Princeton: Paradise is a Tough Place

Introduction
Princeton is a wonderful school all-around. The academics are top notch, there are myriads of student groups, club sports, and other opportunities in which to get involved, there is always a party going on somewhere, and our school spirit soars as high as the University flag does atop Guyot Hall.

However, as a paradise in itself, Princeton is full of temptations and tricks that can easily get you in to a lot of problems, as the academics here are very demanding, especially for freshmen. Even though your residential college and academic adviser are theoretically available for you to consult, many times they cannot always offer the help you need to keep up, and it is very easy to become extremely tired, stressed, and overwhelmed by your schoolwork during your first term.

Princeton students have to be able to know their limits, because the school expects you to be self-sufficient and independent most of the time. Signing up for a lot of activities can be a huge problem if you are not careful, as you may end up having to go to multiple places at the same time (this happens all the time). Be warned prospectives, your first term at Princeton is not for the faint of heart, but if you know your limits you will succeed and flourish. If you are the kind of student that needs a lot of extra help and is very disorganized/lacks time management skills, Princeton may not be the best place for you.

Campus Life and Social Life
Your Princeton schedule will be packed to the gills with activities, outings, study breaks, parties out on the Street (where the eating clubs are located) and in dorm rooms, and of course, monstrous amounts of studying. An experienced Princetonian will know which things he or she can make and which to skip to get that paper done on time, despite great peer pressure to participate in everything.

Princeton students usually like to party in their dorm rooms (called pre-gaming) in the evening on Thursdays and Saturdays before heading out to Prospect Street (the "Street") to hit the eating clubs, where most will stay until 2-3 AM.

There are also many special events, like formal balls, a large 3-day party in the spring called House Parties at the eating clubs, and in the fall there are Lawn Parties, when the eating clubs often invite big name performers to give concerts on the eating club grounds.

Sports at Princeton are popular, but its more of an Ivy League rivalry thing rather than a deep fan following. The most popular sports are Men's Football and Basketball, as well as Lacrosse and Crew. Academics
The academics at Princeton are very solid in all of the departments here, and the professors are usually very approachable (most have open office hours 1 or 2 days a week). There are a ton of courses to choose from, and some of them are really unique. However, the workload is very intense, and the competition is always stiff.

The only problems that I see sometimes is that when you are taking intro courses that are designed to be for people just filling their distribution requirements, and are usually just full of non-majors, the professors tend to decrease significantly in quality, and support is practically non-existent. This happens frequently in the Mathematics and Physics departments, both of which have high standing at Princeton.

I would say the best departments at Princeton are the ones that are smaller and are not as set in their ways, but usually there are amazing professors and great opportunities in every department.

Student Body
There is really no typical student at Princeton, but I would say that most are very outgoing, are very active in the school community in some way, and some are very intellectual, all the time. They don't mean to be intimidating or elitist, but people here just love to talk about academic kinds of things, especially the students interested in science. Most students here have either gone to a private school or they went to a public magnet school, and many students can speak more than one language fluently.

In Closing...
Princeton is a one of a kind place really. Once you get past your first term freshman year, you catch on to how things work, and you are more able to have fun and express yourself. Just remember that everyone goes through the same things you do for the most part, and everyone will sympathize with you if you're in a pickle. It's a supportive community, but in a different way than most people would think.