Princeton University Top Questions

I loved my relatively small department - Art and Archaeology. The professors all fostered personal relationships with students, occasionally even inviting to their homes for dinner.

Yes, professors definitely knew my name. My favorite class was taught by a truly captivating professor whose lectures were more like enlightening shows. It was Soviet History taught by Professor Stephen Kotkin. My least favorite class was organic chemistry, since in my opinion the professor displayed an almost criminal habit of favoritism. Students study as often as they need or desire, as I would imagine is the case in almost every school. Class participation is indeed common. Princeton students do have intellectual conversations outside of class. Some students are more competitive than others, but again, that is probably true of most schools. The most unique class I've taken was Spanish. I love history so I thoroughly enjoyed my major. There are certain departments that are much more pleasant and personable than others. The history department is one of the greatest in the world, but is a little too large to truly be as personal as smaller ones, also with great people, like Spanish and Physics. I did not spend time with professors outside of class. I think Princeton's academic requirements are fair and indicative of the caliber of student you'll find there. The education at Princeton overall is whatever you make of it. If you are only using it as a stepping stone to get a job, you can certainly do that. But if you want to indulge pure intellectual curiosity, that is certainly a realistic possibility as well.

If you're in a smaller class or seminar, and if you make the effort to introduce yourself/get to know the professor, they usually know your name. Not as much the case in a big seminar, though it depends how much effort you put into it outside of the immediate class time, presumably (i.e. do you go to office hours?). Students are somewhat competitive, but I have never felt a real negative vibe from this--most are willing to share notes, study together, etc. Princeton's academic requirements are generally not bad--the distribution requirements make it so that every undergraduate has some exposure to most general areas of academics without making any particular class (besides freshman writing seminar) an absolute must. I think both of these factors are generally positive, because they offer choice while still structuring your courseload/study somewhat, especially in your first 2 years; and then when you pick a major, you acquire some additional (self-imposed) requirements in your particular department, which generally ensure that you get a pretty good range of knowledge/education in your area of focus (though even then, you have a good amount of freedom in structuring your studies).

I had an incredible academic experience at Princeton. The school really pushes for education for its own sake, encouraging students to take courses in a variety of subjects and to challenge themselves as much as possible. The environment is fairly intense (people generally take academics seriously and spend a lot of time studying) but it never felt very competitive. After starting law school, I realize how collegial my classmates at Princeton were. We would ALWAYS help each other and work in teams whenever possible. Professors were also always willing to interact with students. I had an incredible thesis advisor who I still talk to all the time. My other professors were also great teachers in addition to being (mostly) brilliant.

On the whole, Princeton students devote a lot of time to their classes. They are not cutthroat and often study in groups, despite administrative efforts to combat "grade inflation" by putting departmental guidelines on the number of A's given. Classes range from 200-person lectures to 6-person seminars. Lectures are broken down once a week into "precepts," roughly 15-person groups often led by a TA but sometimes by a professor. Precepts range widely in quality, but instruction in general is of a high caliber and TAs never lecture. People keep a good pulse on which classes are good, so it helps to ask around when selecting classes. Despite the administration's promotion of small classes, some of my own favorites have been large lectures: macroeconomics with former Federal Reserve Vice Chair Alan Blinder, or microeconomics with former Council of Economic Advisers member Harvey Rosen. Seminars delve into advanced topics and are held once a week for three hours. This setup suits some students and not others; it's a matter of preference. It's advisable to take a few, though, because that's where you'll get to know your professors and fellow students better. Introductory language classes, too, are smaller and you're likely to befriend your grad student instructor or fellow language students. A few classes (such as in art history) take expenses-paid trips over breaks. They're by application, but it's well worth seeking them out. Requirements: Princeton is flexible, but it's not a free-for-all like Brown. A.B. students (engineers differ) take 10 different classes in 7 designated course areas, theoretically providing the "liberal arts" education Princeton is meant to be. Some are less than rigorous, which is useful in that the biggest science-phobe can find a manageable class, but something of a detriment in that they can seem like a waste of time. Overall, exposure to different fields is a good thing and many people find their majors through experimentation. A writing seminar, hateful but helpful, is required freshman year. There is a language proficiency requirement which AP credits can cover. The language departments are great, with many opportunities for study abroad and internships, so experiment with languages if you have time. The requirements for your major vary by department. Some, like econ, have prerequisites which take careful planning. My department, Spanish, is more flexible, requiring 8 upper-level Spanish courses. Some can be "cognates," courses outside the department that engage the field in one way or another. I've thus had time to experiment with other fields like economics and art history even as an upperclassman. The most unique part of Princeton academics is the mandatory senior thesis, a 60-100 page independent project. Junior papers (usually 2, of about 25 pages each) in the third year lead up to this but don't have to relate to the thesis topic. This seems overwhelming, but when senior year rolls around, everyone gets through it. Some seniors hate the thesis and others get into it, but in hindsight, most find it a valuable academic exercise.

