<p>Hi! I'm currently a second semester freshman at Princeton...I have a one week break right now, so, if anyone has any questions let me know, I'd be glad to help you out. I've really enjoyed my time here, so I encourage all of you who aren't seniors to apply...and good luck to current seniors!</p>
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<p>What did you write your application essays about?</p>
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<p>Well, I was thinking questions about the campus :) and about life there.</p>
<p>My advice on writing essays is to write about something new, and something distinctively personal. My friend wrote about his favorite baseball team. Other people can get away with writing about their favorite obscure instrument (the kazoo or something). I'd say, don't write about something conventional (like your trip to a summer camp or a leadership thing) unless it is unique...</p>
<p>hope that helps</p>
<p>What dorm are you in, how is it, and what do you think the best roomate situation is (quad, etc)?</p>
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<p>I'm in Rockefeller college, which--and I say this with objectivity--is probably one of the best dorms/colleges on campus (I don't really want to give away my specific dorm's name...because there aren't many freshman here). I'm in a quad, which I enjoy. In my experience, it is probably best to start off with a double or quad, and then move to a single as one becomes an upperclassman (it's good to have a core group of friends when you're at college, and roommates are pretty dependable). Roommates can get annoying, but my logic in choosing a quad is that, if someone is annoying, there are always three other people to keep things calm. My roommates are pretty chill, so it hasn't really been a problem.</p>
<p>Dorm life is great. Our dorm has a network of friends, and we do lots of stuff together. A problem with many parts of Rockefeller college is that there aren't straight hallways, but instead, divided corridors. We don't, therefore, meet in the halls, but usually schedule events beforehand. This might be different in other dorms.</p>
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<p>compare the costs of living and the standard of living (food choices available, leisure, malls) of the pton area to other places.</p>
<p>how is it being a texan in nj does the weather bother you too much and yes i am a mom from tx east of houston near the gulf do you find the classes very demanding</p>
<p>"compare the costs of living and the standard of living (food choices available, leisure, malls) of the pton area to other places."</p>
<p>Princeton is different from the Princeton area :) In Princeton, things are expensive. I got my haircut last week, and it cost $20.00 at the second cheapest place (the cheapest place leaves me looking like a monk). Restaurants are more affordable, but view the average restaurant as "a little above Olive Garden" in price. They aren't dead expensive, but they aren't really affordable for daily meals for me, and I'm an upper-middle class college student. </p>
<p>The Princeton area offers great stuff. New Jersey, except for Newark and Trenton, is like a collection of suburban towns. It is known for its malls, and if you go maybe twenty minutes out of Princeton, you'll be confronted by tons of cheap malls, superstores, etc. </p>
<p>In Princeton, leisure during the break typically = New York City and Philadelphia. How couldn't we go? The typical train ride there is ten to twenty bucks. Both cities are one hour away. And we get subsidized Broadway shows, Pro B-Ball games, Museum Tickets, and Met Opera Tickets. It is amazing.</p>
<p>"how is it being a texan in nj does the weather bother you too much and yes i am a mom from tx east of houston near the gulf do you find the classes very demanding"</p>
<p>Being a Texan in NJ is odd. First, the fact that many people haven't heard of what real Texas is like irks me a bit. There is a kid here who dresses up in a cowboy hat, suspenders, and boots...and guess where he is from? I have to spend hours convincing people that we're not all like that...we don't ALL live in ranches in small East Texas towns!</p>
<p>The weather is painful at times. In October, which was particularly notorious, it rained for almost two weeks. During finals week, this is a pain, especially since Princeton doesn't have good drainage. You walk to the library with muddy water up to your knees. </p>
<p>Today, though, the weather is amazing. I think that's weird about Princeton. The weather varies. It never gets Texas hot...at its best, Princeton is sunny, but still a bit cold. At it's worst, it's rainy. It snows often too, but snow doesn't get in the way too much.</p>
<p>Classes are demanding. Many people expect Princeton to have grade inflation, and in may humanities classes, indeed it is true. The cap for A's in all classes, though, is 35%. In Writing Seminars, which are some of the most painful classes for math-types like me, the rate is even lower. So don't go in expecting a 4.0.</p>
<p>For heavy partiers, though, Princeton probably doesn't distribute lower than a 3.4. Here, it's quite hard to move from a 3.6 to a 3.8, but it isn't hard to maintain a 3.4. I don't know if that is normal at most schools, but its simply an observation.</p>
<p>How's the "intellectual life" at Princeton? Students introspective and discuss their intellectual interests outside class? Bright, I'm guessing, is prerequisite, but is that intelligence reserved just for the classroom or outside it as well?</p>
<p>Thanks for posting we visited last thanksgiving and were surprised to find the weather rather mild. weird to hear about the deep water because of drainage is that because of the construction going on. i told kiddo that it would be different and most people would ask about horses and cows but that she does not have to give the iimpression of a hick. LOL good luck this year have a great time.</p>
