Princeton University Top Questions

All of my departmental professors knew my name. Each teacher seems to genuinely care about their students doing well in the class and that shows in their effort. Students are very into their studies, yet willing to help out fellow classmates. However, there is a small portion of overly competitive cut throat students. BEWARE.

Professors are very dedicated to making sure students are on the right track and interested in the material. They hold regular office hours and both challenge the students and welcome their curiosity.

The academics are amazing. You really can make as much work for yourself as you want to. Everything is here for you if you go after it. In smaller lectures and precepts you will have the chance to get to know professors, but in the end you have to make the effort.

It's not hard to forge connections with professors - they'll invite you over for dinner and are more than willing to spend hours talking outside of class or to write a recommendation. That said, expectations are high and you will not do well if you don't prepare weekly for precept (or lab if that's the case). Academics at Princeton are highly demanding, and will increase in difficulty and pressure with each year as independent work mounts. There is no such thing as breezing through Princeton on the basis of your accomplishments in high school, so don't be complacent. Whether out of consideration for pure intellectual interest or their participation grades, students speak up in precept and lecture and questions are common and insightful. The best classes provoke intellectual conversations that continue out of class. While Princeton's academics will be excellent preparation for a job interview or for analytical work in, for example, consulting, the University is extremely adamant about retaining its liberal arts base and for producing well-rounded, well-read students who are comfortable with everything from Kant to kinetics at a cocktail party.

Students study at all times. I have never seen such a studious group of people. Princeton Students have intellectual conversations outside of class very often. The education at princeton is geared towards learning for its own sake however, the atmosphere is geared toward success in one's job so you end up feeling a lot of pressure to conform.

Classes and professors are wonderful. Religion department is amazing--all the professors know your name. Professors are in general very approachable.

Liberal Arts. There's a lot of freedom here and the departments have too much money you can do a lot of cool projects.

Most of my classes are very small and almost all of my teachers know my name. The level of attention I receive on a daily basis from my professors certainly helps my understanding of the material. One thing to know is that students are very competitive and it is very challenging to get an A in a class.

many of my professors know my name. my favorite class at the moment is probably religion in modern thought and film. it deals with the philosophy proving/disproving religion. my least favorite is an astrophysics course that im pdfing. i dont go to lecture so its unfair to call it such really. studying varies sooo much. some study all the time and others hardly at all. class participation is fairly common depending on the size of the class and the style of teacher. students do have inellectual convos outside of class. competitiveness varies a lot. the most unique class i have taken would probably be this religion class or my early middle ages history class. my major is religion. it is a small department with great teachers and majors. i do sometimes meet to talk with professors. the requirements are not bad at all and probably worthwhile. the education is geared toward learning.

If you're considering coming to Princeton, you have to face a couple facts: (1) the admissions committee has the incredibly difficult task of creating a freshman class from an enormous pool of some of the most academically-gifted and otherwise-talented students in the world (caveat: you can't get in if you don't apply!); and (2) the university doesn't maintain its prestigious academic reputation by allowing its students to hang out in the Woody Woo fountain or on Alexander Beach all day (both excellent ways to de-stress though). Typically, students will take four classes per semester with about 11-15 hours of class per week. Engineers take five classes some semesters and may have up to 18 hours of class per week. While it might be easy to sleep through a 9am economics lecture, good luck catching up on the material since most of the time lectures are different and in addition to the readings that are assigned. Moreover, a lot of classes won't be with 200 or 50 or even 20 other students. The vast majority of classes at Princeton are smaller seminars and classes that require engagement with the material and active participation. Even if participation doesn't really affect your grade, you don't want to be the only person in the room who hasn't done the reading... especially when there are only 10 other people in the room. As a result, you'll find that people put a lot of time into their studies outside of class. While very few people make this their only activity, it is priority #1 for most students, which is the only way it can be when you have 200 pages of history reading, an oral presentation in French, a politics paper, and a creative writing assignment all due in one week. The plus side? Classes are hardly ever boring. Professors rarely gloss over broad topics to try and pack everything into one semester. Instead, your transcript is littered with amazing titles of diverse fields of inquiry like a French course in Jewish identities in post-WWII France and an electrical engineering course on the applications of lasers and other high-technology innovations in everyday life.