Princeton has some of the most unbelievable opportunities in the classroom. While it is a lot of work, the payoff is incredible and the quality of the classes make the work worthwhile. Last fall I took a Freshman Seminar course with eleven other students on materials science. With only twelve students were were able to work extremely closely with a professor in the Chemical Engineering department who works on grants for NASA developing new materials for applications in airplanes and space. To be able to work so closely with an expert in the field was an amazing experience and many schools don't offer these kinds of opportunities to students at the Freshman Level. I am an engineer and while we have to take more classes than the B.A. students here, I have really developed a bond with the other engineers in my class. It's a ton of work, but it's worth it. The biggest concern with Princeton is their grade deflation policy that limits the number of A level grades a teacher can give in a semester. This makes some classes extremely competitive, but it's part of the Princeton process.

Professors are wonderful, especially if you take time out to get to know a few personally (tragically, I have only begun this practice my senior year). Always choose your classes based on the professor. Students are sometimes overly competative, but you need not be. History is a wonderful department, since it is populated by tweed jackets, properly dusty bookshelves, and professors who spiritually exist in the 17th century. Also, you can study anything that happened before last week, and so have plenty of academic freedom and range. Also, you should certainly pick out one professor who you admire, and ask him/her your freshman year to help design a four year course of study for you. There is no way to properly take advantage of the preponderance of good course Princeton has to offer if you're only getting a taste here and there, or planning a single semester ahead (like I did). Devise multi-yearl trajectories of learning, with the help of an admired professor (who are mostly very helpful and happy to assist you in your academic pursuits). Professor Robert George is the nicest and most exciting professor at Princeton. Be sure to stop by and say hi to him during office hours, and definitely become his student and acquaintance. You will learn more than you thought possible.

There's no getting around it: you will work very hard at Princeton. As an engineer, my life was dominated by problem sets and design projects. I was often overwhelmed, but ultimately felt extremely proud of my accomplishments and the work that I produced. My professors were very approachable and usually held regularly scheduled office hours to further discuss lecture material. Additionally, precepts were an excellent time to clear-up any confusion, to go over problem sets, and to hear other students' thoughts and opinions. The most memorable part of your undergrad experience will likely be your senior thesis project. This represents an enormous amount of work, but if you select a topic that interests you, it is easy to become engrossed in your research. Looking back now, I almost can't believe that I was able to produce a 100-pg document about a topic that I knew very little about at the beginning of senior year. I really value this experience and am extremely proud every time I look back at the finished product.

With all the engineering classes I've taken, the professors really make an effort to get to know each and every student individually. They stop in the hallway and say hi and make smalltalk. My favorite class so far has been solid state electronic devices. The class was really small; it was more like a seminar. We could always ask the TA for help whenever we needed it, and the professor made an effort to get to know us. Also, the material was really interesting because it filled in a lot of informational "holes" that had been left by previous "handwaving" in more elementary electrical engineering classes. Professors are always very approachable, and if you ever express interest in getting involved in research, they're more than happy to tell you about their research and bring you into their lab.

