>
<p>Yep, gotta agree with mzhang, you'll have plenty of time to worry about all that stuff. Just relax and enjoy your break.</p>
<p>Thanks - will do. :)</p>
<p>Haha it's so funny to read the comments of fellow '08ers knowing almost all of them in person. I'll be anonymous here, though.</p>
<p>I live in Witherspoon, so I definitely, definitely lucked out. But even the grossest rooms in Butler really aren't that bad compared to some of the rooms I've seen at other universities. There are great little things about Witherspoon, like four bathrooms on all the floors except for the first (but I guess it sucks if only one is open to your gender), water fountains great for washing apples without touching the bathroom door, the study rooms, the TV, the two kitchens, the comfortable chairs in the basement, etc.</p>
<p>One of the most incredible "pinch me, I'm at Princeton" moments for me happens whenever I'm walking back to 'Spoon from Nassau Street. First, I walk through one of the small side openings of FitzRandolph gate. (Obviously you guys should all know NOT to walk out of FitzRandolph gate if you don't already. Legend has it that you won't graduate if you walk out before graduation day, so many students choose to just avoid walking through the gate at all. The problem with this legend is that it started in the '70s in order to establish a new, co-educational Princeton tradition or something like that; I think that there was an article in the PAW about it recently.) Centuries-old trees welcome me, Nassau Hall triumphant in its history. Tourists, high school students, parents all walk in awe of the campus, the University. Students are mostly distracted, walking over the plaque created in celebration of the University's 250th anniversary with the same amount of attentiveness that they have when they walk from McCosh 50 to Frist after a 1:20 lecture, or to the Street on a Thursday or Saturday at midnight. </p>
<p>But this is Princeton. Some students notice that it is, and I can see it in their slight smiles. West College is on the left, Clio and Whig more distant in their colonial white, the art museum barely visible over the trees. I walk to the right, though, between West College and Alexander. Witherspoon stands five stories tall before me. Once the welcoming beacon of the University, Blair arch is filled with pooling light. (The dinky station used to be further into the campus, near Laughlin Hall.)</p>
<p>I walk into Witherspoon,--the building where Woodrow Wilson lived as an undergraduate--walk up the stairs, unlock my room, glance out the windows at Alexander, and then get back to reading the textbook that my world-famous professor wrote.</p>
<p>Ahhh. Now all you pre-frosh must be salivating. I am from writing about the amazingness of my own life! I must say, part of me is jealous that you guys still have four Princeton years ahead of you, whereas I only have three and a half. I'm sure I'll get over it, but enjoy every single moment of being accepted but not yet in the hell of midterm week or a writing seminar. You'll love Princeton then, too, but you shouldn't wish your lives away for those times to come.</p>
<p>old nassau:
Damn man. Sounds great. You got me wanting to live in Spoon now. =)</p>
<p>jtiger08:
Yeah, I should rephrase that. Everyone in my school thinks abercrombie is "designer."<br>
What I mean is, how preppy is the school? Is the reputation deserved or what?</p>
<p>Okay, this is a stupid father question, but indulge me. In the college residences, how are the bathroom segregated by sex. Do quads have their own bathroom? Thanks.</p>
<p>About the computers, how many different types of comps does princeton sell? I was thinking about getting a mac... My friend there got an IBM and touky has a Dell, so I know they at least aren't bound to one company. Also, do they sell comps at lower prices to the students? Thanks</p>
<p>Sorry but OIT only sells Dells and Macs now.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Originally posted by old nassau
Ahhh. Now all you pre-frosh must be salivating.
