<p>I'm looking seriously at Princeton, and will be visiting it in early October, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me a bit more about the thesis work that undergraduate students have to do their junior and senior years there. Do you have to stick to roughly the same topic for both years? Are the thesis projects fun, or do you wish you didn't have to do them? Anything else you think about them would be really helpful. Thank you!</p>
<p>You don't need to do the same topic for your JP and senior thesis. Some students like to do related topics, but you don't have to. In most departments you write 2 JPs. Junior year is challenging because you are taking a full course load and then doing the JPs on top of that; in most departments I know, you enroll in a paper-writing seminar in addition to your regular courses. In the Woodrow Wilson School you work with a professor and a group to write a policy statement. I hear students complaining while they are writing, but afterward they say they found the process very satisfying. It's also a great opportunity for one-on-one work with a faculty member. If you are doing a certificate (minor) you can combine that with your concentration (major) for an interdisciplinary topic. You can also do a creative thesis; a few students have written theses that were published as novels. Here is an article with links to some examples: <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/05/0411/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/05/0411/</a></p>