Princeton University Top Questions

Possibly the most frustrating thing at Princeton is a lack of civic engagement. There are a lot of people who do want to make a difference in the world and who have lofty goals for once they get out of college, but there is not a lot of involvement during one's undergraduate career, as people are very busy studying and do not believe they can divert much time to other activities. I would like to see some more community service, civic action, and political debate in my campus.

While there is certainly very little to complain about, I would say, as a Freshman, that the most frustrating thing is that there aren't many opportunities to connect with people from my math and science classes. While many classes have precepts, or classes designated for discussion, science classes for Freshmen are somewhat less personal, so it's hard making friends at the outset of classes.

The social life.

The seemingly lackluster approach toward radically new ways of organization even though everyone bemoans the current arrangements.

Being around an incredibly intelligent student body, while stimulating and inspiring, can also bring about an increase in grade competition. Couple such a student population with rampant grade deflation that requires each class to submit only a certain percetage of A's to the registrar's office and this cut-throat atmosphere is made even worse. I would imagine most Princeton students, while recognizing the need for grades to reflect academic performance, would opt for relaxing the quota and in its place instituting a more qualitative agreement.

The fact that although there are MANY opportunities, one may never know what they can truly do unless they're in a jam--and generally that's when it's too late.

Nothing. The supermarket's a bit far away, but it's no big deal.

There is nothing frustrating about Princeton. I wouldn't change it a single bit. The students are great, the faculty is very generous, and the facilities are perfect.

The most frustrating thing about Princeton is the emphasis on joining an eating club. These clubs are very much like fraternities/sorities and costitiute to the majority of social opportunities on campus. If you have a good group of friends who all want to join the same club it may not be that bad but it is not guaranteed that anyone will get in. I just wish there were more social opportunities for students who did not want to be involved in an eating club.

Housing is unequal.