[/quote]
Yes, and those who got deferred are probably wailing in madness.....</p>
<p>where's the best place to get a nice p-ton sweater? do they run any cheaper than $40?</p>
<p>ValdezVivasMR:</p>
<p>Check out Ivysport.com</p>
<p>
[quote]
where's the best place to get a nice p-ton sweater? do they run any cheaper than $40?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Enter the words "Princeton Coupon" into the notes field at checkout when buying from the Ustore (<a href="http://www.pustore.com%5B/url%5D">www.pustore.com</a>) and you'll get $5 off. They also offer free shipping at this time.</p>
<p>Hooded sweatshirts get discounted to about $30 at the beginning of the year when the Ustore has its Russell Basics sale. There are also numerous 25% off sales throughout the year.</p>
<p>Wsox, yes, the bathrooms are segregated by sex, and the women's bathrooms have coded, push-button locks on the doors. Some quads have their own bathrooms, but more often the bigger suites often do have one or two bathrooms of their own; however, this is not necessarily a good thing: the students are responsible for cleaning those. In some older dorms, btw, the bathrooms and showers are in the basement.</p>
<p>There are very few dorms where the bathrooms are in the basement. More common is for there to be a men's bathroom on the first floor, a women's on the second floor, or something like that, since virtually all dorms on campus were built before the dawn of co-education. That being said, it's definitely not a big deal to walk up/down stairs to get to the bathroom. Although I don't have the personal experience of walking in stairwells with towels on, I know many people who do, and they don't really seem to mind.</p>
<p>In regard to the U-Store: definitely, definitely join the U-Store now. You get 5% off of almost everything they sell (exceptions include Pequod packets and prepared foods in U2, since the U-Store doesn't actually own this stuff though they sell it) after paying just $25 to join (I think it was only $15 when I joined last year). So, assuming you spend more than $500 at the U-Store over the course of your lifetime, you've already paid for the membership. The 25% off sales that mzhang mentioned are members-only, so a $100+ purchase will pay off the membership fees.</p>
<p>Freshman Seminars</p>
<p>Just brousing through the Freshman Seminar Booklet - so many choices it all seems overwhelming :) Would you please answer these questions about the FS Program:</p>
<ul>
<li>How important was your Freshman Seminar in terms of what you gained from it socially, academically...?</li>
<li>Should you wait until you know your Residential College and then choose a Seminar hosted by your same Res. College, or just pick something you enjoy now? How big a deal is it if you take a seminar hosted by another college?</li>
<li>Any notoriously good seminars? Any we should avoid? What was your seminar, and how did you find it?</li>
<li>Take in Fall or Spring? Take during same term as the Writing Seminar, or take them during different terms?</li>
</ul>
<p>With regards to Freshman seminars, I actually haven't taken one. First semester, I applied to a couple, but didn't get into any -- the ones I applied to were far and away the most popular and I ended up on the wrong side of the admit list. </p>
<p>A lot of the people I know, however, have had different experiences in their freshman seminars. A lot of the seminars don't go <em>too</em> in-depth on their respective subjects and I've heard complaints from some friends that there are people in their seminar who -- well, they just don't know why they're in the seminar at all. On the other hand, they are the best way to get to know a professor, and, as I'll discuss later, a lot of great professors teach seminars.</p>
<p>This semester, I got into the seminar I applied to (a history of science-esque seminar taught by Time Magazine's main science writer), but in the end I decided not to take in because I had gotten into another seminar that was usually upperclass-only taught by a wonderful professor and that focused on a topic (Darwin's writings + responses to his writings) that I frankly was more interested in. Despite that, I'm sure the seminar I applied to will be great.</p>
<p>As to the colleges, it doesn't matter too much which residential college you take your seminar in. I'm not sure if you will know which college you're in before you apply, but if you don't, no use in trying to game the system that way. Besides, some colleges (like Wilson) have more centrally-located seminar rooms, whereas others (like Butler) may have seminar rooms that are actually closer to other colleges' dorms than their own! But don't worry about which college the seminar is in.</p>
<p>Lastly, here's a list of professors I would highly recommend taking seminars and/or courses from:</p>
<p>Sean Wilentz -- participated in the Clinton impeachment trial, teaches HIS 373 right now + is an awesome lecturer. He taught a seminar on the Clinton trial a few years ago, but his specialty is 19th-century U.S. history, I think. Nice guy + a good professor.</p>
<p>Sarah Anderson -- she is one of the teachers in HUM right now and is one of the <em>nicest</em> professors I've seen on campus. In addition to being a great Beowulf scholar, Professor Anderson is super-adept at managing seminars. She has taught a course called "Merlin and Magic" in the past about medieval stuff, but I would highly recommend taking her course. (She's an English lecturer).</p>
<p>Anthony Grafton -- best professor @ Princeton for me so far. Awesome professor of History (specializes in books as an area of expertise) and epic in seminar settings. Super-smart and gregarious -- I'm super-excited I get to have a precept with him next semester.</p>
<p>John Fleming -- world's leading Chaucer expert + taught a course on Dante this fall; one of the best Princeton professors. Take his course even if you have no interest in the subject.</p>
<p>Cornel West -- super-famous + apparently has a good seminar as well -- I know a lot of the people in it. He's kind of known for taking some less-than-stellar people in his selective seminars, but might as well apply.</p>
<p>William Howarth -- I'm taking that Darwin course with him next semester; English professor who specializes in "environmental literature;" often teaches a seminar about Walden. Going to retire in a few years + very cool and friendly, I highly recommend him.</p>
<p>Correction: the fire alarms (at least in 1938) will not go off unless you start an extremely smokey bonfire under them. Smoking is permitted in the rooms, but at the beginning of the year, the RA's will make you and your roommates write up a housing contract, and in that contract you can ban smoking in the room if you so choose (the contract covers everything from rooming arrangements to cleaning schedules to sex in the shower). There is a spot on the housing form that asks if you would mind a smoking roommate. My suite has a self-imposed smoking ban and one of my roommates actually spazzed out when another one came in with a clove cigarette, but one of the guy suites next door has ... 3 or 4 smokers who all smoke in the room, and one of them brought a hookah that they do break out on a regular basis. They haven't set off the fire alarms yet, so I'm pretty sure nobody can.</p>
<p>I'm in the MechE department, living in an 8-girl suite in good ole Wilson College, and thorougly bored at home, so fire away.</p>