<p>I'm just starting to get interested in Princeton, but have never been there... can anyone just give some quick comments on various aspects of the school that you like? thanks!</p>
<p>Strong undergrad focus, intimate environment, beautiful historical campus, safe locale, eating clubs, residential college system, strong alumni loyalty, large per capita endowment, Woody Woo, engineering... what could you not like?</p>
<p>i've heard that the focus is placed more on grads there... kind of like harvard... i guess you would disagree?</p>
<p>Definitely. At Harvard, lower level classes are often taught by grad students... freshmen often have classes taught by students who have never taught before. Harvard's rep comes mostly from it's grad schools, but at Princeton, there are relatively few grad programs, and the professors can focus on the undergrads.</p>
<p>EDIT: But at either of these schools, upper division classes are going to give you a top-notch education.</p>
<p>How could the focus be placed on grads at princeton if the majority of the students there are undergrads? All profs are required to teach undergraduate classes; Princeton is definitely KNOWN for undergrad-focus.</p>
<p>Never ever ever in my life have I heard that Princeton places more focus on grads, haha. Keep in mind that like zante said, undergrads far outnumber grads. That and the fact that Princeton is quite outwardly committed to undergrads makes for an unbeatable undergrad experience, in my opinion :)</p>
<p>in fact, in speaking with graduate students, they say that the graduate programs are underfunded. i.e. graduate school at princeton (outside woody woo) would be a bad idea.</p>
<p>but the UNDERGRAD focus is great for UNDERGRADS! =)</p>
<p>preceptorial system is sweet, so is the physics department. and i'm not even gonna mention the campus...</p>
<p>The ratio of graduate students to undergraduate students is VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL at Harvard Yale and Princeton.</p>
<p>What Princeton lacks are PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS, such as a law school, medical school or business school. Professional schools have their own faculties and (in the case of Harvard) are located some distance from the center of the campus. The medical school and the business school are, in fact, in Boston, not Cambridge.</p>
<p>poor Byerly, poor sad Byerly</p>
<p>
[quote]
The ratio of graduate students to undergraduate students is VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL at Harvard Yale and Princeton.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Very interesting point (it would be interesting to see the comparison by departments, at least the number of grad students across the schools)</p>
<p>When we make controlled comparisons like this one, it is interesting to note however that the endowment of Harvard's FAS is "only" around some 9bn, whereas Harvard University's total of 22.6bn (end 04) is largely boosted by shares of the professional schools (med+dent biz law alone some 4.5bn in 03)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/finance/%5B/url%5D">http://www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/finance/</a></p>
<p>You make two errors:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You give the FAS total for 2003, whereas the overall endowment grew from $19 billion to $22.6 billion in 2004.</p></li>
<li><p>You fail to rrecognize that the College benefits from other aspects of the overall endowment - including a $3 billion endowment for central administration.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>"Favorite Princeton qualities"</p>
<p>nice to know that we stay on topic.</p>
<p>-the lush, green central New Jersey landscape!</p>
<p>ad 1
the last available data the Harvard source gives for the breakup is 2003 (I didn't feel like making up the data for June 2005)</p>
<p>ad 2
I did not "forget anything", I simply did not bother to come up with a relevant percentage of that "central" (2.2) number to be accorded to FAS (or did I mistake your original argument to compare FAS only?)</p>
<p>My argument was one of order of magnitude: not 23bn, but rather half of that (plus interest for the past 18 months ok, ok) are to be attributed to the FAS.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Definitely. At Harvard, lower level classes are often taught by grad students... freshmen often have classes taught by students who have never taught before.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Nope. My daughter just finished her freshman year at Harvard, and 100% of her classes were taught by professors. No students. No TAs. There were some TA's who assisted with small study sections in a couple of the science classes.</p>
<p>People love to attack Harvard over thsi issue, and thus I was worried about it going in. But it just didn't turn out to be true. Not that I think Harvard is perfect, but much of what people who have never been there complain about turned out to be non-issues for her.</p>
<p>Getting back to the original topic, my favorite quality about Princeton is its alumni. I haven't known a lot of Princetonians, but every one of them has been very smart and articulate.</p>
<p>Glad your d is having a great experience, Coureur. I know other happy Harvard students. What's confusing to many of us, though, is the publicity to the contrary that even comes out of Cambridge: <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=506807%5B/url%5D">http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=506807</a></p>
<p>Re Princeton and grad students, it is worth paying attention to the realities. You will not have a course taught by a grad student. You will, as at Harvard, have some courses with precepts (sections) taught by grad students. In some departments, though, the preceptors are actually professors from nearby universities such as Rutgers, or (say, in politics) experienced attorneys or people from a related profession. At Princeton you will also have access to the most senior faculty in courses or in your independent work.</p>
<p>Having said all that, I would say that, with academic excellence a given, what I like about Princeton is the incredibly supportive spirit the students have toward one another. They don't tend to be "too cool" or jaded.</p>
<p>Yes, independent work! How could I have forgotten the senior thesis. I guess because it sounds intimidating but I think the fact that everyone does one is comforting (and its a quintessentially princeton thing). And a lot of alumni have told me how proud of their work they were after they were done with it. So, I'm not looking forward to it yet, but the senior thesis can definitely be a positive.</p>
<p>The senior thesis and junior papers are amazing chances for scholarship you are unlikely to forget. The professors will facilitate your research in ways you won't even appreciate until later. You will spend a lot of time in your carrel in Firestone, in my case eating M&Ms. You will get it printed and bound and turn it in all your department at the almost same time. Then you will dance around and fail to attend many classes for the next week.</p>
<p>See, not forgotten.</p>
<p>I love Princeton's campus. It's great to walk down Nassau street with some friends at night or eat breakfast at PJ's and carve your name into a table or shop around Palmer Square and end up playing tag in the quad (okay, maybe only I do that). I just have so many memories from the place.</p>
<p>Oh wait, I'm in high school. But I'd do it all in college, too, if I get in.</p>
<p>You go to PHS, or WWP?</p>