How much do students study? A LOT. But not in a bad way. It's great to be in an environment where most people put studying first during the day on most weekdays, but make fun a priority on nights and weekends. Actually, that's not even true. Kids here know how to make studying fun. And the parties are great.

The classes are almost always small (with the exception of about 5 introductory classes). It is ridiculous how well you get to know some professors. I have been to one of my professor's houses two times and am planning on going again in two weeks for dinner. Doug Massey knows my name and likes talking to me. I can't imagine a more inspiring academic sphere However, I wish grade inflation didn't exist. It makes learning for its own sake a little difficult.

Professors will often know your names, especially if you are in their precept. My favorite class so far was a history class called "The New Nation." It was taught by Sean Wilentz, who is nationally recognized as one of America's leading historians, and was a truly wonderful lecturer. My least favorite class was an astrophysics class called "The Universe" - it had great lecturers and was fairly easy, but I wasn't interested in the subject matter and was only taking it to fulfill a distribution requirement. Students study pretty much whenever they are not sleeping or partying - people tend to live by the "work hard to play hard" motto. Class participation is vibrant - mostly because it is usually a large percentage of your grade for the course, but also because people seem to be genuinely engaged with the reading and discussion topic. In my experience, Princeton students have a lot of intellectual conversations outside of class. Students are EXTREMELY competitive - competition drives nearly all aspects of Princeton's social and academic life. The most unique class I've taken was an anthropology seminar entitled "Law and Love: an Anthropology of Social Forces." I have not officially declared a major yet since I am still a sophomore, but I am considering anthropology. The department is small, so students get more attention from faculty. I have never spent time with professors outside of class, but most people I know have had a meal or coffee with a professor at some point in their Princeton careers. Most professors welcome and encourage student invitations to meet with them outside of class. Princeton's academic requirements are rigorous, but fair and ultimately rewarding. Education at Princeton is what one makes of it - but the way distribution requirements are set up, students are heavily encouraged to explore all kinds of disciplines and learn for learning's sake.

Class here is what you make of it. there are fabulous professors and not so great ones, and ditto with the classes. I don't think you should eve rtake a class you don't like.

Small campus, so undergraduate focused so professors are incredibly accessible, know their students names and are really engaged. Princeton students are always having insane, intellectual, thought-provoking conversations EVERYWHERE. Students can be competitive, but those kids are marginalized, and really on the periphery. Princeton's education is centered on lots of independent work and 7 distribution requirements, so very liberal arts. We have a great mix of courses, some exceedingly practical, others are exercises in futility and pure academia. You really have your pick. I'm only a freshman but I have loved all my classes, but I am in an awesome anthropology seminar where we talk about the competing social forces of love and law in everyday life. Very provocative and compelling.

My favorite class so far was my Psych 101 lecture freshman fall, with a fantastic, funny, engaging professor who then met with me early the next semester to help me think about major options. I have enjoyed basically all of my classes, and the professors have been very willing to help students. The students are surprisingly non-competitive - many Princeton students come from extremely competitive high schools, and it's really a relief to be here and be able to talk about grades in a course and not feel a competitive edge from everyone around you. I am a music major, and part of the reason I came to Princeton is the music community - not just in the department, which is very nurturing and has lots of offerings, but the student body itself. Princeton has distribution requirements which can be a pain, especially the science with lab ones for non-science majors, but I think it's a good experience. Princeton's thesis requirement apparently inspires a lot of controversy, but I really think it's crucial that students have the experience of a large body of independent work because nothing could better prepare you for the real world. There also aren't as many graduate students on campus, and we don't have the typical professional schools, so the focus really is on undergrads.

