<p>In terms of dining options once they become juniors, students who are admitted next year will have six: bicker, sign-in; co-op, suites with kitchens, independent, and four year residential colleges. As for social life, according to a Princeton poll, which asked How often do you go to the street at Night? 62% of Princeton students go to the street at least once a week, but 24% go only once or twice a month, and 15% rarely or never go there at night. I think it would be possible fro most students to have a fulfilling social life at Princeton without ever setting foots in the clubs, if that were your choice.</p>
<p>There is no valid basis for comparing the "final clubs" at Harvard, or the "secret societies" at Yale, with Princeton's "eating clubs". And you know it, Scottie.</p>
<p>"Final club" and "secret society" membership is, and alway has been, something of interest to a tiny fraction of the student body at those schools. They serve no meals. Most students are hardly aware of their existance on a day to day basis.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the "eating clubs" and the "bicker" system have dominated social life at Princeton, where there are few social alternatives, and, historically, a large majority of the student body find that they <em>must</em> join an "eating club" or face far less attractive alternatives. The fact that, historically, there has always been something of a caste system among the "eating clubs, has contributed to the unhealthy aspect of the "peculiar institution."</p>
<p>But - once again - I am glad to see that the ananchronism is under seige - and that the administration plans to reduce the pervasive influence of the "eating clubs" with all deliberate speed. Princeton will be the better for it, and they will loser fewer applicants who find that the concept makes them uneasy.</p>
<p>Wow, Byerly. You really won me over with your clever little parallel between a brutal system of enforced servitude and a voluntary dining option that may be a tad elitist. </p>
<p>To be honest, I am also glad that the administration is trying to provide a more attractive alternative to the clubs. Yet, there are already viable social alternative for those who don't like the clubs, from cultural and performing groups, to more informal parties, to Blackbox (a dry dance club) and academic and discussion based groups.</p>
<p>Maybe students have been frightened away from Princeton in the past. The salient point for prospective students to remember, however, is that there is no need to feel this way, particularly now.</p>
<p>Even on this thread, stereotypes about eating clubs, and about particular eating clubs, abound. There are students of all socioeconomic backgrounds in all the clubs. Students from the various extracurriculars, including cultural and performing groups, belong to the clubs and socialize there. Before going to Princeton my d was put off by the IMAGE of the clubs as portrayed outside of Princeton in fiction and on these boards. The reality of the clubs is quite different. People join/bicker the clubs where their friends are, and students socialize at various clubs, whether or not they are members there.</p>
<p>i just went on the webpage for a food club and discovered that the "dues" were over $5,500! There is no way my parents would pay over 5 grand a year for me to eat some gourmet food.</p>
<p>You can't simply proclaim that the food will cost 5500 dollars. Rather, you must compare that cost to what you would have paid otherwise. When looking at it from that angle, you'll see it probably costs along the lines of 1000 dollars. The university applies financial aid to the eating clubs, so the costs aren't too extravagant.</p>
<p>If there is no way your parents are willing to pay 5 grand for the eating club, you won't fit in well at the eating club, since most of these kids have parents who can afford to dish out chump change like 5 grand. Starry, I'd also like to mention that eating has almost nothing to do with eating clubs themselves.</p>
<p>That isn't entirely true, Princeton Father. If about 70 % of Princeton students are eating club membrs, and about 50 % are on financial aid, clearly there is a certain amount of overlap. And again, as Prefontaine said, depending on which club you join, the dues may not be that much higher than a regular meal plan, which is over 4000 dollars.</p>
<p>The club is more like $1500 to $2000 over the regular meal plan, and that still brings the total cost up to no more than tuition, room and board at some other Ivies. If you look at the club websites you will see that why students say their social life is incredibly cheap at Princeton; the clubs offer all sorts of activities (and then the university massively subsidizes performing arts and movie tickets). At one of the clubs, the members have paid jobs on the premises.</p>
<p>I predict the campus is not going to be same place in three years when todays prospective students are juniors. 30% of juniors and seniors already eschew joining eating clubs. As eating options, the residential colleges are going to compare favorably to the clubs in terms of price and convenience. As the new administration seeks more diversity in the student body, it will increase the percentage of students, particularly non-whites, who tend not to join the clubs. As a social scene, the clubs are always going to appeal to a segment of the population. However, I suspect that some male upperclassmen will find the idea of being in constant informal contact with freshmen and sophmore female underclassmen to be appealing. If I were a betting man, Id say the majority of the class of 2010 will not become eating club members.</p>
<p>Thanks, prefontaine for pointing that out...I forgot that the regular eating plan costs quite alot too and the eating club fee replaces that cost and is not added on. Thus, since you get food for a year+ social interaction, 5 grand doesn't sound too bad. My previous post was just the result of my initial overraction.</p>
<p>Icarlgirl, I suggest you do some research as to who actually receives that financial aid. Your immediate assumption is that the incoming freshmen in the bottom 50% of the financial situation are the ones who receive the aid, when in fact that is not the case at all. The accepted students in the top quarter, with respect to how financially well off they are, receive more aid in terms of gross value than the students in the bottom 25%.</p>
<p>I encourage you to read <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=101385%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=101385</a> before you make anymore high school level assumptions.</p>
<p>ICarlgirl: "And again, as Prefontaine said, depending on which club you join, the dues may not be that much higher than a regular meal plan, which is over 4000 dollars."
I see that you currently attend Princeton as one of the bottom 25 percent who do not have interest in the clubs. With a very narrow view of the eating clubs, you should leave the discussion concerning club costs to others who know the clubs better, because the OP is interested in them and looking for credited sources.</p>
<p>PrincetonFather, I think you are being rude to a current Princeton student. Bottom 25%? What are you trying to say? Please.</p>
<p>Thank you, alumother. I have no idea why the previous poster saw fit to attack me for providing a point of view that he does not share. </p>
<p>I am not going to claim that socioeconomic issues have no bearing on the administion's view of the clubs, or that the school is entirely free of such issuesr. However, as a current student, I have not yet met anyone who is dissatisfied with the Princeton experience as a result of the clubs. Likewise, I have never met anyone who is dissatisfied with the amout of financial aid awarded, which is generally considered quite generous.</p>
<p>Choosing to live in a 4-year res college will not automatically prevent people from joining eating clubs; it is more for people who like the sense of community the res college affords you. I'm in Forbes and we love the community that we get here and very well might end up in Whitman, but I am definitely joining an eating club anyway.</p>
<p>I am regularly "attacked for providing a point of view that (another poster) does not share". </p>
<p>Why ... the lovely Alumother herself has tongue-lashed me on occasion when I have challenged her religious principles - Princeton-wise!</p>
<p>As an elite college student you will have to learn to deal with those whose biases and prejudices differ from your own, keeping in mind that they are equally entitled to their views - however misguided they may be!</p>
<p>Byerly, I was just wondering that are you a Harvard alum or current student?</p>