Princeton University Top Questions

-Very rigorous -Students are very driven and ambitious, but not cutthroat. -Professors accessible.

I am so grateful that Princeton pushed me to work as hard as I did. I'd like to think that I developed irreversible time management skills, transferable to any field of study or profession. That being said, the pressure I felt to excel in my classes was self-inflicted and self-managed. I really wouldn't say Princeton is a competitive place; I know that others would disagree, but I considered the ethos to be productive and constructive, not divisive or cutthroat. Yes, there is no doubt an abundance of high-achieving students; Princeton's academic resources are just too compelling to pass up! In terms of professor accessibility, I cannot imagine a more undergraduate-friendly faculty. I connected with several long-standing professors, within and beyond my department, and they have all taken an interest in my growth/development outside the classroom. Course offerings are stellar. The flipside, though, is that academic advising is not one of Princeton's strong suits, and freshmen can have a tough time navigating the (admittedly overwhelming, at first glance) course catalog. I never had trouble getting in to a course. If the class is officially "closed," an email of expressed interest to the professor usually gets the job done. One small note: there are tons of great hidey-holes to study on campus. Finding a few and making them your own is highly recommended.

This may shock you, but Princeton is very good at academics. Good teachers, great precept system, and a name that opens doors. Academically, Princeton will get you where you want to go. My more personal take: the engineering is great and the liberal arts are even better, so if you're an engineer but think you might leave for liberal arts, there really is no better place to go than Princeton. Note on the grade inflation policy: Princeton has recently started cracking down on grade inflation by asking professors to give fewer A's to students. Everyone worries about the grade inflation policy. If you're an engineer, don't. We never noticed a difference. If you're in liberal arts, this will make your grades slightly lower than they would have been a few years ago. Whether this bothers you is up to you.

In general, professors know your name if you make the effort to know them. Very few actually reached out to get to know students personally, one on one, if the class size was larger than 50 students. One of my favorite class was Professor Harvey Rosen's Public Finance class. Having been on Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, he brought a certain amount of practical knowledge and wit to the class, showing us real life examples of what actually happened versus what actually occurred. He was also my preceptor and invited us all over to his house for coffee and dessert--the only professor to have done so in my four years at school. Students study as often as they find personally necessary which varies amongst students as well as the courses they are taking. Class participation is common more so when it affects your grade. Princeton students do have intellectual conversations outside of class and can be competitive. Some of the more unique classes I took include Creative Writing (with various professors), Molecular Biology 101, and Public Finance. My major is Operations Research and Financial Engineering--the most flexible (and thus least difficult) engineering major offered. Most students (minus a handful) enter the financial and/or consulting industry from this major immediately post graduation. Very few enter into public service or advanced learning. I do not usually spend time with professors outside of class unless for office hours or if they are preceptors. Princeton's academic requirements are flexible, which is good, but tend to favour the more liberal arts courses instead of math and science. This, of course, is a reflection of the academic requirements across all ivy leagues in general currently. The education at Princeton is claimed to be geared toward learning for its own sake.

Sometimes it's hard to get to know professors well. Intellectual conversations outside of class have been some of the most positive academic experiences I've had a Princeton. Students take intellectual topics seriously, and usually without capriciousness. Most people here are fairly well-read in at least one or two subject areas, and there's ample opportunity to learn from peers here. Very rarely have I run into studens who waste class time by asking obvious questions, missing the point, or unpreparedness.

Most professors don't know my name Favorite class - a number of enjoyable ones Least favorite - advanced multi-variable calculus, which was really difficult and had only grad students for professors who usually didn't speak good English, material was dry as well, and the textbook wasn't great either

I would say that one drawback of Princeton is that you don't really get to know professors easily in the first two years. I think it gets better when you choose a major, but if you aren't really proactive about going to office hours and everything, you don't get to know teachers well. This is one way that makes me miss high school. But when your professor is someone like Peter Singer (famous ethicist) or Joyce Carol Oates (creative writing prof and famous author), it's hard to complain.

Sure there are big lectures that suck, but there are also a good share of wonderful inspirational professors that are eager to talk to you, get to know you, and help you with anything. I've been lucky to find a bunch of these. My film professor offered me a job freshman year, and my English professor once invited the whole class over for dinner, just to chat about anything and everything. Students aren't that competitive really. We all know from the start that everyone's smart, so there doesn't feel a pressure to prove it. If we're competitive, it's a totally internal thing, like we're pushing ourselves to do our own personal best. I'm not a fan of the distribution requirements Princeton makes us all fulfill. We all need to take a math class and two science classes, among other things, but to be honest, I don't think I'll need that background when I'm working as an art historian.

Depends on the class. I was in some classes where the professor took time to know each student, but in other classes, they let the TA's take over. Mostly for the math/econ/ORF classes, the professors didn't really know individual students (still depends on the class though)- the paper-oriented classes were better. Academics takes up a lot of time at Princeton, people study for several hours every day. I didn't find much competitiveness though. Princeton is definitely not geared toward getting a job- its very theoretical. This is good in some ways but it put me in a disadvantage in my job. But they definitly emphasize taking a wide variety of classes, which is something I'm now able to appreciate. My favorite class was an international dance class. It was small, was taught by well-known dancers, and had a good mix of academics and actual dancing. I'd suggest that everyone take at least one dance class.

I think if you make an effort to meet professors, they do a really great job of remembering you and your name. It's definitely a lot easier once you have your major picked out and start working on your thesis, but I think more students should take advantage of professors' availability as a freshmen. I know I was too intimidated to talk to Professors, but looking back I wish I had. My favorite class was abnormal psych with Professor Litchman. It's definitely not easy, but a must take at Princeton! My least favorite class was probably physics... and that's not hard to figure out why when I'm not a sciency person. Students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. It's not unusual to see two friends debating about a number of topics over dinner or in the common room. The students at Princeton are ridiculously competitive sometimes. We are all overachievers, so when you put all of us in one place, it can get a little tense. The most unique class I took was on broadway musicals. It was so different but so interesting too! I've had dinner with a few professors outside of class. It always makes for a fun meal. The academic requirements at Princeton are pretty fair, and you still have lots of room to take classes that you want to enjoy as well. The thesis can be a huge pain, but it can also be very rewarding when it's all said and done. I think the Princeton education is what you make of it. You can learn to learn or to get a job.