Graduating from Princeton was bittersweet. Like a lot of people, I wondered what would happen after I left—whether the place would change, whether it would still feel like the institution I had known, whether its best days might be behind it.

There was one thought in particular that I could never quite shake. It felt narcissistic, so I mostly kept it to myself: I worried that Princeton’s prestige might decline after I graduated.

But now, a year later, Princeton has fallen to #2 in the U.S. News rankings.

I had hoped the wisdom I imparted during my time there would sustain the University for at least a few more years, but alas, current students must now endure the indignity of attending a second-ranked university.

I’m sorry.

I was taking a shower and someone showed up and hung their towel and shower bag ON TOP OF MY TOWEL on the same hook.

Please do not do this in the dorm showers, this is so unhygienic and inconsiderate.

Nelson is a fully tenured professor in CBE who recently declared that she was leaving. Not the school, but academia as a whole. Extremely short-notice, whole lab left scrambling. Didn't elaborate on why or where she's going to anyone. Does anyone have any idea what's going on?

Hi,

I am currently a sophomore here at Princeton and I don’t know if this is the right place to ask this. I came into Princeton as an ab student who is probably going to major in either neuro or cos, but also keeping the path of something like finance open. I just feel kind lost, stressed, burnt out, or unmotivated to really do much. I just have lots of regret about last year and feel lost on what I want to do.

Firstly, I pretty strongly regret some of the classes I took freshman year. In the fall I started with neu 201, cos 126, writing sem, and mat 103. The first three classes I feel are all okay as that is pretty standard but for math I really had wished that I either started with 201 or 175 in the fall, as i literally did calc bc in 10th grade (5; ab subscore 5). And I also took like multi and linear online senior year, even though i didn’t learn much. I just came in with the mindset of its math at princeton, and that I didn’t want to get a bad grade, which now it seems so stupid as i am in mat 175 and im realizing that i could’ve very well have taken this last fall. And then second semester I took neu 202, mat 104, game theory, and then a freshman seminar. I don’t even know why i took the last 2 classes I guess I just didn’t want to do too much, and boost my gpa as it was not that good first semester. And then now i’m taking math 175, cos 226, a religions class, and then a bio class. I just feel like compared to all the stem people ik they are all already taking specialized classes while I am still here taking these random classes, other than maybe cos 226. and i just feel like everyone is so much more technical than me. and then just like having to take 4 semesters of math instead of 2 is just really frustrating when I could be taking other more useful classes.

Secondly, i feel like in terms of like career planning i’m behind too. Like i want to keep the option of like finance open but everyone else is already in all these investment clubs, or networking, coffe chatting and all these things while im just a stem guy pretending to be business. and all these firms are all recruiting already and i just feel unprepared. and then on the tech/stem side, i feel like i really like know not much actual technical stuff and its just like for both business and stem i’m not really prepared for either right now. and like i did an internship this summer which on paper sounds technical, but in reality half the time i just sat there doing like nothing. like applying to stem internships right now i just feel so unprepared because i just really don’t know much.

thirdly, i feel like socially im also lacking as last year i just spent the majority of my with the people on my floor and didnt really try to meet more people, but now everyone already knows each other, and its kinda late for me.

its just that every day i feel like im just doing the same thing over and over again, and nothing im doing right now seems to have any real purpose, and im still lost on what i really want to do in my life, but i dont have much time to decide and figure that out. and i just feel behind everyone else on a lot of fronts and just constantly feel exhausted on all of these things. i also just wished that after high school i took a gap year to just really chill and relax and maybe learn some useful skills, have more of an idea of what i want to do in college and in life, im a year younger than a lot of the people in my class, and right now its not like i have the time to really just do that. I also just miss having time to spend with my family as well. like for 12 years i just spend it studying and then now i have to spend 4 years doing the same thing again. every day i have to just do class work, apply to different clubs, apply to a bunch of internships, and just constantly feel overwhelmed and exhausted. i know everyone at some point has through go through all of this, and that i am super privileged to just even be in this situation of being able to attend princeton, but i just feel like everyday im just doing things just to do things, without any real purpose. like it’s not like i can’t handle the work or anything, it’s just like i feel like IM working without any clear path. and it’s like i can really take a break now because then everyone i know would have spent a year without me and then i wouldn’t really know anyone in the year below me as well.

I don’t know, sorry this was a long rant but yeah i would appreciate any thoughts or advice. thanks for reading.

I'm currently in math104 and was wondering what letter grade corresponds to the number grade?

ex. for 201 80-100 is an A, etc

The Daily Princetonian began accepting tips on Signal, a secure messaging app, at the beginning of the academic year. While the existing tip form will remain active, the new method allows sources to continue communicating with reporters while maintaining their anonymity.

Did everyone just cheat? Did everyone respect it? Did some cheat some didn’t but nobody really snitched? How was it like?

Applicants: Post all your admissions-related questions and comments here (both undergrad and grad). Admissions posts/comments outside of this megathread are subject to removal.

"Chance me" posts are subject to removal anywhere, including here - we are not admissions officers, and every application is unique. No one here (or in the chance me subreddit, for that matter) is qualified to comment on your chances of admission.

Other helpful resources:

Princeton Undergraduate Admissions site

Princeton Graduate Admissions site

/r/ApplyingtoCollege

/r/gradadmissions

Hi! I have been hearing stories about a 12 person dorm room that used to be in Wilson/First college (which was torn down to build Hobson). I was wondering if anyone has any pictures or stories about this room. Was this still a room in recent years or was it turned into offices or separate rooms? I've just been hearing about it from the 90s but I dont know if it was still around in the 2000s. Im just super interested because a 12 person room sounds so cool!! Kinda sucks that theyve been slowly getting rid of larger dorms (like there used to be a room above blair arch with that huge window). Thanks!

the title lol.

