<p>I visited Princeton this weekend and I did like the campus (how could you not)...but I do have a few concerns.
I'm not rich. I'm almost poor, really. I know 56% of people are on fin. aid, but that means almost half are rich enough to pay that ENTIRELY out of their own pocket.
So I want to know what this place is really like for people like me. Are the people snobbish, or, more importantly, do they all go out to those fancy restaurants in town and leave the poor kids to eat pizza in their dorms? And about the town...I notice no Walmart/Taco Bell/Old Navy. Will it be hard to get the important things in life?</p>
<p>This is perhaps the funniest post ever. Are you forgeting that Princeton is an elitist university to begin with?</p>
<p>Well consider that 75% of rising juniors will join an eating club which are basically frats but you have to be rich join them (at least the good ones). The school is pretty snobbish too. Walmart/Taco Bell/Old Navy is a different world for most of these students. There isn't anything wrong with that, just think about the public high school you go to vs the private school with a reputation of snobbery in your town.</p>
<p>Of course, it's important to note that the above poster doesn't actually go to Princeton.
Tell me...you say 3/4 of upperclassmen join eating clubs, and that they have to be rich. About half of those upperclassment will be on financial aid, so we'll assume they're not rich.
What happens to the missing 25%?</p>
<p>no more than 10 minutes away sits every major store you could want. Target, Best Buy, grocery stores, etc... They just arent within view of campus which is a good thing if you ask me. A good friend of mine goes to Princeton, and is in an eating club, and is on about 60% financial aid. They dont cost as much as you think, and there is plenty to do if that is not your thing. The eating houses are sort of like fraternities, everyone knows that, but more of them are becoming open to anyone without going through bicker, and with the number of actual frats and sororities growing on campus, the eating houses are becoming less and less that way.</p>
<p>first of all, there is a walmart, sams club, target, costco, marshalls, tjmaxx, dsw about 10 minutes away on route one, tht you can get to by bus. The Taco Bell is a little more difficult, but there are wendy's mcdonalds, and burger kings also on route 1. Panera isnt very expensive, and was usually where we'd go when we ate out, or to hoagie haven. Halo pub has $1 ice cream. </p>
<p>People rarely ate off campus, maybe once a month, usually less. The dining halls are closer, and if we were getting other food, it was usually the wa or hoagie haven. The expensive places were reserved for dinners with parents, or maybe a dinner at triumph (moderately priced) for a birthday. </p>
<p>Even people whose families have a lot of money may not have access to it, and those whose families don't sometimes have more of their own money than people from richer backgrounds. It all depends. But basically everyone was pretty cool with whatever anyone said that they could afford. </p>
<p>In terms of the eating clubs, its not really that bad. Yes it is expensive. But princeton has one of the most generous aid policies. In terms of financial aid, princeton will pay the equivilent of a dining contract (~4000-4500) and you're expected to cover the rest (if youre on full aid) that leaves you with about 2-3000 dollars a year, which princeton will offer you a loan for. That means that you graduate princeton with a $6000 loan, since they have a no loan policy for the rest of financial aid. That really doesn't seem all that bad to me. You could also make that money in the summer, for instance. </p>
<p>I know people from all income backgrounds from all of the clubs. Although certain clubs have different percentages, money isnt needed to join.</p>
<p>u don’t know what ure talking about: Princeton is truly an amazing school. Yes, it is an elitist school. Yes, there are full of rich kids from prep/private schools popping their polo shirt colors, wearing 200 $ plus designer jeans with Gucci bags and all. However, based on what I heard from few insiders, their academics are top-notch – a great place to learn and grow.</p>
<p>One minor concern to students without rich parents is that some of the Princeton’s eating clubs are very snobbish. I heard like:</p>
<p>‘ivy’ is only for the rich and famous and is a very difficult to get in even though ure an white :rolleyes:</p>
<p>‘colonial’ is also known as ‘Chinese colonial’ :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Clendenator: At most elite schools, a significant percentage of students will be able to pay their own way. When you think about it, this makes sense. The educational inequities in the early grades are so severe that in many cases you need to be at least middle claass to live in a town with a good school district. Also, people who have educated parents, and especially those who have educated parents who are saavy about the application process, have many advantages that poorer students can't match. These factors combine to ensure that a lot of applicants to elite colleges are the sons and daughters of doctors, lawyers, and businessmen.</p>
<p>Speaking about Princeton specifically, as someone who is on financial aid, I really haven't encountered snobbery of elitism, unless you define elitist as "someone who wears J.Crew." Most people I know don't go out to eat that often, and most restaurants in town aren't prohibitively expensive as long as you don't plan on eating out all the time. In terms of shopping, a lot of people take the bus (or drive, if they have cars) to Quakerbridge mall, which is about 15 minutes away, instead of shopping in town. But as you saw, you're not going to find fast food and Walmarts in Princeton. </p>
<p>I can also speak as a rising sophomore with no plans to join an eating club. First of all, while a small group of students may actually care about how exclusive their eating club is, most people join where their friends join. Second, whether or not you join an eating club, you can attend their parties and even eat there occasionally as the guest of a friend. Third, the new four year residential college system makes joining the clubs much less necessary. </p>
<p>Last year, I knew RAs and independents, and all of them seemed to love the school despite not joining a club. This will only become easier in coming years as the university continues to look for alternatives to the eating clubs.</p>
<p>"Tell me...you say 3/4 of upperclassmen join eating clubs, and that they have to be rich. About half of those upperclassment will be on financial aid, so we'll assume they're not rich.
