Princeton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!He Got In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parents Forum
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<p>:):):):):)
Is this for real?
He was rejected last year for those who have followed his story.
Too nervous to continue.</p>

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<p>wow.....congratulations.....Now can you please add your name and schools in the RD roster?</p>

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<p>WONDERFUL WONDERFUL NEWS!!!</p>

<p>I was one of those parents following his story!!! I am so very happy for your family and most importantly your son!!!! Congratulations!!!</p>

<p>Kat</p>

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<p>Oh, wow! I don't know the details of your story. Can you please repost it!? Thrilled for you and your kid! Yay!!!!!</p>

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<p>What a difference a year makes.</p>

<p>Congratulations </p>

<p>This has been a banner year for your son.</p>

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<p>Congratulations!!!!</p>

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<p>Wow! It was a great idea taking a year off and re-applying. Congrats!</p>

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<p>Super! Congratulations. Go, Tiger!</p>

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<p>Congratulations. Princeton is the most amazing intellectual experience any kid could ever have. He is going to absolutely love it there. And the benefit will be with him all his life.</p>

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<p>nopoisonivy,</p>

<p>HUMONGOUS CONGRATS to your son, not only for his fabulous acceptance to Princeton, but also for his spirit, determination, and commitment!! Wonderful, fantastic news!! ~berurah</p>

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<p>nopoisonivy, Princeton! What a gratifying and exhilarating development in your son's pilgrimage. Congratulations to your whole family for perserverence and unflagging belief in his potential. Williams is still a wonderful option, but it sounds like Princeton is his heart's desire. So, congratulations!</p>

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<p>WOW! Good for him. I just love reading these posts.. we sure have an amazing future ahead of us with the kinds of kids I see/hear about on this board leading the way! Congratulations!</p>

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<p>I am out of the loop, so would love to hear the whole story, but even out of the loop I am ecstatic for your S!!</p>

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<p>congratulations! must have been one heck of a gap year!</p>

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<p>Congratulations!!! It feels great, doesn't it? Hurray!</p>

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<p>momrath....If you know his history of applying to P last year after being invited by their art dept and then rejected you can appreciate his joy now. After being accepted to RISD with no $$$ offered he made up his mind that he wanted to study art history. He already has professional contacts in illustration and has been doing commisioned art since the age of 15. We decided that he would take a gap year and re-apply to Princeton and some other schools. He spent the summer doing art for a proposal to make a video novel out of a famous children book that he does the cover art for. The fall was spent applying to Oxford and St. Andrews (rejected at Oxford after the second interview).
November he began the common app and did a wonderful graphic essay
describing a student illustrator doing research in the Met. He still wants to see Williams and Columbia (the latter has the NYC-museum connection). Williams seems like the most wonderful place both quality of living wise and their art history program. Princeton is a 2hr train ride to our door and Columbia is 1 1/2 hours. If Williams were closer it would be more attractive. Princeton has an amazing museum and 185 Nassau is a pretty interesting art building. He just wished that he could go to them all!:)</p>

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<p>Congratulations and good luck on a very difficult decision!</p>

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<p>npi, The art history departments and museum opportunities at all three of these schools are beyond excellent. To me the major points of differentiation are life style and teaching style. In order for your son to decide which is best for him he needs to visit, talk to professors, meet the kids, visualize himself on campus. The good news: There is no wrong answer!</p>

<p>My own son’s experience at Williams has been overwhelmingly positive. The art history department is as good as it gets anywhere. If you look at the professors’ credentials, you’ll see that most of them have PhD’s from top schools, but the key point is that they are teachers first. They are there to serve the undergraduates and the interaction and accessibility is demonstrated on a daily basis. The larger schools of course have more course options, but at Williams the classes are small and intense. There are no TA's.</p>

<p>At this point, my son is undecided if he will pursue museum work, architecture, or secondary school teaching. If he does decide to go on to graduate work in art history, the Ivy League and other big universities with excellent departments will still be there and Williams will prepare him well. (Agree, he wishes he could go them all!)</p>

<p>For the kind of kid my son is, the LAC environment was clearly the best choice. Since I don’t know anything personal about your son, I couldn’t comment on the right direction for him, but the difference in ambience between a LAC and HYP is enormous. The essence, I think, is whether the student thrives or withdraws under intense competition, a very personal response.</p>

<p>Although we (and I include myself here) may not want to admit it, prestige is also a factor. The whole world has heard of the Ivy League and only those in the know know Williams. Having said that, those in the know happen to be the curators of many of the top museums and adcoms of graduate schools, so I guess you have to decide whose opinion counts, but for sure the person on the street will respond differently to Princeton than to Williams.</p>

<p>As far as location goes, being close to home either makes Columbia very attractive or very unattractive; it’s a personal choice. Being two hours to Princeton or four hours to Williams is, to me, not a deal breaker. The tutorial system, Winter Study and the Oxford program are also big draws for Williams.</p>

<p>In all Williams vs Princeton – A very tough decision, but it may just come down to emotional draw (which is not a bad criteria). It sounds as if your son has had Princeton in his sights for some time, so it’s a wonderful achievement that he shouldn't let go of unless he develops another emotional attachment. </p>

<p>I would say the comparison between W & P is a less of an ambience issue and more one of teaching style. Princeton is a very competitive and rigorous environment. Williams, although intellectually challenging, offers more nurturing and a stronger sense of community. </p>

<p>If as you’ve mentioned your son has already decided that he wants to focus on primarily on medieval studies, then Princeton is may well have the edge. At Williams, the options to study medieval art (and history and religion) are certainly available and sophisticated but not as broad as you would find at a larger school. I think, though, the point of a liberal arts undergraduate education is to achieve a balance and whether the choice of 6 or 10 courses in a particular area of interest may be compensated by the opportunities to discover untried fields. The distribution requirements are quite similar, except for Princeton’s language requirement. My understanding is that at HYP the introductory courses outside of one’s area of expertise can be fairly daunting; whereas at Williams art kids are required to take science/math and vice versa and courses are tailored (not dumbed down, just adapted) to the non-specialist.</p>

<p>Cruising through the course offerings of both Williams and Princeton shows an interesting phenomenon, that we noticed when my son was comparing Williams to Yale and Brown. The larger schools have more mid-level general courses. Williams has a basic introductory art history survey (that virtually the whole college takes) then they jump up to very specific upper level courses. For example, at a larger school you would get “Medieval Art in Europe.” At Williams you get “Distant Encounters: Art, Pilgrimage, and Crusade in the Middle Ages.” You’d see the same approach in other art historical periods. I’m sure this is deliberate and would make a good question for the individual departments.</p>

<p>Columbia vs Princeton – Again, strong positives in both, but Princeton is I think more prestigious in art history.</p>

<p>Williams vs Columbia –I don’t know that you could find two environments that are more diverse. Access to the New York museums is tantalizing, but on the other hand your son’s already had extensive exposure, so another perspective might be a positive. Williams’ museums are small, but are among the best small museums in the country. Again, they are teaching museums and the kids have hands on opportunities from day one.</p>

<p>For art studio, I’d say no contest – Williams (unless as mentioned above the student is driven by intense competiton).</p>