<p>Anyone attended the Princeton Preview Hosting on 4/11-4/13 that can share your experience? Thx.</p>
<p>[I’m starting with a new handle here given our family’s new chapter with new schools, etc., but, FWIW, I am a long-time CC user.] </p>
<p>Our daughter attended Preview 4/11-4/13 and had a wonderful experience. She is 100% sold on Princeton now, partially because, apart from the Street being closed, I think she got a realistic sense of what it would feel like to be a student - there was no hard sell or disingenuous fakery going on and she found the students genuinely happy, engaged, and proud of their school – clearly brilliant but also “really normal and nice,” as she put it. I asked if she found any students obviously stressed or intense or sporting ascots and she laughed. A resounding “No!” on all counts. She said the kids she met were from all backgrounds and types - diversity was evident on all fronts, a priority for her (and me) going in to prefrosh visits. Oh, she said there were plenty of introvert and extrovert types.</p>
<p>The weather was dreary after a week of apparently glorious sun in Princeton - too bad for those easily swayed by, say, Palo Alto weather in April! - but she loved all other aspects of the busy weekend and found her host gracious yet not overbearing. (She provided a sleeping bag and though I know it wasn’t the most comfortable sleep on the floor I heard only positive things about the two evenings spent in the dorm - yes, she LOVED the dorms she saw, including Forbes.) The host sat down with her initially and helped identify must-attend events during the weekend, joined her for a few things, and even linked her up with a friend to sit in on a 6-person class in her field of interest on top of the other offerings. The professor was very accommodating and it was a highlight of her visit. All in all, she did too many things to remember - Asian night market, Improv, radio station reception, athletic facilities and other tours, comedy performance, midnight a cappella under the arches, dance, a couple of other classes, creative writing overview, a really nice, candid eating club panel that calmed her fears about all those goofy rumors one hears - kids all seem to find their niche, a fin-aid office drop-in to say thanks, many, many meals, and an array of student-only offerings. Plus, she still had time to tour about and have a meal with me, which was lovely. Since I attended, as well, I much appreciated the opportunity to hear from the outgoing president about Princeton’s unique offerings, to mingle over wine with other parents, and to meet Janet Rapelye in person, who was very approachable and lovely. It was all very relaxed. The extraordinary campus and facilities are more mind-blowing than I appreciated on previous visits. This is truly the most exceptional campus I’ve been to and I’ve seen many. Love Harvard, e.g., but there’s just something special there on that little plot in N.J., which I wasn’t necessarily expecting to encounter at the beginning of this process.</p>
<p>Hope you/your child have an opportunity to enjoy Preview. If I could do it over again myself, it would be very difficult to turn Princeton down!</p>