<p>I'm aware that you can't put everyone under one umbrella. But how would you describe the general Princeton population compared to other schools--what stands out?</p>
<p>They are just as diverse as any other Ivy. You’ll find academically talented athletes, smart legacies, not-so smart legacies, techies, science fair winners, dancers, singers, theatre types, musicians, preppies, and faculty brats. Any of those may also be international, URM, local, or geographically diverse. They will all be interesting, accomplished, and enthused about something, and engaged in life.</p>
<p>^This. I might also add that Princeton’s student body as a whole tends to have less of an edge than, say, Brown or Columbia. There are fewer piercings, fewer outrageous dressers, fewer unnatural hair colors–it’s a bit more wholesome in its image than some other schools.</p>
<p>A lot of judgmental *****es, some down to earth people, and thousands of snobs. Princeton people think they’re better than others, and you get judged based on smarts and social skills. Basically what you’d expect. :)</p>
<p>Oh randombetch, do not be mean to our prospies. They will think you are serious.</p>
<p>I know many families who have visited come away from the campus with a negative impression. Do you think the stereotypes that the administration and the students are elitist is true? I want to believe that the arrogance we detected during our visit was just the day we experieced but in talking to many other families, they seem to agree. Thoughts, please? How is the engineering program?</p>
<p>lvn487 - I actually have not heard this to be either a widely held stereotype or true.</p>
<p>As a middle class family from a “flyover” state, we expected a somewhat elitist atmosphere, but S has found the school very comfortable and welcoming.</p>
<p>We toured the school once, early on in the process, and D didn’t particularly like it. The tour did not visit classrooms or dorms and so she had no sense of what it was like to be a student there. I’m guessing they have a lot of visitors and don’t want the intrusion. </p>
<p>It’s safe to say she left with an unfavorable impression and sent in an application to please her mom. It was the only school where I thought the stated qualities of applicants weren’t illustrated by the tour. There is, to me, an odd disconnect between what some students live as “their Princeton” and the not so favorable impression many get from the tour and info session. All I can say is D is not elitist, comes from a modest background (except for the part where her mom says how hard working and just nice she is) and loves it there. If the programs are of interest (sorry I can’t speak to engineering) it’s probably worth applying and making a judgment when you have all acceptances in hand. (D never expected to get in and had to scramble tom educate herself on the campus, offerings, etc. because she never thought it would be a choice. And she made visits to two other schools, so she had an open mind about it all, and tried very hard notmto be swayed in her choice because it was an Ivy.</p>
<p>When we toured, it was a sunny fall day and many boys were outside, shirtless, playing Frisbee. D liked the look of the place just fine.</p>
<p>My son, now a sophomore, was underwhelmed by the revisit day but decided to enroll based on the fact that many people told him his other choice (MIT) would be a horrible fit for him. He has not regretted it one day. He absolutely loves it and he is just a normal kind of nerdy kid. Princeton has made him much more social as he has been able to find like minded fun, nerdy kids to hang out with. He is really coming into his own there and as a parent I am very grateful.</p>
<p>He has not found it to be elitist at all.</p>
<p>Thank you for your opinions. I also really appreciate that none of you were defensive. My daughter really likes Princeton despite the poor info session and a terrible engineering tour given by a VERY nervous student. We saw no students in the middle of the day during the week in any of the labs. It was concerning.</p>
<p>There was such a stark difference in the campus vibe in comparison to the 4 other schools we visited in PA and MD. The admin office was full of lots of overdressed families. Princeton remains on my D’s list. It has top notch academics, a beautiful campus in a wonderful suburb and she is rather open to the dining club traditions. I’m sure she will apply. She has top notch scores, a high GPA, leadership in school and in the community, athletic accomplishments, etc but a very humble attitude. She knows it is so difficult to gain admittance-- so time will tell. She is a junior and she has several more schools she would like to visit. I love that Princeton has outstanding students from all over the US and the world. It is more her father and I who raise the questions and of course, we will support her in her decisions.</p>
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<p>I assure you that many students are in the labs quite often, especially the afternoons/evenings. Most lab sections are 1:30-4:20 or c. 7-10. Furthermore, many students will actually spend breaks/the summer in the lab.</p>
<p>Hmmm . . . when we visited and did the tour it seemed lovely. The information session was in a classroom where Einstein used to lecture and it felt like it. The young woman who spoke to us was relaxed, friendly, informative and very well spoken. The other families with us were a mix – all races, all manner of dress, one family was with two teens who were very heavily tatooed and pierced, as I recall. I chatted with the young lady and she was very into physics and interested in sciences at Princeton. Our tour guide was a very personable young man – not arrogant, but self-confident. It was well paced and fun. Of course, the campus is like a jewel box. And it didn’t hurt that the weather was lovely.</p>
<p>My DD was very upset driving home because it was all so darn wonderful . . . and so very hard to get into!</p>
<p>We did a different kind of a visit. My son had a friend and an acquaintance on campus. I (mom) stayed with the young woman in her dorm and my son stayed across the hall in the guy’s dorm for one night. We met up with my son’s friend and both he and our young host took care of us all day. It was an incredible experience. I feel like they emulated what is most wonderful about Princeton-the people. They were generous to a fault and gave us a much deeper insight into the school than a tour would have. I attended an info session with a very nice rep but my son opted to wander around campus with his friends.</p>
