<p>i'm really curious to know how princeton student function with so little sleep? i've read a lot about how sleep deprivation can impair cognitive function etc. How princeton student deal with that? and grade deflation just makes everything worse is it?</p>
<p>what a curious question… Do you honestly think there’s a “princeton” way? vs. a Yale or Harvard method?</p>
<p>First you should address the premise of your question. From what source did you find out that Princeton students function with little sleep in the first place? How do you know this claim is valid or not?</p>
<p>i read a few articles in daily princetonian. sleep deprivation sounds very rampant and scary in pton…</p>
<p>obviously not but i just want to hear what harvard or princeton students say about this phenomenon</p>
<p>sleep deprivation isn’t confined to princeton. it exists on nearly every college campus especially top universities. in fact, american culture as a whole, beyond institutions of higher learning, is notorious for overworking and sleep deprivation</p>
<p>But how to cope with so little sleep? Just tons of coffee?</p>
<p>Coffee, maybe. </p>
<p>But mostly drive and determination.</p>
<p>Wow this is really inspiring. Is it true that Pton students sleep around 4-5 hrs on average and often times less than that?</p>
<p>You seem to believe everything you read. You need to be more discerning. </p>
<p>What is so inspiring? The new mom down the street has just as demanding a schedule.</p>
<p>Students at places like Princeton likely have the ability to go for stretches of deprivation to meet deadlines/special projects/finals, etc… But they can also release, unwind, catch up, etc. as well.</p>
<p>Do you think somehow that students in intense programs are a different species? They put their pants on one leg at a time as well, you know.</p>
<p>There are definitely stretches of sleep deprivation, but it isn’t infinite. There are usually a couple weeks every semester that are very heavy and those might be what you are hearing about. My son didn’t pull a single all-nighter in his freshman year, although he certainly had periods of a few days at a time where he slept 5-6 hours a night. </p>
<p>Being organized and not procrastinating helps a lot. Coffee helps. Cat naps. But as T26E4 said, it isn’t the only school nor the only time in your life you’ll need to learn to manage on less sleep. It’s just a part of life!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. I’m certain I’ll go with very little and even pull all nighter in college. I just want to know how to effectively cope with that while still being high functioning.</p>
<p>D goes to selective LAC that ranked high in time studying outside class. I don’t think she’s ever pulled an all nighter…maybe late (1:30am) but never all night. But then she never waits until midnight to start a paper due the next day because she went out earlier in the night! At the risk of sounding very “parent” I’ll bet the main reason for sleep deprivation is procrastination and misplaced priorities. Yes there will be midterms/finals and those week where unfortunately every professor has a paper due but mostly you can put assignments from syllabus on a calendar and anticipate busy weeks. My Ds have had it drilled into their heads to work on papers ahead of time, not write them the night before. Same with planning study time for tests. So if you’re willing to plan ahead and resist temptation to go to every party during weeks when course load is heavy, you can minimize all-nighters. And go to class! Then you learn as you go along. Learning to manage time is big part of transition to college.</p>
<p>Haha I thought only a small handful of Pton students pull all nighters because they procrastinate and didnt plan their time wisely and others do that for the sheer volume of school work because I thought Pton students all should be extremely diligent and motivated so procrastination should be rare. Maybe I’m wrong</p>
<p>it is not reasonable to assume students need to pull all nighters or go with almost no sleep. If one plans accordingly and studies alot, say 10 hrs a day (efficiently, not on facebook) then there is no need to crank the night before a project. Pulling all nigters almost never works and one is just tired in the morning in which he/she will have to actutally take the exam.</p>
<p>As a rule, all nighters are acceptable for finishing projects, not for preparing for exams.</p>
<p>So…if everyone works very very hard, the academic competition eventually boils down to competition of genetic makeup? The main determinant of grade is how smart you are?</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>To the OP: There is nothing “glamorous” about sleep deprivation or doing “all-nighters”… Your fascination with this subject on numerous threads seems rather unenlightened. In my experience along with knowing many bright “star” students and colleagues over the years…most of the successful students in high school and college and graduate school (medical school in particular)…those who did the best were not the ones who deprived themselves of sleep. The best students and future successful professionals tend to be the best “time managers” who can manage studying, eating, sleeping, friendships, extracurricular activities in a “healthy” manner. Those who tend to study poorly or those who are the procrastinators tend to be the chronic sleep deprived individuals…</p>
<p>…unless you go into medical residency which unfortunately requires a lot of sleep deprivation…I wouldn’t recommend it…nor is it required to be successful in school. </p>
<p>There is nothing to be proud of telling others you did an “all-nighter”…it usually means something “else” to the smart students.</p>
<p>Thanks! That’s very reassuring. I don’t glorify sleep deprivation but some articles I read on those school newspaper seem to do that. Some articles about the euphoria moment after an all nighter are really a bit scary to me…</p>