an honest portrait of princeton, please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>hi, everyone. i'm a senior right now trying to narrow down my college choices to the ones i really honestly think i could see myself attending.</p>

<p>so while i am interested in princeton, i was wondering you guys could give me a completely honest portrait of what it's like to be a student there.</p>

<p>maybe you could answer the following questions?</p>

<p>1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? interesting? lectures? small, discussion-based? etc.
2.) i want to be a movie editor/producer/filmmaker. i know brown is not well-known for film. i am applying to schools known for film (usc, chapman, nyu, etc) but i like princeton as a school anyway. if i were to go to princeton instead of a film-centric school, would i pretty much kiss my chances of being a filmmaker goodbye?
3.) i'm a bi guy. is princeton gay-friendly? and if they are, are there plenty of bi guys/girls too? i want to make sure i fit in and everything. also, i generally get along better friend-wise with straight or bi guys than gay guys. i do have gay friends though, but i want to be able to have all different kinds of friends, gay, straight, bi. are all orientations well-represented at princeton?
4.) does it get boring at princeton? i hear that the neighboring city doesn't offer much and that it can boring. true? false?
5.) what do people generally do for fun at princeton? i'm interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don't like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs?
6.) how is financial aid? i'd need a ton to go there.
7.) i haven't taken pre-cal or calculus. took honors algebra II, honors geometry, and stats though. would i be automatically rejected from princeton? </p>

<p>and any other info about what it's REALLY like to be at princeton would be really helpful. </p>

<p>like is there any certain criteria i NEED to fit to be happy at princeton? (for instance, it's a lot better to be liberal at brown than republican.) does anything like this apply to princeton? thanks a lot guys!</p>

2

<p>Since nobody has responded yet, I’ll take a stab at your questions.</p>

<p>

They range. Organic chemistry and Greek composition were difficult for me. Introductory geology was not. It all depends on what you take and where your aptitudes lie. </p>

<p>For an idea of class sizes, check out the course listings.</p>

<p><a href=“http://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/[/url]”>http://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Please be sure to edit out Brown when copying and pasting. :)</p>

<p>Princeton does offer course offerings in film production, although they’re limited. Contact the professors for more information.</p>

<p>[Film</a> Studies at Princeton University - Film Courses](<a href=“http://etc.princeton.edu/films/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=6&Itemid=3]Film”>http://etc.princeton.edu/films/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=6&Itemid=3)</p>

<p>

In a word, yes. The LGBT population is relatively small but an awesome bunch. </p>

<p>[Princeton</a> University LGBT Center](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/lgbt/index.htm]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/lgbt/index.htm)</p>

<p>

No. There is an insane amount of things going on most of the time. For an idea of what goes on:</p>

<p>[Princeton</a> University - Campus Life](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/campuslife/]Princeton”>One Community | Princeton University)</p>

<p>

Nobody is going to push you into drinking if you don’t want to. Personally, I didn’t start drinking until I was nearly 21 and had a perfectly decent social life.</p>

<p>

Princeton has superb financial aid. For a long time, it was the only college in the country to be loan-free. </p>

<p>[Princeton</a> University | Princeton Financial Aid Estimator](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/estimator/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/estimator/)</p>

<p>

I’m not sure if it’s an automatic rejection, but Princeton only accepts 8-10% of applicants – students with the most rigorous courseloads will have a leg up over other applicants.</p>

3

<p>thanks for all the info! :slight_smile: and thanks for taking the time to reply.</p>

<p>do you happen to know if princeton has good connections to the entertainment industry/LA at all?</p>

4

<p>1.) Completely depends on what you take. Seminars were the best experiences I had though and those usually ranged in size from 3-15 students.
2.) I’m not really sure here. Princeton has been putting alot of resources into the arts and I think being a student there will give you lots of other fallback options in life. You could always go to NYU/USC for an mfa? Once again, I think you’d be fine and I know lots of people that went into relatively non-traditional positions (musicians, etc.) but I’m not the authority on this
3.) Definitely
4.) Princeton township is somewhat boring but trust me, you’ll never be bored at the university
5.) No more/less prevalent than any other school. You can definitely have a good time at the clubs without drinking or anything and I knew alot of people that did so.
6.) The best?
7.) No idea but I don’t think it would matter that much since you’re applying as an aspiring filmmaker, not a future math major.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>There are lots of ivy leaguers in Hollywood, including folks from Princeton.</p>

6

<p>A partial list of Princeton alumni in the entertainment field.</p>

<p>Also see [Princeton</a> in Hollywood](<a href=“http://www.pcscweb.net/article.html?aid=120]Princeton”>http://www.pcscweb.net/article.html?aid=120)</p>

<p>

[quote=a partial list]

• Stephen Bogardus A.B. 1976 - actor
• Roger Berlind A.B. 1954 - produced (or co-produced) produced or co-produced over 40 plays and musicals on Broadway and many off-Broadway and regional productions as well. The Broadway production have won over 60 Tony Awards, including 12 for best production.
• Dean Cain A.B. 1988 - actor, played Superman in the television series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
• Ethan Coen A.B. 1979 - Academy Award-winning filmmaker of No Country For Old Men (film), O Brother, Where Art Thou?‘,’ and Fargo, among others
• David Duchovny A.B. 1982 - actor best known for his role in The X-Files. Won Golden Globe awards for this and Californication (tv series)
• Jos</p>

7

<p>“Craig Mazin A.B. 1992 - screenwriter of Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4”</p>

