Hi, my son will be entering Princeton this fall as a freshman and we are very excited!
This winter, there is a family event over the MLKJr holiday weekend in another state. I’d very much like my son to attend. It would mean missing the Friday 1/13 of reading period as well as the Monday (MLK) 1/16, and the weekend obviously, for the travel.
Final exams aren’t slated to begin until the 17th or 18th, but we don’t know what, if any, would be the ramifications of missing 1/13 (and 1/16?) from RP. Please advise?
If relevant, my son is an Engineering student (will likely take something like CBE245 and a math course) and is also taking HUM. He might also get assigned to a seminar (Writing or Freshman) in the fall, but I will discourage that if possible just for adjustment reasons though he’s “not worried” 
Thank you!
Hi, @fretfulmother,
Here is what I know, based on my daughter’s experience (graduated from Princeton in May).
Dean’s date (January 17 according to the academic calendar for Fall 2016) at 5:00 p.m. is when all written work for the semester is due. My daughter always had at least one paper or project due then, usually more than one. Of course, it is possible to turn in written work earlier but that rarely happened for her! She was not an engineer or a STEM-type major and during her four years, she only had two final exams during the official exam period. She did have some take-home exams, but I think they were all due during the reading period.
Students are assigned either fall or spring semester for writing seminar, it is not by choice. It may be possible to appeal the assignment, I don’t know how that works.
Hope that helps.
Thank you @MAOnemom !!
If it is a matter of due dates, could that be fixed by having him abbreviate the winter break to go back sooner, or are there time-bound activities?
@fretfulmother I consulted my DD about this, as I know that some classes meet during Reading Period. She told me that Writing Seminar classes generally meet once during Reading Period. Her Writing Seminar class was on Mondays and Wednesdays and the instructor held class during the usual meeting time on the day before Dean’s Date which was a Monday. Attendance is required, and on this day the students gave a brief power point presentation. I think the expectation is that students are on campus during Reading Period, although technically they need not be if they do not have a class to attend or another obligation. Some classes are listed as “meets during Reading Period” under the course description.
It might be best to wait until your son is on campus and classes have started before you make this decision. He’ll know his schedule and have an idea of the workload then. The last HUM paper may not be due until Dean’s Date but that certainly can be submitted earlier. HUM has an in class final and most likely he will have finals in STEM courses. I would worry about a travel delay due to bad weather in getting back to campus. We did have a big snow storm in NJ this past January which started on a Friday night (the last day of finals!) and roads generally weren’t passable until Sunday.
BSE and HUM is an extraordinarily heavy load! I am sure he will be glad for the Christmas break. My son just graduated (BSE) and for him, the exam and reading periods were very light compared to the rest of the semester. He often said that by the time the exam comes, you either know the material or you don’t. He still studied a lot for his exams (did a lot of practice exams) but that can be done over the break as well. Writing sem will be the wild card here.
I agree with @NJMom97’s advice - I would wait until the fall semester begins to have a sense of schedule/workload etc if possible before deciding.
Thank you @NJMom97 @Cantiger !!
OK - so yes, I know HUM/BSE is really heavy. I’m a bit concerned about that, but DS says it will be “fine”. Apparently he already finished the Iliad with copious notes and is well into the Odyssey (summer reading). He is working, so I think he’s doing this in the evenings.
Luckily, DS has all the AP credits P will accept, so for the fall, he can pick a math class at the right level (his favorite subject) and something like a CBE course without having to do all of the intro classes. (They told us at PP that unless you have credits for Physics or Chem or Calc or CS or whatever, that you probably couldn’t fit HUM with freshman requirements for BSE.) Yes, I’m a bit worried than an AP might not represent real Princeton-level knowledge.
Trickily, I don’t think we can wait until September to figure this out. It is for my mother’s grave unveiling, and there are a lot of moving pieces, far-flung relatives, etc. I think what I will do is buy him an airline ticket (roundtrip nonstop from EWR), and if needed pay to change it or suffer the monetary loss, rather than the reverse plan of not making the plans and then having it all booked up and him unable to join the family.