Princeton Preview

<p>...was amazing!</p>

<p>agreed
10chars</p>

<p>yes it was</p>

<p>One of my favorite parts was when the band played during dinner on Friday.</p>

<p>I just have to say this. You guys are going to be so happy you chose Princeton. You will have so much fun, and so many great experiences you can’t even predict right now:).</p>

<p>I actually hated Princeton Preview. Pton was my number one choice until I visited.</p>

<p>Here’s a copy of what I said to some of my friends on facebook:</p>

<p>“Princeton ended up being absolutely horrible. I found the culture to be extremely elitist and self-centered.”</p>

<p>“I actually stayed away from the eating clubs. The campus is massive and beautiful–it’s like 3 acres of nothing but stunning old castle architecture and brand new buildings (puts Yale to shame, and they have stunning buildings as well, to say the least). But the atmosphere is so gloomy and isolated, coupled with a lot of elitist kids having parties… Read More and walking around in polo shirts & designer clothing. There were the obvious rural smart kids, but they were few and far between. I sat in on a physics class, and 80% of kids had iPhones and mac laptops out, using facebook and sending emails.”</p>

<p>I also had a really negative impression of my host and his room-mates. They seemed really cocky, and my host ditched me right away. I left a full day early, and he never phoned (he had my cell #) to check what happened.</p>

<p>I don’t think I fit in with the superficial culture. If you’re the kind of kid who wants to live in a country club for 4 years, then I guess Princeton is the right place for you. I come from a small, rural town, and I felt really alienated by Pton.</p>

<p>[I’m not biased–you can check my post history.]</p>

<p>Arch3r25, I’m really sorry you had such a bad experience. My own host actually was going independent with his roommate and two others the next year, and I actually expected a preppier, elitist environment than I got. But if you didn’t like it, then obviously something didn’t work out.</p>

<p>I would question your sweeping claims though, because the environment you described just didn’t seem to be there for me.</p>

<p>Sorry! (10char)</p>

<p>Arch3r25, I can sort of understand how you may come away with that impression especially considering you only spent two days here and probably the only partying you did was on the Street. The thing I’ve learned here is sure a high amount people here wear polos and collared shirts (to be honest at first I was pretty wary of these kinds of people as someone from the inner city), but these people have so much more to offer once you dig deeper. </p>

<p>I feel like Princeton has made me a much more open mined person towards people many consider “preppy”.</p>

<p>Also, I hope you weren’t too offended by your host’s behavior. Many prefrosh come here thinking of this as a special weekend but don’t understand we still have the same large courseload and activities to handle. Actually, the administration tells us we only need to provide a room and that we have no other responsibility besides that. </p>

<p>Anyway, I just wanted to give my take on it. Princeton has in a way become my second home and it’s not the Princeton you described.</p>

<p>Good Luck at Harvard where I’m sure you’ll find your second home.</p>

<p>In defense of Princeton, basically a lot of students in college everywhere surf the web all class. It’s a bit strange to see at first, but most students don’t get anything out of large lectures and completely tune out from the first few minutes; maybe ears perk up when talk of a midterm or final is in the air… you’ll find this at all of Princeton’s peer schools- maybe UChicago, Oberlin or Swarthmore have a bit more of an intellectual environment, but outside of English department seminars, you’ll find this everywhere.</p>

<p>Princeton has a stunning campus, though low density, so it seems quite empty a lot of the time, especially when walking at night, when it is pitch dark and it seems no one is around for miles. If you’ve been recently, the Friend center and engineering library are amazing.</p>

<p>ARchr. So sorry you had a bad time. My guess is that means the fit just isn’t there for you. I can assure you the kids are not remotely elitist or self-centered, but still, sounds like you will be much happier elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Arch, I don’t think you’re being totally honest here saying that Princeton was your first choice prior to Princeton Previews. Long before that you had indicated that your first choices were MIT and Yale.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062271542-post47.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062271542-post47.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You are undoubtedly a great student given your scores and the schools to which you were accepted but there’s no need to trash talk the competition. You may well have had a bad experience at Princeton Preview but you’re being disingenuous in pretending Princeton was your first choice prior to visiting. You had indicated at the very beginning of April that Princeton wasn’t even your second choice.</p>

