<p>I was wondering if I am able to use an art teacher as a recommender? He is a highly qualified teacher (two Ph.D's), who has taught me for the past four years of high school. I feel it's important to use him as one of my teachers because I want to double major in illustration and astrophysics.</p>
<p>My guidance counselor highly advises against using him as one of my recommenders if the school only allows two teachers recs (a.k.a. Princeton). She says the schools are looking for academics, but if anyone has ever been to my school, they know the art program is just as intense as the science one. Would it hurt me if I did use him instead of my calc teacher from last year? Would Princeton not take it seriously?
(My first rec teacher is my bio teacher and science club advisor for the past four years, so now I'm between my math teacher and my art teacher) Thank you!!!</p>
<p>My understanding is that Princeton wants recs from two different academic areas. I think if the two teachers you choose will provide great references and they cover the two areas of interest you intend to pursue, they would be good choices.</p>
<p>As is everything in admission there is no easy answer. If your guidance counselor has meet with the Princeton admission staff then they may have good reason for their recommendation. My suggestion would be to ask your math teacher to write a recommendation for MIT and your art teacher to be your second recommendation for Princeton. </p>
<p>Princeton is investing over $100 million to expand the creative arts. The new facilities for The Lewis Center for the Arts will encompass about 139,000 gross square feet. The past president Shirley Tilghman believes that engagement in the arts is just as important to educate young people for productive and meaningful lives as engagement in the sciences and engineering, in languages and literatures, and in the other fields in which the University offers programs. Since the university has made a considerable investment in expanding the creative arts programs they need to attract students that are talented in the creative arts. Here is information about the visual arts program at Princeton. [Visual</a> Arts - Lewis Center for the Arts](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/arts/arts_at_princeton/visual_arts/]Visual”>Visual Arts - Lewis Center for the Arts) </p>
<p>Princeton is interested in students that have interests and talents in multiple areas. The art of science competition is one expression of the mixing of science and art at Princeton. [Art</a> of Science / 2013 Gallery](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/artofscience/gallery2013/about.php.html]Art”>http://www.princeton.edu/artofscience/gallery2013/about.php.html) Engineering professor, Naomi Leonard and the director of the Program in Dance choreographer Susan Marshall are friends. They created a dance course, DAN 451 where the dancers behaved like flocking birds. [Flock</a> Logic](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/~flocklogic/]Flock”>Flock Logic) Showing the admissions office your passion for the visual arts can only make you a more interesting candidate for admission.</p>
<p>I congratulate you in interest in understanding the academic environment at each universities rather than the university ranking or the salaries of alumnae. Princeton has a sufficient number of science nerds to make any STEM nerd comfortable. Several years ago another student considering Cal Tech thought that they wanted to associate only with science nerds. Here was my response then: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10315829-post11.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10315829-post11.html</a> and <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10320398-post18.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10320398-post18.html</a> (the links to the student newspaper are broken) The viewpoint of a parent: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10305977-post6.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10305977-post6.html</a> </p>
<p>I would suggest that since you live in the area that you attend some of the lectures that are open to the public. For example, Lisa Randall will lecture on The Implications of the Discovery of the Higgs Boson on November 11 at 8:00 pm in McCosh 50. You could talk to Princeton students and decide if you find a sufficient number of like minded students. If you have not visited the Princeton art museum you should do so at your earliest convenience.</p>
<p>Both MIT and Princeton offer the opportunity to receive a great STEM education. However, the educational environments are different. Here are some of the differences: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10242015-post6.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10242015-post6.html</a> Here is a post by a current Princeton student: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14007556-post11.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14007556-post11.html</a> </p>
<p>Princeton is very supportive of women that major in STEM. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/906176-physics-math.html#post10185728[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/906176-physics-math.html#post10185728</a> One great feature about studying STEM at Princeton is that the university enables you to discover new interests. Most students change their major. For example, the current president, Christopher L. Eisgruber was a physics major who wrote his thesis on the theory of general relativity. He later became a constitutional scholar and clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. While astrophysics is an incredible department so are the liberal arts departments that you should use to widen your knowledge of the world. You can arrange your courses to be very STEM oriented but I think it is better at the undergraduate level to broaden your horizons. JMHO</p>