<p>wow, that’s encouraging. lol. </p>

<p>but seriously, thanks for that list! it does help ease my mind a bit. :)</p>

8

<p>The new receptionist in “The Office” is a Princeton grad :)</p>

9

<p>I would like to ask a question, too-How important are AP classes? If I only take three do I have any chance?</p>

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<p>by the time i graduate, i will have taken 5 out of 10 offered. the rest are all honors. is that ok?</p>

11

<p>I got in with 6 tests for reference, but then again, my school doesn’t offer AP classes.</p>

<p>Taking the most rigorous courseload is important. If it is clearly not challenging, then there will be questions as to why you chose a weaker courseload.</p>

12

<p>but would 5/10 ap’s + all other honors be the most rigorous or the second-most rigorous? and if it’s the latter, would it be an automatic or likely rejection if the counselor checks “very demanding” but not “most demanding”?</p>

13

<p>What counts as the most rigorous depends entirely on the school that you go to, as it is your guidance counselor that marks it. So if your school only offered like 3 APs and took all of them, then it would be the most rigorous schedule. On the other hand, if you went to a school that offered 20 AP classes and you only took three and most other people in your school took 10, then it would not be the most rigorous. </p>

<p>I’ll take a stab at some other questions:</p>

<p>1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? interesting? lectures? small, discussion-based? etc.</p>

<p>The classes are challenging. Your peers are extremely bright, and that coupled with grade deflation will make it difficult to get straight As. That being said, there are definitely certain classes that are harder/easier than others. There are notorious “gut” classes that are known to be easy (mostly for humanities majors who need to fulfill their quantitative reasoning/lab classes) like “The Universe” (nicknamed Stars of Stoners). </p>

<p>There are interesting classes, there are boring ones. It all depends on your own interests and what classes you pick. If you pick right, ask upperclassmen what is good, you can get a pretty good schedule. Most classes are taught in lecture format, which are then split in to precepts, discussions led by a TA/professor. There are lots of seminar classes too, which, I hear, are discussion based. </p>

<p>4.) does it get boring at princeton? i hear that the neighboring city doesn’t offer much and that it can boring. true? false?</p>

<p>You will be super busy with schoolwork, and if not that, then extra-curriculars to be “bored.” Like I said above, classes give a lot of work, and whatever time remains people use on activities. However, Princeton is a small town in suburban NJ, and it’s not exactly filled with wild bars and clubs. Trenton is the nearest city but… people don’t really go there, unless it is to volunteer. However, we do go to New York a lot, whether it be with your residential college (dorm) to see Broadway shows, or just with friends (train station is right on campus) to hang out. People do call Princeton the “Orange Bubble” b/c it has an insular feel to it, but life at Princeton isn’t boring, trust me. </p>

<p>5.) what do people generally do for fun at princeton? i’m interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don’t like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs?</p>

<p>For fun, people play sports (varsity and club), volunteer, dance in our dance companies, sing in a capella groups, hang out with friends, go partying. So yea, if you want to join clubs, there is plenty for you to do. Eating clubs are a big part of socializing but you don’t have to drink or do drugs to go. The majority of drinking happens pretty much every weekend: Thursday, Friday, Saturday. But if you really wanted to drink during the week, you could find it too. But again, there are plenty of people who don’t drink and do drugs. Almost everyone is very focused on academics, and when it’s time, they do buckle down and not mess around. </p>

<p>6.) how is financial aid? i’d need a ton to go there.</p>

<p>Princeton has GREAT financial aid. Check out the financial aid calculator they have online. </p>

<p>7.) i haven’t taken pre-cal or calculus. took honors algebra II, honors geometry, and stats though. would i be automatically rejected from princeton?</p>

<p>The large majority of students come here having taken calculus (someone correct me if my impression is wrong). That being said, I’ve met students here who’ve taken “Math Alive”, which is this class that supposedly is about algebra or something ridiculously easy. I doubt it’d be an automatic rejection, unless you said you want to be a math major or something. But it’d be good to get at least pre-calc under your belt. </p>

<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.</p>

14

<p>1) So, if our guidance counselor checks off that we took the most rigorous course load then effectively we did?
2) I will only have ONE AP Exam when I apply, will this harm me substantially?</p>

15

<p>^1) yes
2) yes</p>

16

<p>tigerton, it depends on the number of AP exams your school offers.</p>

17

<p>My school offers none, but I’m taking 5-7 AP exams. Does that help even if they don’t accept the credit?</p>

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<p>^have you taken any yet? if your school doesn’t offer any AP exams but you took them your junior year or earlier and scored well on them, then it could be a positive that you went above and beyond your school curriculum. if you haven’t taken them yet but list them on your application, i guess it shows motivation, but i don’t think it’ll have much effect. either way, i don’t think it’ll make a big difference, except to reinforce that you are going above and beyond your school’s typical curriculum.</p>

19

<p>So, is there any way of knowing what the counselor will check off? I only know of 2 people who actually took all 10 of the AP classes offered at my school. Most take 5-7, many take less, and several take more. I took 5, and the rest of my classes are honors. Does it make a difference than most people take 5-7 even though there are technically 10 offered?</p>

20

<p>^it’s all up to the GC, i think. for instance, the person who got into yale last year from my high school took around half the AP classes offered. the rest of his classes were honors, which are considerably easier (everyone gets A’s), but are weighted the same as AP. his GC undoubtedly marked “most rigorous,” although there were probably ten or fifteen students with more rigorous schedules than his. it all depends on the GC’s interpretation of “most rigorous.” what is it–top student, top 1%, top 5%?</p>