Princeton: mostly minor stuff
UNEXPECTED POSITIVES:
Generous FA – although upper middle income bracket, my freshman son is attending tuition free. Cost less than in-state public university. HUGE relief.
Lots of freebies – on the way out of the freshmen check-in registration, they were handing out a very expensive coffee table pictorial book on Princeton like candies. In spite of the fact that I had already purchased it a year before, both my son and I received one each. Plan on using an extra copy as a gift to his grandma in CA.
On the day of the Freshmen Opening Exercises, it rained, so all the freshmen in his residential college received a cool looking rain coat with the college logo for their march through the FitzRandolph Gate. At first, I thought he purchased it using my credit card.
Didn’t know at the time of my son successful audition to the Princeton University Orchestra that the group’s touring every other year to Europe (Spain this Jan) – all expenses paid. No wonder more than the usual number of student/musicians showed up for the audition, I heard. When my son toured with his local youth orchestra to Europe one year and Japan another year during his middle and high school, each of these tours took $5,000 out of my bank account, so I was needless to say happily surprised.
Wasn’t expecting the caliber of musical backgrounds of his peers in the orchestra to be that high. My son has held concertmaster position in local, regional, all state and national youth orchestras before joining Princeton University Orchestra, so he was used to the leadership position all his life. Now, he’s just an average in the orchestra. Among his orchestra mates, one violinist even had a solo debut with New York Philharmonic when she was 13 years old. Most of the musicians seem to be the products of pre-college Juilliard or NEC with a dozen concerto competition wins under their belts. He has always had a profound appreciation for high level of musical experience, so he’s very happy to be making music and making new friendships with the fellow musicians. He’s also thrilled to be able to work with Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of Los Angeles Philharmonic, throughout this season. Dudamel has residency at the university this year.
New arts building – when we were on the campus during the Preview Day, the $330 million dollar project, Lewis Center for the Arts building complex, was still under construction. Both my son and I were keenly interested in this particular development more than anything else because this building is where my musician son would be spending most of his extracurricular time rehearsing with the University Orchestra and other musical groups. Since the freshmen check-in registration took place in this building, I had a chance to check it out and it didn’t disappoint. What surprised me more than anything else, however, was that this arts complex was just a stone’s throw distance from his residential college.
Forbes residential college – after my son was put up for a night during his Preview Day stay at this residential college, he prayed that he wouldn’t be assigned to this college once he’s officially enrolled as a freshman. Well, luck would have it, he was assigned to the same college for the next two years to his deepest disappointment. Forbes used to be Princeton Inn that was later purchased by the university and converted to one of six residential colleges with the money from Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr. '70. One reason why most students dread being housed in this college is simply because it’s the farthest of any residential colleges from the center of the campus. I dreaded it, too, along with my son. Unbeknownst to us, however, was not only how close it was to the Lewis Center for the Arts complex, as already mentioned, but also to the campus train station called “Dinky” (the first transportation my son would need to take when coming home on breaks or a day trip to NYC, etc.) and this store called “WaWa,” a very popular convenience store where students like to go for a midnight snack. For me, as a parent, I also liked that it was very close to the visitor parking lot, too.
During the family reception held in the backyard of Forbes, I was surprised to find that the Forbes backyard actually ran along the Springdale Golf Club with a spectacular view of the Graduate School. Although Princeton Inn was built after F. Scott Fitzgerald had long left the university but since the Springdale Golf Club was found well before his arrival, I wondered whether his famous statement was inspired by the same view that I had: Princeton University as the “pleasantest country club in America.”
UNEXPECTED NEGATIVES:
Forbes – along with the positives aforementioned there are some negatives, too, with this residential college. We were expecting, given the size of Princeton’s endowment (in fact, #1 ranking in endowment per student for years running), that the residential facilities would match F. Scott Fitzgerald’s description, the “pleasantest country club in America.” A frivolous joke aside, we did find that the facilities inside the residential college to be quite used and old, starting with the room equipped with cheap beds and furniture, on down to the residential college library, multi-media room, music practice rooms, etc. Fortunately, the laundry machines just got replaced with the new, my son reported. Because of this, in spite of the in-house music practice rooms, he goes to the Lewis Center for the Arts building to practice in one of over 20 private practice rooms there. The same with his study place. Instead of the in-house library, he studies in the Lewis building.
Course conflicts – as a pre-med with intended major in music, he was faced with frustrating course conflicts the first semester that forced him to take a couple of courses outside of his interests. He didn’t feel that the residential academic adviser knew what his needs were and therefore ineffective in helping him navigate through the course selection process. We’d say this is the biggest unexpected negative that my son has encountered so far.
Academic demands – I was expecting, with the max 4 courses for freshmen, that my son would have at least some time to be able to enjoy those other things that are important for enjoying the college life, namely, concerts (Bobby McFerrin was just there), Princeton sports rivalry, etc. He reported that every minute of his waking life is so busy that he has no time for such. Other parents of Princeton kids have reported that their freshmen kids don’t get to bed until 3 to 5 a.m. each day due to so much homework and other assignments thrown at them. Although Princeton had done away with the grade deflation a few years back, the practice still lingers, leaving students with highly demanding and stressful academic environment.
Apart from these negatives, so far everything else has been a very positive experience for my son. Hopefully, the stressful academic demands don’t get to an overwhelming experience for him and others.