What happens to the missing 25%?"</p>
<p>Like I said, only the good eating clubs require you to be rich to join. There are 5 selective clubs on campus, University Cottage Club, Cap and Gown Club, The Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, and Princeton Tower Club. The other five, Cloister Inn, Princeton Charter Club, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, and Terrace Club, are basically sign in so non rich kids tend to join these last 5. There's your missing 25%, sherlock. It's important to note that you haven't gone to Princeton either, you're going this fall.</p>
<p>So I hear there are buses? Do they ever go to Taco Bell? Cuz I'm pretty much addicted to that nasty Taco Bell food, yes. Is there one in that mall, maybe?</p>
<p>Cloister, Charter, Terrace, etc. all would really object to your classification of them as the "not good" eating clubs. It appears that you are the elitist.</p>
<p>banker, that is not true. While there may be a higher percentage of kids on FA in the nonselective clubs, I actually know a decent number of kids even in ivy who are on FA</p>
<p>And to get to taco bell, you need a car, but they often have study breaks that include taco bell, and on deans date they always have taco bell at mccosh walk</p>
<p>That's total nonsense. The administration's worst nightmare would be seeing the clubs stratify along socio-economic lines, so the financial aid is very good. Crucially, since it's awarded by the FA office and not the eating club, no-one at a club has any sense of whether or not you're on FA. Nor does anyone else on campus, unless you choose to tell them.</p>
<p>And I think you're conflating "good" with "selective". Terrace has its share of children of the plutocracy who are simply into a more alternative vibe. Cap and Cottage have their share of varsity athletes who aren't particularly well-heeled. In my day, Cloister and Charter certainly had as much club spirit as the selective clubs, and this is still quite evident when alumni come back on football weekends or at Reunions. Campus, may it rest in peace, certainly had the best music. I'd say that students usually define the quality of a club by whether or not they can be with their friends and not by its being selective or sign-in.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong -- I'm not a particularly strong defender of the clubs, although I'm glad they're there for those who are into the club scene. But the scene is much more nuanced than its portrayal in this thread. And as others have pointed out, it's possible to have a very happy four years on campus, even if you never really take to the whole eating club thing.</p>
<p>Way to make it obvious you were in one of those nonselective clubs Alumother.</p>
<p>she was in cap, smart guy. way to make it obvious you can't use this site's search function.</p>
<p>More juicy inside info on eating clubs :)</p>
<p>Ivy: the #1 exclusive club; mysterious; not many people really know about it cuz it’s so exclusive; this unknown, mystic factor adds its already high-up prestige; usually reserved for super wealthy and famous. Super reach even youre a white and your folks can fork over full fare</p>
<p>The other four bicker clubs: pretty snobbish, but not impossible to get into</p>
<p>Non-bicker clubs are for your ordinary students :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Terrace: “pot/drug/liberals haven”, quad: ‘engineers’getto’, colonial:’chinese colonial’ :rolleyes:</p>
<p>dude calm down, f. scottie, you always seem to take it personally when someone points out a negative aspect of princeton. princeton is awesome and just because it isn't perfect doesn't mean you have to get defensive. no one is perfect and princeton is darn close</p>
<p>
[quote]
I visited Princeton this weekend and I did like the campus (how could you not)...but I do have a few concerns.
I'm not rich. I'm almost poor, really. I know 56% of people are on fin. aid, but that means almost half are rich enough to pay that ENTIRELY out of their own pocket.
So I want to know what this place is really like for people like me. Are the people snobbish, or, more importantly, do they all go out to those fancy restaurants in town and leave the poor kids to eat pizza in their dorms? And about the town...I notice no Walmart/Taco Bell/Old Navy. Will it be hard to get the important things in life?
