<p>Now that it is almost the end of the academic year, would appreciate info on how freshman year has been like for your student at Princeton? Transitioning issues, academics, social and otherwise.</p>
<p>Input from students and parents of earlier classes is also welcome!</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Our S is currently a junior at Princeton. Here is our perspective after nearly three years.</p>
<p>Academically, Princeton is a real challenge. Like a lot of “bright” kids, S was able to make very good grades in high school without trying very hard. Not the case at Princeton, at least in his freshman math and science classes. He felt some pain, learned that he was not going to coast his way to success, and made some adjustments. </p>
<p>He is a much different student today than he was coming out of high school. To his credit, he decided it was more important to learn what he wanted to learn than to earn the highest possible grades, so he pursued a challenging Engineering program. I must say I am impressed by the caliber of work he is doing, and the ways that he has been inspired by his professors. He shows a deep commitment that wasn’t there a few years ago, and he is one tough-minded young man when it comes to his academic work.</p>
<p>Socially, I think any college transition is a challenge. We took him away from his family and friends, and sent him to live thousands of miles away in a place where he knew no one. That’s tough for anyone. He was assigned a single room freshman year, which is nice, but I think it presented further challenges to finding his social niche. He was lonely, and he had to learn to cope with that.</p>
<p>S participates in an extracurricular activity that demands significant time and effort, which was his path to finding a group of friends. He is not a party kid, but he is a social animal - he bickered and joined an eating club. But his roommate and very-good-friend was “hosed”. So I think he is in a very good place socially today – he has some close friends, a peer group he likes, and involvement with a broader circle of acquaintances, but he is not much caught up with social climbing because he thinks popularity isn’t a good measure of that character or quality of a man (or woman).</p>
<p>I think a lot of people would be surprised by the quality of his social environment at Princeton – I am. It’s not the snobby rich-kid environment that some people might expect. Or perhaps it is, in part, but there are 5,000+ uniquely different undergrads at Princeton, so it’s not hard to find a peer group that shares your own personal values and interests. “birds of a feather…”</p>
<p>I asked S this past summer to tell me, seriously and for real, what he really thought about his college experience. The first thing he said was, “well, I love my major”, which he then elaborated upon. The second thing he said was “I love my team”, and told me about that. The third thing he said was “I love my club”, with similar color commentary. And this is from a kid who isn’t given to hyperbole, and a kid whose freshman year included some tough challenges.</p>
<p>So if you are asking because you are wondering about sending your high school senior off to Princeton, I’d say do it.</p>
<p>D is a current freshman. As a parent, I don’t think you should have any qualms about sending your kid there. If you child is on the fence about it, I’d tell him/her to go. </p>
<p>I could write a book but will try not to. Some positive things: freshman seminars, Outdoor Action orientation (you really don’t have to have any camping experience to participate, and if you really can’t see yourself in the woods, there are more ‘urban’ choices, but orientation provides you with a group of friends from the outset); McGraw center for tutoring (those pesky math sets). Lots of clubs and activities going on around campus and cheap movies on Nassau St. The food is more than decent, though kids do get tired of the same thing. Facilities are excellent. Look on the website to see who comes through campus to speak. Precepts bring a large class into smaller focus. Grade deflation exists, but she’s learning and earns her As. Reputation as haven for the idle rich seems to be a bygone relic. </p>
<p>She’s spending her first summer at one of the Global Seminars, getting course credit and fulfilling a dream to travel to that country. Financial aid is generous, both during the year and for summer opportunities. D was at the top of her diverse, not all that academically focused HS, and I asked if she was intimidated in classes. She may have been before she began, but she said she was blown away by how thoughtful and articulate and funny her classmates are and she hasn’t encountered any ‘blowhards’. She said it’s a relief to be in a class where someone else knows the answer. The place can’t be perfect, but it’s exceeded our expectations in the first year and it is a place she will not outgrow during her time there. I can’t believe she’s 1/4 done and wonder how she’ll fit in everything she wants to do. I’d say it’s the people (students, staff and faculty) that make the place, though the facilities are top, too. We did not have to deal with homesickness or health issues or anything out of the ordinary, so I can’t comment on those, except to say that there is a room in the infirmary for out of town parents to stay in while their child is in infirmary. Apparently that’s a long standing tradition, supported by a parent group. </p>
<p>Go to Preview and see what you think. And remember that the parents you encounter will not be your child’s classmates. As you probably know, some of us parents can get a little over enthused about our children, and I remember riding the shuttle bus around campus while a couple of parents were bloviating on “well, at Harvard” and “when we visited Yale” and “Stanford does it this way” - but it was only one or two parents, the rest were lovely (and quiet) and there’s a chance those students didn’t matriculate or if they did, they’re nothing like their parent.</p>
<p>Thank you ALmed and lefthandofdog.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, daughter can’t make it to the Preview. After talking to a few people, it appears that Princeton offers a myriad of experiences. </p>
<p>Thanks again, more input is welcome!</p>
<p>Ottimista
You might get more response if you post your request on the Princeton forum.</p>