<p>UCMomma, I don't do the PM thing, but let's just say I live near a Draeger's:). Congrats to your D.</p>
<p>As far as recommendation/warnings for frosh year, I would say do Outdoor Action unless you are wildly allergic to everything in the outdoors. If you are taking any 200 level classes, don't underestimate the difficulty. And keep meeting new people and trying new things all through the first semester.</p>
<p>As the parent of an '08 student, I would recommend 1) signing up for 5 or 6 courses and shopping for the first week so that you're sure you like the professor and the curriculum and 2) diving right into one or two extracurriculars, because they tend to be the basis for one's social niche on campus.</p>
<p>Also bring protein bars. And prepare to get way too little sleep. Aparent is right about the ECs, find a good one in the first semester and get involved.</p>
<p>and be ready to take day time naps. According to my S every one takes a nap and no one sleeps before 2-3.</p>
<p>d-i-t-t-o to the naps thing. For the last two weeks, I haven't gotten to bed before 3 a.m. due to work and activities. So yeah, it's okay to do the vampire thing when you're through with classes during the day. In fact, it's almost necessary.</p>
<p>To somewhat echo alumother be careful in course selection. For example, there is an integrated science sequence for freshmen you should make absolutely sure you are up to before registering as the prereqs are a little vague. Also, have someone you love give you a gift card to Panera's on Nassau. Sometimes a good bowl of chicken noodle is what you need before you face a 6 hour problem set. Finally, Dillon is a great workout facility which helps keep you in shape and at peak productivity.</p>
<p>D loves Paneras.....</p>
<p>S loves Mehek</p>
<p>I love Mehek and Panera.....and yeah, integrated and the hum sequence are killer but amazing, so know what you're up to. One of my best friends is in integrated and she literally had 2 full 4 inch binders of problem sets at the end of the semester, and for hum we have probably 500 pages of reading a week on average. But if you enjoy the work, it's totally worth it.</p>
<p>Woah...that is crazy!</p>
<p>Wow - great information here - if S. gets in! :)</p>
<p>All my college friends tell me Dartmouth and Princeton have the largest workload in general. This definitely clues me in haha.</p>
<p>i'm beyond excited for princeton.</p>
<p>i hope to meet everyone on this board... let's play frisbee, or something. </p>
<p>by the way, i'm gonna be real confused. in st. louis, panera = st. louis bread company, but they serve the same things. i think i'll try to start a "st. louis bread co" movement in princeton :).</p>
<p>Alumother - small world - I have two close friends that live near a Draegers, one who was heavily steeped in local politics and currently has a D at Princeton too! I live near a Scharffen Berger Chocolate Makers.</p>
<p>Though my user name is UCmomma, I'm totally a Princetonmomma. We are soooooooooo excited and just ordered our Princeton sweatshirts. BTW, does anyone have suggestions about winter gear? Being from sunny California, we don't know what cold is. And do groups of students go skiing in winter? How about ice skating?
Princeton sounds like the BEST place in the world and we know it will be for D.</p>
<p>UCmomma: I can tell you all about winter gear....we are not sunny. We just live in hot, hotter and hottest place. The three seasons for us are June, July and August. We did the winter gear thing on-line from LLBean. We thought of that thing in summer and had to wait till they had the winter stuff. The key to cold is layering. You must have fleece thingy and a water-wind resistant outer shell. S wears fleece when it is below 25 or windy. You also will need gloves and beanies. The outer coat must have lots of pockets. We got several pairs of cheap gloves and beanies - they tend to have feet and mind of their own.</p>
<p>This is a good time to buy. REI, LLBean are having winter sale. (We bought at regular prices).</p>
<p>We also bought winter hiking shoes, but he never wears them.</p>
<p>(Why don't you and alumother just come out and say that you live in San Mateo, Melno Park or Los Altos.....or any of the 100s of suburbs of SF?).</p>
<p>Simba, I don't say it because I like to make silly insider jokes? From now on, however, when asked, I will just say that I live in one of the 100s of suburbs of SF. Except that then all the people on the Peninsula, as we say, will rise up with lattes and whole bran muffins in hand and stone me to death:).</p>
<p>UCMomma, My D did ask as a present to go to school for a good winter coat. If you have a D who likes to shop, and you like to dress her, and the finances permit, you can do what we did. My dropoff trip for D prior to Outdoor Action included a stay at a hotel in Manhattan and a small shopping expedition. We happened on the weekend when they have no sales tax in Manhattan! And yes, she has the fleece, and the outer shell, and the hat, and the lightweight hiking boots for the snow, and the gloves, but the black wool coat has gotten a lot of wear.</p>
<p>Of course, so have the I-think-that's-too-small tank tops, but I didn't really expect that to change:).</p>
<p>Well, there's never a sales tax on clothing in NJ, and there are outlet malls nearby. I believe Princeton runs a bus there now and then...</p>
<p>Simba - I don't say it because I really don't live in San Mateo, Menlo Park, or Los Altos but in one of the 100s of suburbs in the other direction...but seriously, I was trying to strike a balance between respecting other people's privacy and at the same time feeling this wonderful Princeton comraderie with all you other parents out there.</p>
<p>Thanks Simba, Alumother and Aparent for the helpful info on winter gear. We are thinking of getting stuff now during the winter sales and don't want to get anything D won't use. Good tip Alumother, about Manhattan. D loves NYC and I hope we'll get there before Princeton starts. What is this about no sales tax in Manhattan on a weekend? Is it just weekends?</p>
<p>Back to recommendations/warnings about frosh year, how many classes on average do most frosh take the first semester? 3,4,5,6 classes?</p>
<p>The recommended course load for first semester is 4. It may be better to space out the 'required' freshman seminar and writing seminar classes between fall and spring semester.</p>
<p>Princeton does send out semester grade reports to parents. I don't know if this is one semester, one year or all four years deal. We had seen his grades on-line, but it was nice to see them again.</p>
<p>UCmomma, there's a special week in NYC during which there's no sales tax on clothing. Otherwise, I believe there's no sales tax on single clothing purchases above a certain price. I can't recall said price at the moment. I live in NYC btw.</p>