<p>Cautious Pessimism, I wish I could give you a straightforward answer, but it's tough. I would have to say that most kids don't discuss intellectual life outside the classroom. I was actually surprised when I came here because some kids seemed to purposefully avoid talking about classes...most kids here don't talk about any one thing. They have random conversations that they pick up out of nowhere. It's a strange phenomenon. I haven't seen it at my high school...in HS, we would talk about sports, girls, etc. Here, we end up having conversations about chairs with one leg shorter than the other. It's Seinfeldish, I guess.</p>
<p>If I do want to start an intellectual conversation, I can, and it goes on for a while, but sometimes it ends up in an awkward moment. My friend and I were talking, yesterday, about our dislike for certain classical musicians whom the public embraced all the time. Then, we went into a discussion about the rootlessness of the Estonian language, and the nature of the Bosnian and Rwandan genocide. It is these short moments that make me realize that Princeton is worth it.</p>
<p>FlounderingFree, thanks for your good wishes. I don't think the drainage problems are because of construction. Many parts of the campus on which construction isn't taking place is getting swamped. In fact, one candidate for our USG elections made this a big point in his campaign.</p>
<p>the drainage is getting fixed (or atleast the worst places) right outside walker just got a new drainage system put into place</p>
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<p>what were your stats?</p>
<p>ec1234, didn't know that, but good news!
jjjj, i'm not really here to answer questions like that...PM me if you have questions about your own though.</p>
<p>Texan, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!</p>
<p>a) You said you're a freshman this year; will you be joining an eating club as an upperclassman? What are your and/or your fellow classmates' opinions regarding ECs?</p>
<p>b) How often do you get opportunities to go back home and see family/ friends over the school year?</p>
<p>c) Was there anything that really surprised you when you first came onto campus in the fall regarding the atmosphere, campus, students, profs, etc?</p>
<p>Congrats on all you've accomplished!</p>
<p>are you in sub-free housing?
what are the advantages/disadvantages to your living situation (sub. vs sub. free)?</p>
<p>Bobisbob:</p>
<p>a) At this point, I am thinking of joining an eating club. Eating clubs are the center of the social scene for many students. The Street (Prospect Street) is close to the dorms, and non-bicker clubs let freshmen in without passes (for bicker clubs, freshmen need to get colored passes from upperclassmen who are in the clubs). Social events go on on Thursdays and Saturdays primarily.</p>
<p>Much of the money that upperclassmen pay goes toward beer...that is given to underclassmen. I don't know too much about the food at eating clubs...I have gone with some of my upperclassmen friends to eating clubs, and the food is quite good...often better than cafeteria food.</p>
<p>Now about our opinions: We don't really have anything against eating clubs. There is much discussion on campus about whether eating clubs are social bastions, etc...but with the new four-year residential college system that Princeton is creating, most eating clubs that are NOT exclusive will lose all their membership and will close. Four-year residential colleges force students to buy their meal plans, regardless of whether or not they will use them (these days, most upperclassmen quit their university meal plans because they will eat at eating clubs). This means that only clubs with wealthy members will remain. The university won't provide FA for poorer students, because these students--administrators say--can always use the university meal plan.</p>
<p>Most students don't like this step by the administration, because it will further class differences. </p>
<p>At this point, though, eating clubs aren't that big a deal and aren't even that exclusive. If you don't get into bicker clubs, you can always sign into others. And the others are, by no means, worse than the bicker clubs. By my understanding, except for Ivy--which has Haitian waiters and waitresses serve students--most eating clubs are the same. </p>
<p>Hope that helps...not much of an opinion yet, but thought I could let you make up your mind with the facts that I have :)</p>
<p>Snowdancer16:</p>
<p>I'm not in substance free housing, but no freshmen I know in my dorm smoke/drink too much. Those that do go to the street and then come home to their roommates...I haven't really had a problem with it (except for an upperclassman neighbor who likes to spit chewing tobacco on the toilet seats...grosssss).</p>
<p>By my understanding, most people haven't had a bad time, even with fellow students who drink. The most these students do is turn on the lights when others are sleeping...annoying, but not like vomiting in your bed or anything.</p>
<p>Substance free housing doesn't really seem to deprive students of anything. Quite frankly, many students in substance free dorms go out and drink/smoke at night. They just make sure not to let it affect others in the dorm.</p>
<p>I would say substance free housing isn't a bad idea for the first year, but if you don't get into sub. free, don't worry too much about it...most people I've come across aren't into drugs, etc.</p>
<p>Haha, forgot some questions:</p>
<p>"b) How often do you get opportunities to go back home and see family/ friends over the school year?</p>
<p>c) Was there anything that really surprised you when you first came onto campus in the fall regarding the atmosphere, campus, students, profs, etc?
