<p>Hey Tigers and parents of Tigers!</p>
<p>Can anyone share their feelings about having papers and exams after term breaks? </p>
<p>Seems like it would keep an already tightly wound student body that much more stressed as they never quite free themselves from a due-date. A contrast to other schools where kids get to travel or rest with family/friends during breaks and then dive into new material upon return to campus.</p>
<p>Another topic done over and over, but also just appearing again in the Daily Princetonian is grade deflation. Why does Princeton have to fall on its sword over this issue over peers such as Yale or Harvard?</p>
<p>Lastly, why is it taking so long to determine who the Trustees will select to replace the outgoing university President? Both Dartmouth & Yale announced in a timely manner who the successors were to be. The President sets the tone and kind of wondering what that's going to be going forward for Princeton.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>My son is a BSE freshman and varsity athlete so I can answer some of your questions from what he has shared. He was leery at first of having exams after the Christmas break but after being through it once, he decided he actually liked it. He took a good chunk of the break away from the books and started into some studying shortly before returning to campus for reading week. So there was lots of time after returning to campus to prepare. In the end he said that he was glad that the exams weren’t before the break since that time was so heavy with other assignments being due. </p>
<p>Grade deflation really does not affect the STEM majors the same way as others at Princeton - his experience more often was that the grades for exams were INFLATED on a curve (ie - on a math exam a 66 was actually an A). People seem to make a lot bigger deal about grade deflation than it actually is. Grad schools out there know about Princeton’s grading policy. It’s such common knowledge that there is even a website for Princeton students to calculate how much higher their GPA would be at Harvard. [url=<a href=“http://gradedeflation.com/]gradedeflation.com”>http://gradedeflation.com/]gradedeflation.com</a> - Home<a href=“created%20by%20a%20Princeton%20student%20perhaps?”>/url</a> I think part of the reason it’s contentious may be because you have a school full of students who are pretty much all used to straight A’s in high school. Eventually they seem to learn how to work with it but of course complaints are out there. </p>
<p>I am not sure what the delay is in naming the next president. I do know Anne Marie Slaughter’s name was frequently tossed around as a likely for the position and she has just accepted a position elsewhere so perhaps they are allowing some time for that news to run its cycle before naming the new president.</p>
<p>Cantiger - thanks so much for your detailed reply. </p>
<p>Seems like lots of kids have adjusted to the system as it exists. Just wondering if this could be why the app numbers for Pton were down slightly compared to others out there. Kids are so focused on next steps and if everyone at H & Y & S is having a ball and balancing work and grades respectively with activities & E/Cs is Pton willing to continue with its’ reputation for grinds over enthusiasts.</p>
<p>Hope the new president has the vision to break away from some of these so-called “negatives.” Otherwise, love the fact that the focus of the school is the undergrads! Love the cerebral and academic achievement with senior thesis and junior paper work. </p>
<p>Curious if the JP interferes with students wishes to study abroad or seek internships. Seems like everything has to tie into the specific research area and even certificates have to complement the concentration rather than be in some completely separate area of interest.</p>
<p>Actually my BSE son is strongly considering a certificate in French so no, I don’t think it has to compliment the concentration.</p>
<p>sahp2kids
I don’t know that Princeton has a reputation for grinds over enthusiasts. I have found Princeton students to be happy, enthusiastic, intelligent, highly immersed in their academic classes, collaborative, thrilled to be at Princeton and involved in a million activities. Like many college students, they are sometimes overextended, but the general atmosphere around campus is far from “grind-like”.</p>
<p>D studied abroad spring semester of junior year. She had one JP under her belt and she kept in touch with her advisor through email. JPs don’t seem to stop anyone from studying abroad.</p>
<p>I second midatlmom’s description of Princeton students. “Thrilled to be at Princeton” definitely describes my D.
After experiencing exams following the winter break, she hopes that if Princeton changes to a more “standard” schedule, it happens after she graduates.</p>
<p>I’m smiling while typing b/c I agree that the kids on campus were amazing.</p>
<p>One interesting observation we’ve had after doing visits at schools…Princeton does not play comparison games. It just is! Each and every student had wonderful and positive things to say about the school and why prospie should attend, but never once did anyone badmouth any of the other choices. Even the articles in the school paper had the respectful tone of acknowledging that students have choices and while everyone would love to share why they should choose Princeton, no one believes that any of the other options would also not be wonderful experiences.</p>
<p>We saw that as a hallmark of a confident institution that had no need to compare itself with anyone else out there. “Just look at us on the merits and decide if the place is for you” appeared to be the motto of Preview Days.</p>
<p>The faculty and students made our prospie humbled to be able to given the choice to attend or not.</p>
<p>sahp2kids - That “don’t do comparisons” thing is great about Princeton. There is no big rivalry, per se. Penn makes one over basketball, but nobody pays too much attention. Which means the Princeton experience is actually less “grindy” than other top schools, in my experience, and in my kids’ experience.</p>
<p>Thx, all, for the feedback re grading and the calender - very helpful.</p>
<p>sahp2kids - You make a great point about authenticity. During a prior tour and at Preview, I heard a few parents dangling some (at-times almost obnoxious) comparison-type questions out there, invariably about H, Y, S or MIT, but the Princeton students we encountered were always relaxed, confident, and straightforward in their replies.</p>
<p>One Horshack-like father kept making the point that P often loses cross-admits to H because “it’s H,” with a chuckle, as if that’s – duh! – the obvious choice for any student to make based on the H name alone. All I could think was that he just wanted to hear himself speak or had already made up his son’s mind for him and live the dream – vs. trying to garner solid intell about which school would actually provide a better fit and more favorable educational experience given his son’s own unique interests/personality. Comparing that to what our daughter heard from other prefrosh weighing their choices, it sounds like many kids were being more savvy and thoughtful and may, in some cases, have a far better grip than their parents. Ha!</p>
<p>A few P students, when asked, did candidly share their own decisionmaking processes and laid out tangible reasons for ultimately deciding that P was the best-right choice for them – we found that very helpful and I highly recommend reaching out to current students if you’re on the fence. Anyhow, we found the vibe always respectful of other schools and, like sahp2kids, that made an impression on us, as well. Our child would NOT have appreciated gratuitous, cutesy trashing of other schools. </p>
<p>[sorry for slightly shifting thread focus!]</p>