Academics are a big deal here. Everyone is very focused on them, and there is a general expectation that academics are going to be a very high priority. Many people spend a huge amount of time on academics. Due to recent changes in policy, grade inflation is being combated. This means that it is very hard to get an A, as there is actually a limit to the percentage of any given class that can receive one. This increases the intensity of the academics, because there is an element of competition built into the system. While it is not too difficult to get B's in classes without a ridiculous amount of effort, it because very difficult to get an A. This is because you know everyone else in the class is working really hard, so unless you do too, it's hard to keep up. The courses are very interesting, though, and manageable in difficulty. As long as you take them seriously, you really can get a lot out of them pretty painlessly. The professors are amazing, because a lot of the time they are the leaders of their field. I recently took a class with Peter Singer which was unbelievable. I really can't stress enough that it is amazing to learn from these people.

It's hard to really say what makes a great class. The professor has a big influence, as does the reading list, as do the students who take it. Luckily, at Princeton all three are usually pretty strong. Professors are brilliant, men and women at the top of their field. Classes are amazingly varied in focus, so two different courses on the same text can be entirely different and entirely enlightening. Professors are very accessible, though good academic advising is often difficult to come by. My major in particular, Comparative Literature, is great in that it shares professors with many other small departments, so the variety of backgrounds is vast, but all have time to work with you. Students are intelligent, but most are aware that everyone here is intelligent so there's no need to show off. People will have casual conversations about high-level intellectual subjects and highly intellectual conversations about inane subjects at the same meal. While the larger departments often offer less support, and economics and Woodrow Wilson School majors are often very job oriented, most people will take advantage of all sides of their department and others to get a well-rounded and intellectually exciting experience.

Academics at Princeton are great. The professors are really accessible and friendly.

Some professors know my name. In general I've found they only know it if they were my preceptor, advisor, or taught a seminar (excepting Michael Barry). If you go to office hours, they will know your name. But unless you make an effort somehow to communicate with them they won't. But it's not their job to memorize everyone's name. Fav class ever was Causes of War with Gary Bass. Sure he can come across as arrogant sometimes, but this guy sat in on Milosevic's trial...he kind of has done some amazing things. He basically inspired me to be a pol major. And many other things in my life. I love him. Worst class. Probably The Psychology and Philosophy of Rationality. Harman is the stereotpyical Philosophy prof and he's just awful. I learned nothing. Thank god I PDF'd it. It was soooo bad. I feel like I study pretty much every day but Friday. Not a whole lot on Saturdays either. I have friends that only do work once every 2 weeks, stay up all night to do problem sets and then crash. Their grades aren't so good either. Participation in precept is high...kind of mandatory. Otherwise in lecture, generally not. People def have intellectual convos outside of class. People are competitive. We got into Princeton. It's in our blood. College does lessen that somewhat. But then there's grade deflation. The pol department is pretty awesome. It's definitely a bigger department, but you still always get a faculty member as your advisor. The profs are super smart and really open to talking to students. I personally haven't spent that much time outside of class with profs, though I know people who have, and I wish I had. I'm just shy. The academic requirements aren't too bad. EC is a random requirement though. And science classes for humanities people suck. But education is definitely both for education and job stuff. There's always lots of theory involved.

As it’s sometimes said, Ivy League academics are the reward for kids who worked their asses off in high school. Classes were the liberal arts standard. I will say that the most amazing classes I took were actually in the Humanities department (which isn’t technically a department, since it doesn’t offer any majors—only “certificates”). There’s no journalism major, so the Humanities dept. brings in big-name journalists and writers to have semester-long writing workshops/classes with students (you have to apply to get in, and the biggest names draw the most applications). I ended up taking Narrative Writing with Evan Thomas from Newsweek and Humor Writing with Joel Stein—both were amazing opportunities to work one-on-one with really respected journalists who were just as happy to work with use as we were to work with them. That’s the standard, I guess—professors are usually really invested in their classes because so many of their students are so damn smart. It makes for a vibrant—if sometimes intimidating—academic environment.