<p>In this interesting article from the Boston Globe, students of lower income backgrounds talk about their experiences at Yale and Harvard, but the issues are the same at Princeton and the other competitive schools in both the Ivy League and beyond. Its sad to see that there should be cultural divides like this but also interesting to see what the students are doing about it. </p>
<p>Of particular note for those interested in Princeton, the article states that:</p>
<p>As a whole, students with family income under $60,000 remain a distinct minority at elite schools: 16 percent at Harvard, 17 percent at Princeton, and 15 percent at Yale.</p>
<p>While Princeton is frequently thought to be the destination for wealthy students, it actually has the highest percentage of students from this group with family incomes under $60,000.00 (actually seems rather middle income to me).</p>
<p>But you have been. Congratulations, Amnesia, on your acceptance. I understand that youre a member of Princetons Class of 2010!</p>
<p>I certainly wouldnt call Princeton a club and we should clarify. ALL are invited to apply and Princeton has gone to great lengths to reach out to students of lower income levels and all URMs. The fact that Princeton has the highest percentage of lower income students among these three schools (Princeton, Harvard and Yale) attests to the first. It also has a higher percentage of public school students than Yale, though slightly fewer than Harvard.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Princeton continues to be burdened by very outdated stereotypes. The reality today is quite different.</p>
<p>With its new financial aid initiative, it is the only school in the Ivy League (and I believe, nationally) that guarantees that students will graduate with no loan debts for school. All of Princetons aid is now in the form of grants (which dont need to be paid back) rather than loans.</p>
<p>Is Princeton selective? You bet. Like its competitors, Princeton accepts only about 1 out of every 10 applicants. However, the University is currently expanding the size of its undergraduate student body with the additional acceptances being reserved primarily for the very top academics and those who are interested in the creative arts. With the creation of the new Whitman College (to be completed in time for the Class of 2011) there will be many new dining and living options in an exceptionally beautiful new setting. </p>
<p>Youre joining the Princeton family at a very exciting time!</p>
<p>If Princeton had 100% lower income students, there goes the endowment.</p>
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<p>first of all, it <em>won't</em> ever have 100% lower income students, because qualified kids will always come from all income levels. and even if it does someday, the endowment will be fine. princeton has, after all, almost $2 million per student right now. plus, there's no reason to think that a crop of alumni entirely from low-income backgrounds will give any less or any less frequently than the current crop of alumni from all different income levels.</p>
<p>ptongrad2000, note that all three of the ivies' current female presidents came from the princeton administration and/or faculty: brown's ruth simmons (by way of smith) (professor, associate dean, vice provost), penn's amy gutmann (professor, provost), and of course princeton's own shirley tilghman (professor).</p>
<p>"As a whole, students with family income under $60,000 remain a distinct minority at elite schools: 16 percent at Harvard, 17 percent at Princeton, and 15 percent at Yale.</p>
<p>...it actually has the highest percentage of students from this group with family incomes under $60,000.00..."
Frankly, the difference between 17% at Princeton and 16% at Harvard could just be a rounding error. Statistically, all three schools are the same in terms of <60k, so it's not really worth bragging about.</p>
<p>"the University is currently expanding the size of its undergraduate student body with the additional acceptances being reserved primarily for the very top academics..."
Currently existing spots weren't reserved for top academics?</p>
<p>As f.scottie points out, that expansion has already begun with increases in the class sizes for the classes of 2009 and 2010. This gradual increase will continue until the Class of 2013 (entering in the fall of 2009) reaches a target size of 1,312. </p>
<p>This increase in size is a great step for Princeton. </p>
<p>Princeton has long been one of the smallest of the Ivy League schools but has the same requirements as its competitors to fill numerous campus slots for sports teams. The absolute number of athletes needed for each team is the same at Princeton as it is at Harvard or Yale. However, because the total student body at Princeton is much smaller, the percentage of places in each class that must be reserved for athletes is thus higher. There are also many undergraduate slots that must be filled because of the existence of the strong engineering and science programs. The increase in the size of the student body will allow Princeton to better balance its classes by adding many more students who dont fit these two categories, for example, writers and artists. Princeton recently received a donation of over $100,000,000.00 to help create an entirely new arts neighborhood on campus, another exciting opportunity for growth. </p>
<p>Zephyr, surely you know that I'm referring to those students with the perfect or near perfect SAT/ACT scores and other indications of the very highest academic achievement. No school in the country could or does fill its class entirely with those SAT 2400 students. Actually, I think any school that did would be unbalanced in its own way!</p>
<p>Yes, but isn't it normally assumed in college admissions at HYPS that every student admitted can do the work, so to speak, and do it well? That is usually dependent on the high school transcript and College Board scores, which still count for the most in terms of the application.</p>