Princeton University Top Questions

While, of course, there are snobs and workaholics at Princeton, they are far from the rule. It's very hard to make any generalization about the average Princeton student, except that it seems everyone has some special talent that one wouldn't otherwise expect. Some of the hardest workers I know are also the hardest partiers, and while most people are driven towards success, everyone takes it with a grain of salt. As far as subordination to Harvard or Yale, such a suggestion is preposterous. While Princeton may lose out in name-recognition and obviously lacks a medical, law, and business school, it is undoubtedly a superior undergraduate education and experience.

Some of them are. There certainly are people on campus who fulfill the stereotypes, and they are often the most visible. So sometimes it can feel that the whole campus fits the stereotype. However, the majority of students do not fit the stereotype.

These stereotypes depend on which environment you choose to associate yourself with. There are definitely some circles like Ivy and St. A's and WWS that are hugely toolish. There are also some really conservative elements on this campus, like Princeton Prolife and the Anscombe Sociey. However, I've found that these stereotypes do not hold true for every single person on this campus. There are some very nontoolish people who are just plain smart. There are people that are not so smart. There are parties and nerds and jocks and everything else. And even some people that are conservative and belong to the evangelical fellowship are some of the nicest people I've known, even though I'm definitely liberal. And some tools recognize that they're tools. That's just the way they are. But if you come in with an open mindset about other people, it's not hard to find people that you like and that may surprise you in many ways. Princeton is actually fairly diverse in its kinds of people.

Yes and no?a portion of the student body is actually all those things to the nth degree, but besides from all being pretty smart, the majority of students don?t really fit the stereotypes.

There are certainly elitist niches, but they?re just that?niches. My friends did not fall into that category, and while I was in an eating club, we served our own food. Princeton offers a diverse enough environment that it?s possible for most students to find friends with whom they identify strongly. The education is excellent?my post-college thinking process is starkly different from my pre-college one (much more critical, reflective, and nuanced) as a result of my experiences in Princeton classes.

The accurate stereotypes: smart, more conservative than your typical Ivy League (but still more liberal than your average American), not particularly politically active, drinks but doesn't do hard drugs. The inaccurate ones: 1. Rich - there are a some students with ridiculously wealthy/famous parents, but most students at Princeton are upper-middle class. Princeton has an incredibly generous financial aid program that attracts many lower-income students, and is probably more diverse (economically) than most elite colleges in the U.S. 2. Snobby/elitist/pretentious - Again, there are a handful of these students at every elite school, and Princeton may have slightly more than average, but on the whole, the student body is pretty down to earth. 3. Concerned with GPA - Princeton students probably are a bit more concerned with GPAs than they let on, but they mostly keep their competitiveness to themselves and don't really talk about grades. Students almost never ask others what they got on exams There is a good deal of collaboration on problem sets, lab reports, etc, and most students are genuinely interested in their classes.

To a small extent, some of these stereotypes do hold true. However, they all fail to cover the full scope of the school and its students. The students are very intelligent and everyone seems to be uniquely talented, sometimes in unexpected ways, but most students are by no means stuck up. The presence of wealthy students may be visible, but it does not dominate the campus, which is far more diverse and progressive than the stereotypes would lead you to believe.

Yes, they describe at least half of the student population, though there are also just lots of really smart people at Princeton who don't fit into these stereotypes.

i think every stereotype is based on fact to a certain extent. princeton is one of the most racially diverse of the ivy leagues, and the large endowment enables students from less privileged backgrounds to enroll. however, it still seems on campus that the people who stand out in the social scene or in student government tend to be those who fulfill the stereotype - legacy students wearing j. crew/polo who aspire to investment banking careers.