<p>Alumother, I know that; give me some credit.</p>
<p>Remember, my interviewer was comparing Princeton to Harvard and was not saying that Princeton entirely lacks the opportunities I have enumerated. The bottom line, though, is that Harvard has <em>more</em> superstar graduate students and professors, <em>more</em> think tanks, and <em>more</em> research institutes than Princeton. That much is clear. </p>
<p>Of course you are right that Princeton is a very intellectually exciting place, but can you not grant that Harvard, by virtue of its size, location, professors, and postgraduate enrollment, might be an even <em>more</em> exciting place? I'm not saying that that translates into a better undergraduate experience overall, but I am saying that it is a factor that should influence one's decision to attend or not.</p>
<p>"also, if you got a 93% in that science class and have a b+, you can try talking to malkiel/your professor about it. malkiel has expressly said that the policy is NOT meant to restrict A's in specific cases, so much as it is a general effort to reduce excessive A's. it's an attempt to get rid of the mentality that everyone should get an A because they got A's in high school. clearly, if you got a 93%, that isn't the case, so you can try appealing that."</p>
<p>You can "try" appealing anything. How often do they get repealed, hm? If you were a student here in Intro to Japanese and got a 93% on the midterm, then you'd get a B or a B- since the average grade for the midterm was a 97%. And likely, you'll get a B or a B+ in the class if you do extremely well on the final - which would be frowned upon by any pre-med student.</p>
<p>Full reveal...
I've spent some time studying at Harvard (undergrad), and have a daughter at Princeton. Princeton cannot be matched on the academics for undergraduates. Period.
But the thread is about the negatives. This is more ambiguous. A few years ago the Harvard administration made a push to get their hyper-serious students away from their dorm rooms and their studies and toward getting them involved socially. This would be unimaginable at Princeton.
Princeton is social almost to a fault. On the one hand, Princeton students learn how to be outward-looking and can most often relate to others with ease. On the other hand, much time and energy is expended on social distinctions that one might think were best left in high school.
How to balance this? I'm happy my daughter goes to Princeton.</p>
<p>no need to be so aggressive. i am, in fact, "a student here" - a junior, actually.
i've heard of students (one of my freshman year zee groupmates, for example) successfully get his grade changed because of the policy. try emailing malkiel and cc'ing the professor...a lot of professors, especially junior faculty, don't realize that the 35% isn't a hard limit. they're allowed to give more than 35% A's - i'd be surprised if the percentage of A-range grades in phi 201 this semester was less than 55%, for example. </p>
<p>but sure, this particular instance is pretty unfair, since that high a grade clearly displays very good understanding of the material. the fact is, though, that most classes aren't like this. first of all, japanese is a notoriously difficult language in terms of grading. secondly, you won't be getting 90%+ grades in most classes at princeton, and won't have this sort of backing. you're not always going to get A's, and unless every time you get a B/B+ is in a class where you have absurdly high grades already, you need to get used to the idea that you don't necessarily deserve all A's.
and even then, it's clear that it's not going to kill you. a couple B's here and there are NOT going to destroy your post-graduate plans - the graduating classes show this quite clearly. </p>
<p>i don't mean to be condescending (really!), but you need to calm down. one bad grade isn't going to kill you, even if you're pre-med. it's only your first semester, too - you'll be fine.</p>
<p>no need to be so aggressive, randombetch. i am, in fact, "a student here" - a junior, actually.
i've heard of students (one of my freshman year zee groupmates, for example) successfully get his grade changed because of the policy. try emailing malkiel and cc'ing the professor...a lot of professors, especially junior faculty, don't realize that the 35% isn't a hard limit. they're allowed to give more than 35% A's - i'd be surprised if the percentage of A-range grades in phi 201 this semester was less than 55%, for example. </p>
<p>but sure, this particular instance is pretty unfair, since that high a grade clearly displays very good understanding of the material. the fact is, though, that most classes aren't like this. first of all, japanese is a notoriously difficult language in terms of grading. secondly, you won't be getting 90%+ grades in most classes at princeton, and won't have this sort of backing. you're not always going to get A's, and unless every time you get a B/B+ is in a class where you have absurdly high grades already, you need to get used to the idea that you don't necessarily deserve all A's.
and even then, it's clear that it's not going to kill you. a couple B's here and there are NOT going to destroy your post-graduate plans - the graduating classes show this quite clearly. </p>
<p>i don't mean to be condescending (really!), but you need to calm down. one bad grade isn't going to kill you, even if you're pre-med. it's only your first semester, too - you'll be fine.</p>
<p>What I thought about my trips to Princeton:</p>
<p>-Too many people stuck indoors/on the campus. I just never see this kind of behavior over at Harvard, Yale, or Penn.