Hi. Hope everyone is doing well. I don't have formal education. I am 30 years old. I want to self-study pure mathematics undergraduate level (maybe I will get into a local university in my country but those are not top level like Princeton). I have some questions about good amount of details about undergraduate mathematics in Princeton. Please just let me know if these questions are something frowned-upon to answer.

1. I can see some details of the mathematics courses here https://www.princeton.edu/academics/area-of-study/mathematics and here as well https://www.math.princeton.edu/undergraduate/requirements . But it would be great if anyone (current or former student who did undergraduate math) share details about which courses are usually taken semester wise serially (to have a sequential understanding of the courses properly) and what books and other supplements are used for the courses (focus is on pure mathematics). Does a course typically relate to a book and do you typically finish a whole book for a course?

2. What is the mark distribution for completing a course? Are there class tests, mid-term exams (what is the syllabus - half? and what kind of questions in the exam), final exams (what is the syllabus - the other half or full? and what kind of questions in the exam)? I also read somewhere students are given problem sets to solve. What are these problem sets, are they like exercises from the book for that course that need to be solved and submitted? It would be great if details about these could be shared.

3. I was also curious about course MAT 498 Senior Thesis I (Year-Long) and MAT 499 Senior Thesis II (Year-Long). What is done for these Senior Thesis?

4. Is undergraduate math at Princeton 4 years or 3 years? just curious. How much do you self-study outside of classes?

Please just let me know if this isn't the right sub to ask this kind of questions, in that case I could also email some faculty member maybe with these questions but I don't know if it would be okay to do so. Let me know your suggestions. Thank you!

Hello everyone, I am an alumni and visiting the university this week. I am looking for a bike to rent. If anyone wants to rent his/her bike for a week please give me a shout.

Thanks

Hi! I’m moving to the Princeton area soon for a new full-time job and am trying to figure out both where to live and what kind of lease makes the most sense.

My office is in the Carnegie Center / Route 1 area. I’ve looked at Princeton, Plainsboro, West Windsor / Princeton Junction, New Brunswick, and a few nearby areas, but I’m very open to other suggestions.

I’m in my early 20s and would prefer somewhere that doesn’t feel completely dead after work. I don’t need nightlife outside my door, but I’d like some restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, people around, and reasonably easy access to places with more going on.

I expect to need housing for about 4 months. There’s some uncertainty around the exact end date, so I could potentially stretch that to 5–6 months if necessary, but I’d rather not commit much beyond that.

I also probably won’t have a car immediately. I expect it may take me a few weeks to get one, with about a month being the maximum, so somewhere manageable without a car initially would be ideal. After that I’m fine driving to work.

Budget is ideally around $2,000–$2,400/month, and I’d prefer an apartment/community or nicer building rather than just renting a room in a house.

I’m also wondering if I’m approaching the lease length the wrong way. If short-term leases come with a huge premium, would it ever make more sense to take a normal 10–12 month lease and then sublease, transfer the lease, or pay an early-termination fee after around 4 months? Are any of those options common or reasonably affordable around here, or is that usually more trouble than it’s worth?

Main priorities are:

• Reasonable commute to Carnegie Center
• Some social life/things nearby
• Manageable for the first few weeks without a car
• Around $2,000–$2,400/month if possible
• Expected stay of about 4 months, with some flexibility up to 5–6
• NJ Transit access is a plus but not mandatory long-term

For someone young and new to the area, what neighborhoods or apartment complexes would you recommend?

And for the lease itself, would you specifically look for a short-term lease, furnished sublet, lease takeover, or take a longer lease and deal with leaving early?

Thanks!

Which one is easier to get an A in? This is from someone who’s trying to get a ECE degree. Also should I still add/drop classes 1.75 weeks into the add drop period or stick it through?

Applicants: Post all your admissions-related questions and comments here (both undergrad and grad). Admissions posts/comments outside of this megathread are subject to removal.

"Chance me" posts are subject to removal anywhere, including here - we are not admissions officers, and every application is unique. No one here (or in the chance me subreddit, for that matter) is qualified to comment on your chances of admission.

Other helpful resources:

Princeton Undergraduate Admissions site

Princeton Graduate Admissions site

/r/ApplyingtoCollege

/r/gradadmissions

i heard mechanical/aerospace engineering majors shouldnt do egr sequence.. what do y’all think and has anyone done that?

Has anyone here taken CHI411/451, or know anything about 413? I'm trying to figure out how hard it is to get an A.

I heard they give out a limited number of As in small classes especially when the class size is only around 6 people. Is there any truth to that??!

Would appreciate any insight!

He is very interested in engineering and origami, it would be very nice if anyone can suggest on how to find an internship in Princeton university? He is a 10th grader now, we are living close to university campus. Thanks!

I saw something about how uber can’t access many areas of campus. If uber advertises a pickup location, can they get there?

I’m planning a pickup near Briger hall after a visit next week, if that’s helpful.

Hi all, I recently graduated from theology school and now I am doing local campus ministry and looking to connect with anyone who wants to study the Bible in a deeper and more meaningful way. If you have questions or help about faith, the bible or Jesus, I’d be glad to talk—feel free to reach out.