[/quote]
Heh, interesting observation. Princeton on the surface seems like a very elitist, superficial university. For one, it is located in a rather nice town, with Palmer Square be relatively expensive. The sheer number of prep school students may intimidate you but fear not. Princeton is far from the exclusive reputation it gets. Yes, Princeton is not the perfect location where no one is elitist. After every school, including Princeton, you will meet the small few who are obsessed with social image. Yes, Ivy Club is a huge destination for many of this "social climbers" as they are dubbed on campus. But this is a very small number of students.</p>
<p>1) 56% on financial aid is actually quite a lot. Yes there are a number of students that are not given financial aid but keep in mind, not all those students can afford to pay the entire tuition. There are still a number of students that pull out individual student loans to pay for school. But given, at ever university, there usually is a much smaller percentage of those on financial aid.</p>
<p>2) No, they do not leave poor people to eat pizza. Barely anyone goes to the fancy restaurants. Most only go during parents weekends or when their parents visit town. Otherwise, most people eat in the dining halls, at the eating clubs or in Frist. Sometimes they may eat at Ianos or Massimos or Panera on Nassau but that may be like 6-7 bucks a meal.</p>
<p>3) When you go to Palmer Square (Coach, Ralph Lauren, Banana), there really arent very many Princeton kidsx shopping there. Maybe 1 or 2 in each store browsing, but most go to the square to eat Bent Spoon or Halo Pub further down. Going to Market Fair and Quakerbridge is an easy 1 dollar bus ride away. Everything you will find is within 8-10 minutes on the bus (which many people go on.) You will find Wal-mart, Sams Club, Target, Old Navy, Gap, everything you want at relatively inexpensive prices. </p>
<p>4) Princeton seems elitist in dress but it really isnt. Many people wear polos, but New england prep culture is just how it is. There are cheap polos, not all polos are expensive. Very few people walk aroudn with designer bags and designer shoes and what not and for the majority of them, many of those are fake (where you will see everywhere, not just at Princeton, bought at basically Canal Street.) </p>
<p>5) People seem to be confusing eating club prices. Most of them are not much more expensive than the average dining hall price tag. The most expensive being Ivy CLub is much more expensive than everything else, thus having better parties. Yes, bicker clubs may seem exclusive and they actually are to some extent. But there are plenty of other clubs that are just as fun. If you look at stats, less than 30% of each class bickers the 5 "exclusive clubs" and in the end a little more than half of that is accepted. WIth the introduction of four-year res colleges, eating clubs will play a less significant role in upper-class eating options, but it will forever be the social life. I wouldn't worry about the eating clubs. They are your least worry. </p>
<p>And more, Ivy is the only club (being relatively well-endowed) has its own financial aid slush that it offers to its accepted members. There are quite a few members on it, I dont know the actual percentage but being wealthy is not a criteria. The only thing that seems to categorize most Ivy members are they greatly emphasize social life and enjoy establishing relationships with upper classmen to reap the benefits. May be seen negatively, but whatever, every school has this. At most, its in the greek life, but at Princeton, greek life plays a relatively insignificant role in student life.</p>
<p>
[quote]
More juicy inside info on eating clubs </p>
<p>Ivy: the #1 exclusive club; mysterious; not many people really know about it cuz it’s so exclusive; this unknown, mystic factor adds its already high-up prestige; usually reserved for super wealthy and famous. Super reach even youre a white and your folks can fork over full fare</p>
<p>The other four bicker clubs: pretty snobbish, but not impossible to get into</p>
<p>Non-bicker clubs are for your ordinary students </p>
<p>Terrace: “pot/drug/liberals haven”, quad: ‘engineers’getto’, colonial:’chinese colonial’ [/quote
Eh, those stereotypes arent correct. Yes each club has its stereotype, but everything does.
Many people don't know about Ivy cuz its so exclusive? I don't relaly know what you are talking about but on a given themed night Ivy can see hundreds of different students walk through its door.</p>
<p>Ivy parties are some of the easiest to get into (of the selective clubs) I went to ivy regularly as a freshman, and I am not friends with anyone in ivy, nor was I particularly into the social scene. Ivy types are also all different, being super wealthy or from a really well known family will not get you in there, I know several very waspy kids, as well as several extremely rich international students who were rejected from ivy this year.</p>
<p>egg-actly. u hit the nail on the head. hundreds of princetonians will do anything, even giving up their left arms, to get into the club. Yet, the failure rate is so high cuz you dont know the inside working. Just because you went their party few times doesnt mean you know the system. </p>
<p>You must be in-the knows- socially nimble, social butterfly, a model looked-alike body (if ure a minority), socializing with so-called sexperts :), Still, its a super reach. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if youre a niece of Bush, ure a shoe-in :rolleyes:</p>