-However, Frist makes delicious hot dogs and burgers. I miss them dearly.</p>
<p>It's not about being "killed" or having graduate plans "destroyed." </p>
<p>Did I say my graduate plans are going to be killed or destroyed? No.</p>
<p>But negatively affected? Can you argue that grade deflation does not negatively affect my social and academic life at Princeton? Can you argue that my GPA would not be different if not for grade deflation?</p>
<p>It's kind of funny how people assume I do badly in my classes because I criticize grade deflation. I actually get great grades and I'm sure I will get into a good medical school. That's irrelevant though. </p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not I am successful, grade deflation negatively affects the post-graduate success of Princeton students - or at least forces them to work and compete harder.</p>
<p>It's not about being "killed" or having graduate plans "destroyed." </p>
<p>Did I say my graduate plans are going to be killed or destroyed? No.</p>
<p>But negatively affected? Can you argue that grade deflation does not negatively affect my social and academic life at Princeton? Can you argue that my GPA would not be different if not for grade deflation?</p>
<p>It's kind of funny how people assume I do badly in my classes because I criticize grade deflation. I actually get great grades and I'm sure I will get into a good medical school. That's irrelevant though. </p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not I am successful, grade deflation negatively affects the post-graduate success of Princeton students - or at least forces them to work and compete harder.</p>
<p>And the "more" graduate students and "more" professors at Harvard are counter-acted by the "more" undergradates, and the ratio of superstar professor to grad student to undergrad student. Trust me, you are taking urban energy as a proxy for intellectual energy.</p>
<p>The social thing at Princeton is what it is. If you love a visible social scene and thrive in it, you will love Princeton. If you could care less about a visible social scene, you will still thrive with your hallmates and your friends in the theater or the EQuad or wherever. But if you yearn for a visible social scene but are daunted or depressed or put off by it, Princeton is not the place for you.</p>
<p>This is my pet theory for the Princeton CEO mafia currently dominating the Internet - eBay, Amazon, Google. The eating clubs give you practice in the art of a professional persona, meeting and greeting, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah yeah, I know, the Facebook guy and Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard:).</p>
<p>Okay okay, I live in Princeton, NJ... and what one of the students said about not interacting with the town is complete bogus. People always go out to Nassau Street.</p>
<p>I have something negative to say about Princeton for certain kinds of kids.</p>
<p>If you really like the feel of an urban environment, or, conversely, really don't like a suburban environment, you will not be happy at Princeton.</p>
<p>And I have something to say about the current growth initiative, i.e. the expanding number of students. It has meant that occasionally the preceptors, i.e. section leaders, aren't as good as they used to be. I am guessing that will be remedied and it's just growing pains.</p>
<p>I do not want to be a blind Princeton advocate. But I have to speak up when people propagate outdated and inaccurate stereotypes. My intellectual experience at Princeton was extraordinary. My daughter's access to top researchers and professors has also been extraordinary. Too early to say for my son.</p>
<p>Just because there are lawns and magnolias and more pink than black in student wardrobes does not in any way mean that the sharpness of the intellectual debate is lessened.</p>
<p>Sorry about that stoompy. I guess it's more that...well, first, we interact less with the town than other schools, particularly because its expensive (compared to other college towns) and because there isnt anything particularly exciting (Unlike, Columbiand NY, Harvard/MIT with Cambridge and Boston, Penn with Philly, etc.). But yes, once in a while, we do go out onto Nassau Street, whether its for coffee or to go out to eat once in a while, it happens. But its pretty rare we go very far past Nassau, too.</p>