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<p>PtonGrad, that was because at first my parents told me that I wouldn’t be allowed to go to Princeton because it’s so far (I have a medical condition). I argued over the weeks to change their mind, and I didn’t go to Bulldog Days while I made the 6 hour drive to P Preview.</p>

<p>Sorry if I came off as harsh or scathing – not my intention at all. Just a candid review. And Princeton was genuinely my first choice before visiting.</p>

<p>In my previous posts, I have be nothing but laudatory about Princeton, and I will stop here.</p>

<p>I had a very similar experience to Archer. The campus was nice enough, if not the people who were walking around on it. I didn’t sense that it was gloomy, though, especially given the exceptional weather; it’s just that many of the people I met seemed superficial, conceited, and academically apathetic (although one lecture I attended was so embarrassingly simple that I can’t blame them). I probably spent a total of 10 minutes with my host (who was quite eager to ditch me, a feeling that was mutual), and even that was 10 minutes too much. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that elitism and arrogance are present at any top university, even if they are better concealed and manifested less overtly (at Princeton, you can spot it a mile away). Princeton does remain my top choice, but I was less than impressed by the preview.</p>

<p>wow. i had an amazing time at princeton previews. it’s kind of weird hearing about how it was the students who seemed to rub you guys the wrong way. my host and her roommates were amazingly down to earth and sweet. two of them, my actual host included, were busy and had minimal time to spend with us, but i wasn’t in the least bit offended or dismayed. i realize that they have demanding lives on campus: one had an excruciating orfe test and orchestra practice after (they had a concert the next day) and the other (my assigned host) had lab and work. but i remember coming back to the dorms at like 2 AM (saw the soloist with a bunch of friends…not exactly a good idea since i ended up nodding off from the exhaustion accumulated over the day) and my host came down, introduced herself, and apologized profusely for not being around. on the whole they welcomed all four of us prefrosh in whatever they were doing. the guys who lived on the floor below us also mingled with us as well. they took us to ice cream, opened up their ultimate frisbee game to us, and, as i was wandering around looking for one of the dining halls, one of them found, escorted, and ate with me even though she had to meet up with her friend to work on this intense orgo lab for a test this week. and in general, as i was walking around, i’ve had at least 5 people ask me if i needed help finding anything. when i embarrassingly admitted that i couldn’t find my dorm one of them showed me the way while giving me an impromptu campus tour along the way (yes, i was that far off -___- ah well, this is what happens when you have absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever).</p>

<p>i loved the people i met. i loved the intensity that came with whatever princetonians seemed to be doing, whether they be singing, stepping, cheering, or brainstorming (i sat in on a 400 level chem class, and i loved how the professor got the students involved in his lesson). i loved the architecture (seriously, these dorms can’t be beat). i even loved the quaint surroundings, which i found had its own local charm that was quite appealing (this coming from a girl who has lived in the suburbs her entire life). after that visit i dropped the rest of my colleges, wrote my name off of harvard’s and mit’s waitlists, and reveled in the idea that i will be going to an amazing school in the fall.</p>

<p>^My experience was much like asdf’s. My host actually invited me to everything he was doing, including going to a lecture. When we couldn’t get into the auditorium because it was too full, he left it up to me whether we wanted to go into the overfill room. When I declined, he gave me a full tour of the campus. He and his roommate spent about two hours answering my questions (and those of my host’s roommate’s guest). Honestly, the kids were always the most appealing part of the school to me.</p>

<p>I would say the lesson here is that previews, like visits, can lead to vastly different experiences. Honestly, I’m not sure it’s even a fit issue – more likely luck of the draw in terms of roommates, time of the year (stress level), etc.</p>