Only AB students have the pleasure of being on a first name basis with their professors. And even in that set, you have to brown nose your way to the top of the pile of assholes in front of you doing the same thing.

Depends on the class. Large ones, it'll depend on whether you take the time to make the effort. Smaller ones, of course they'll know your name.

Professors always know your name. Most classes are 20-30 people with "precepts" where small groups meet to discuss/strudy the material under the guidance of a TA or professor. No classes are actually taught by a TA, always a professor. The lady who taught my freshman calculus class had won a nobel prize. Professors also have an open door policy, so even though they have office hours, you can still walk in any time they are around to ask questions. I have never been turned away when I had a question, no matter how busy the professor. Classes are VERY hard.

It really depends on which department you are in. The English professors are really wonderful at getting to know their students. The same goes for history and language professors. It's harder in the sciences because the classes are so large, but if you put in the effort your face will be recognized. Students study all the time and are extremely competitive. It's often difficult to find study groups because students can be so against helping others succeed.

professors can be great and the classes truly inspirational, however there is too much homework.

The academics are very stimulating and you can get as much help or go into as much depth as you want. However, grade deflation leads to a slightly stressful environment and only further encourages the already competitive nature of many of the students.

Princeton is challenging, probably more challenging than the other ivys due to the new grade deflation policy. One thing about Princeton is that there is a very big difference between people who major in the sciences and engineering and those who study the humanities. Humanities does not usually have Friday class. There are usually fewer hours spent in class for humanities students, and more importantly, more A's are given out in humanities classes. Most employers do not care what you major in when you attend Princeton, so maximizing GPA can be achieved by picking an easier major.

I think academics at Princeton was a challenging but rewarding experience. Pretty much everyone at Princeton comes out of high school with straight A's and 15 extra-curricular activities. But then they come to Princeton and are surrounded by an entire population of people who got straight A's and partook in many activities in high school. So its definitely challenging. I had to think outside the box a lot more than I ever did in high school. Even though it is challenging, I think the professors really want the students to learn and understand material, and thus are very approachable and willing to help. I was an ORFE major and my professors often had weekly office hours and were willing to make individual appointments with students as well. If they weren't available, there were often TA's that were available for help as well.

At Princeton, class sizes can vary from huge lectures of hundreds of students to an intimate class of 20. However, for the very large classes "precepts" of 5-10 students are held and facilitated by a TA. Students can get to know their preceptors pretty well, and it is often these individuals who are asked to write recommendation letters. Most students participate in precepts, as participation factors into the class grade. Professors are accessible for both large and small classes easily by email and appointments. Time is sometimes spent with professors outside class (meals usually), but I did not spend much time with my professors outside class. Professors will know your name if you make an effort to know them. Many students do have intellectual conversations outside of class, and there are students who are competitive. I was a part of the Chemical Engineering department, and found the departments requirements to be very rigorous. The engineering school has different requirements when compared to the main undergraduate school. The engineering department is very well organized, and does its best to work with its students. Some students are deterred by the extra course requirements for engineers, but the engineering departments are currently growing.

Professors know your name. Students study very hard and are very busy but it is possible to be involved in lots of extracurriculars. Some students have intellectual conversations outside of class, but you have to find the right crowd... some students, especially pre-meds, tend to be competitive, but I have never had a bad experience there. I like small departments becuase then you can get a lot of attention and a lot of feed back, and more flexibility for what you need. the academic requirements are okay-- I think it is too easy to be too spread out in your classes adn not focus and become a semi-expert on one thing. Beign at Princeton also opens a lot of doors for jobs later.