<p>My son sat in on both a math and a physics class and found them both very interesting, though his friend cautioned him not to think too much either way (if said class was terrific or awful) of any class he attended.</p>
<p>What I picked up on was a seriousness from the students that could lead to possible isolation from each other. However, given that Princeton’s motto is something about service to the world, it seems there’s a great effort to get students involved with each other and the community/world. </p>
<p>Still, it was kind of fun introducing our young friends to each other. :-)</p>
<p>Our visit was in February, so that could explain a few things.</p>
<p>Most of the campuses we visited were LACs, and dorm rooms and (empty) classrooms were part of every tour. I’ve taken the P tour at least 4 times (sometimes in warm weather and should probably pay less attention to the guide and more to the background color) and have always found the tour guides personable, enthusiastic and knowledgable. It’s not fair to form impressions of the student body based on the people on your tour;
wait until you meet accepted students.</p>
<p>I’m another parent of a student who was underwhelmed after her initial visit to Princeton. It was a rainy, August day so, needless to say, the campus felt quite gray and empty despite its impressive beauty. For us personally, the gorgeous old hall where the info session was held kind of felt stodgy and too solemn compared to the more modern ones that had been used at other schools. In fact we decided not to go on the tour and catch a shuttle bus to view more of the campus. That is why I don’t put much stock in first impressions from college visits as a lot of other CCers seem to do. We live abroad and she was not able to attend any admitted student days but she began more in depth research into her options and what each had to offer after acceptances came in. It was tough as there were a couple that had originally been higher on her list. </p>
<p>She is now a thriving sophomore and extremely happy with her choice.</p>
<p>It is difficult to get a real idea of a school when only a day is spent on campus. I came away from the day thinking that it must had been a wrong impression. However, in comparing notes to other parents back home who visited campus, they too, had a similar poor impression. That is why I am very thankful that cc exists. </p>
<p>Our d always researches the school on line before we decide to arrange a visit. We explored downtown Princeton the night before so my d got a sense of the off campus neighborhood. We saw students out and about and they were friendly and approachable. </p>
<p>Wildwood11 and others: what tips do you have for my d to sort through schools? This would be after acceptances-- We are all ears!! We are not abroad but we live a plane ride away from many of the schools she is interested in. Therefore, admit days may not be an option based on time. I’m a little concerned that admit days are not a true snapshot of the school. I suppose it depends on what the visit objectives are at that point.</p>
<p>Since my d is primarily interested in engineering, the size of the department, the research centers and initiatives, the % of women vs. % of men and the ability to change majors are some key criteria. Peterson’s can tell us what % live on campus, ***** and college view have current student perspectives. Are there any other websites you would recommend? I have only come across a couple of Princeton students in our city who we would meet through mutual friends. It is on my d’s list in the spring or summer to gather information from them.</p>
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<p>Say what?</p>
<p>Anyway, if your child has a chance to choose between Princeton and any of the handful of colleges she might rationally choose instead of Princeton, that is one of the lowest-risk decisions she will ever face. She can research all she wants, but she could get an equally high-quality decision by throwing dice or cutting cards. All of them are wonderful, and 99% of the students at any of them love their college. (And the ones that don’t . . . many may not have been happy anywhere.) At that point, one’s personal preference about the big, obvious things is likely to control: suburb vs. city vs. country, LAC vs. midsize uni vs. massive state flagship, West Coast vs. East Coast, centrality of engineering, Crips vs. Bloods. </p>
<p>And of course how the school’s colors look on her. That’s probably the single worst thing about Princeton: The combination of orange and black does not flatter many humans.</p>
<p>If she is really interested in engineering, Princeton is certainly the strongest Ivy League college in that area (along with Cornell). She might think about a more urban college of similar prestige and not-much-weaker engineering, like Columbia, Penn, or Harvard, or a more rural one (Cornell). She might think about a top tech school like MIT or Caltech. She might think about Stanford. If there’s a meaningful cost advantage, she might think about a top public university engineering program. But the differences among those choices aren’t subtle – they are the kind of big, obvious difference you don’t need research to think about.</p>
<p>livn, as usual JHS have given some very good and informative advice. Top schools differ in subtle ways and those who would thrive in one setting would usually have adapted well in any other. In my D’s case, with decisions in she looked more closely at the specifics of her intended program of study and research opportunities, strength of options in her extracurriculars, living arrangements and social aspects, all of which can be researched ahead of time, of course, but she was too busy senior year to obsess about the particulars of each school. It turned out that the three options that were really in the running all had very particular pros and cons academically and otherwise. I definitely think she would have been happy and done well at any of them, but naturally now we feel Princeton loyalty and think it was the best choice.</p>