<li><p>i just found out that we have to (at least tentatively) decide whether we’re going to pursue an AB degree or a BSE degree. right now, i’m torn between an AB in economics and a BSE in operations research and financial engineering. any advice?</p></li>
<li><p>which languages are you thinking of taking? again, i’m torn between spanish and chinese. advice, anyone? which one would be better if i’m planning on a career path on finance?</p></li>
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<li> Both are extremely useful, I’m sure. If you see yourself being based in America, Spanish is probably more useful to you, but globally, either would be excellent to have under your belt. In the US, there is obviously a push to provide services for the many Hispanics arriving in this country, and abroad, there are some countries where it would do you best to know Chinese (for example, if you were interested in joining a firm with offices in Beijing), and others where Spanish might help more (countries where Romance languages are spoken, South America, etc.).
Another thing to consider: If it looks like you’ll have time to take multiple electives…do you really have to choose? Why not both! It’s fun to learn languages :)</li>
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<li> I used to be a Chemical Engineer, but I switched to English (big change, I know), so I have some experience on both sides. I would advise that you declare AB unless you really want to be an engineer. As long as you keep up and are vigilant about the requirements for ORFE majors (like all your maths, physics, Chem, computer science, etc), presumably some of which you’ll be able to place out of, you will definitely be able to easily transfer IN to BSE…they will eagerly take you! That being said, it is simple enough to switch from BSE to AB, but you have to schedule a personal meeting with a Dean in the Engineering school to approve your decision. Of course, you can do what you want, but they will give you a hard time, especially if you’re switching into a big department like Econ. Maybe that’s with good reason–our economics department is huge, and you’ll definitely get more “personalized attention” in ORFE (well, by a hair, since ORFE is the biggest BSE major by far). But what I hope I have made clear is that while the AB–>BSE switch is always available, providing you’re on top of your game with prerequisites (check the Registrar’s site and the ORFE and Econ sites for guidance), the BSE–>AB shift is a little harder. </li>
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<p>The only things you “get” being a freshman engineer is that you have to take 5 classes one of the semesters (I would advise this regardless), and there are a few introductory meetings, and one dinner. I don’t think this is all that much to miss, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>And as for languages, both of those languages are going to have really steep curves: Spanish, because some people will re-start it even if they already had some in high school (jerks), and Chinese because, well, it’s really really hard. I haven’t heard anything negative at all about Spanish except for grade deflation, but I hear from my friends that take Chinese is that it is taught very well (though it is really challenging). One perk to taking Chinese is you will probably be able to do PiB (Princeton in Beijing) the summer after freshman year. Last year they stayed at the same university as the American Olympians! From what I understand PiB is larger than the equivalent in the Spanish department. </p>
<p>Good luck making your decisions!</p>
<p>EDIT: not sure why this message is doubling over itself, but start from where it says “xxxx (mwl - 2.19.2009)–>”</p>
<p>wow. PiB sounds really interesting.
this chinese course… people who dont even know the basics of chinese can also take it? and then still go to PiB their freshman summer?</p>
<p>flushing - Yeah, you take 101 in the fall, 102 in the spring, and PiB basically covers 105 and 107. Beware though, Chinese at Princeton is mad difficult and very time intensive (although it may be pretty rewarding too).</p>