"</p>
<p>b) This year, I went home during fall break (a random break in the middle of nowhere) and winter break. It was really enough, although I felt bad because many of my friends weren't out of school during fall break. When you get caught up in college life, though, you lose track of these things (I don't know if that's good or bad).</p>
<p>c) A few things did surprise me: most students were pretty chill, not as competitive as I thought. Maybe this is just a random thing about college, but you kind of miss out not knowing what other friends are doing in your classes. Most of my friends are in different classes, so I never really know how my classmates are progressing on projects, etc...I have difficulty knowing whether I am behind the class or ahead of it, until finals week.</p>
<p>With this relaxation, many students don't like to discuss intellectual stuff. I've found...maybe a bit unfortunately, that all the students here aren't geniuses...I know people love to say how they were humbled, etc. And I was, by some people (I have IMO math champions from Eastern Europe living nearby)...but I wonder often how many kids got here, because they aren't all brainiacs. </p>
<p>Teachers are accessible generally. There are still some Intro classes taught by TA's like Math/Econ but definitely take part in Freshman Seminars. They are amazing, and you really get to interact with world famous professors.</p>
<p>regarding texans comments about the 4-year colleges:</p>
<p>you don't HAVE to be part of a four year college once the plan is implemented, it is just possible to be. All of the upperclass housing will remain. I think that you will have to pay a residential college fee no matter what (~1000?) because you are going to be considered still part of your residential college. But you do not HAVE to get a meal plan if you don't want to. If you live in the actual residential college, you WILL HAVE to buy a meal plan, however it is my understanding that smaller meal plans will be offered (7 meals/week) for those who want to join a club as well.-- and the clubs will offer smaller mealplans to those members who want to remain living in a 4-year residential college. Thus, while it would still be more expensive to do both, it wouldnt be by that much. </p>
<p>The universiity is trying not to create a class divide-- and going independant would still be cheaper than either joining an eating club or getting a meal plan (they charge something like $15 per dinner). Rumor has it that the university is working with the clubs to offer more financial aid to the members (ivy already does so)</p>
<p>While a lot of people (the ex-usg president who was also my RA freshman year in particular) made a lot of the class divide that exists with the eating clubs, if you read his editorial in the prince it isnt totally honest. The university did screw up the eating club/meal plan situation for RA's 2 years ago which made it super expensive to be an RA and also in an eating club, however that has since been corrected. I know plenty of people who are on financial aid (varying levels, from princeton paying everything to people who struggle paying full tuition) who are in the eating clubs, or are planning on joining. The difference between a meal plan and joining an eating club is at most $2500 a year, which is easily made over the summer or during the year. Also, if you graduate from princeton with $5000 in loans, its not the end of the world.</p>
<p>There is no way that the university could destroy the selective clubs, or even the healthy nonselective clubs (charter, terrace, colonial) Campus had been losing members for years, it was not a certain policy that put it under. Many clubs have gone out of business over the years</p>
<p>How preppy/elitist would you say the student body is? This is a common stereotype held for Princeton students.</p>