<p>Like asdf and Baelor I had an extremely positive experience at Princeton Preview. My hosts were very nice although I didn’t get a chance to hang out/talk with them as much as I would have liked. This was partly because both of them had lots of things to do like going to tennis practice and meeting with professors during office hours and partly because I was spending a lot of time doing things like attending classes and panels and talking with prefrosh and current students. All of the current students I met were very friendly and when asked for directions they would almost always offer to walk me to my destination, even if the directions weren’t that complicated. Nobody I met seemed very preppy or elitist. </p>

<p>In the two lectures I attended there were a couple people using facebook and such but it was a small portion of the students (<10%) and there are going to be students not paying attention to lectures at any college, not just Princeton. I enjoyed both lectures (one intro computer science, one higher level ecology class) and they seemed well taught.</p>

<p>Before I went to the preview I was leaning towards Princeton but I wasn’t sure if the extra cost would be worth choosing it over UC Berkeley or UCLA, but afterwards I was 110% sure that I wanted to go to Princeton. I had a fantastic experience and am glad I went.</p>

<p>Oh, come on, Arch. It was probably not a good idea to challenge readers to look at your previous posts. In a thread asking posters to name their top school choices just before decisions were announced you responded with the following:</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062097495-post8.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062097495-post8.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/675168-what-your-1-a.html#post1062097495[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/675168-what-your-1-a.html#post1062097495&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So before Ivy decisions were announced you stated definitively that your top choices were Harvard and MIT. After decisions were announced it was MIT or Yale. </p>

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<p>Actually, you’ve said virtually nothing about Princeton for months until your scathing post. Prior to decisions having been announced you gave yourself a high probability of being admitted to Harvard and spent all of your time in excited conversations about life at MIT and Harvard. All of that seems a little odd for someone whose top choice was actually Princeton all along.</p>

<p>Look, if your posts are to be believed, you have great scores and have been admitted to many of the top schools in the country. I wish you well and am sorry to hear that you have to deal with a medical condition. I’m objecting only to your misrepresentations and sweeping generalizations. I’m even doubting a little whether you actually attended the Preview given your obvious lack of interest in Princeton.</p>

<p>There are many admitted students who decide against Princeton. No one school is perfect for everyone. Most, however, don’t feel the need to engage in the trash talk. It’s fine to dislike Princeton but don’t pretend that your post was unbiased and that it was actually your first choice prior to visiting. In fact…let’s just not pretend.</p>

<p>My top choice was not Princeton before admissions results–I did not expect to get in. My good friend (H '12) was flat-out rejected, so I expected the same. I just applied to see what would happen.</p>

<p>H got knocked out after I was wled. I initially thought I would be going to MIT or Yale because they’re closer (+ medical condition). I am an engineering major, so I started doing research about Princeton’s undergrad program (and arguing with my parents). By the time previews came around, Princeton was my top choice. This is what I said in my post.</p>

<p>You have a Princeton degree–you should be able to understand this logic. Nowhere did I say that my observations are the norm. I may have been a tad idealistic going into P Preview, but they were my observations. I did not slander the school–I’m just speaking from the perspective of an academically idealistic kid from a small town.</p>

<p>In academia you develop the notion that people of all social, economic, and political strata can work hard to contribute to society and learn, and through colleges you get this amalgamation of ideas and ideals that help your personal development. I felt really alienated by the exorbitant wealth and academic apathy (I had one meal with a really friendly student, and he quoted the eating clubs as being “like something out of an F Scott Fitzgerald novel”).</p>

<p>Please don’t reply with any more self-righteous mud-slinging regarding my character–it’s a base and simple way of criticizing me without targeting the real substance. If you want to address my comments, do so. I’m not slandering Princeton, and I still hold the school in very high regard.</p>

<p>There are enough problems in the world that our argument just seems downright inane.</p>

<p>I’m a low income, first generation college student, and I can attest to Princeton’s accommodation of all socio-economic backgrounds. </p>

<p>In fact, this is really a non-issue here.</p>