moodathis

Hey! I was pretty surprised when I was admitted, because I never really considered Princeton as a top choice, so I never visited campus / talked to students (except for a run-of-the-mill alumni interview). Now that my (former) top choice is seeming less appealing for multiple reasons, Princeton is really looking ideal... but I have questions...

WHY THE HECK ARE THE FINALS AFTER CHRISTMAS!??!
and, HOW HORRIBLE IS IT TO SPEND YOUR HOLIDAYS STUDYING?!
and, DO PEOPLE STUDY DURING THE HOLIDAYS?!!!
and, IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE CULTURE (like quirky and fun / crazy intellectual, think MIT hackers(former top choice)) ON CAMPUS?!

and, WHY AM I TYPING IN CAPITAL LETTERS?

any answers would be greeeatttly appreciated

ps anybody else register for the preview this thursday and still not get any information about a host / some type of verification beyond an email?

I'm arriving late and I hope that they got the message, but I haven't heard anything back from them.

but that is all inconsequential....

What I really want to know about is the schedule! How weird is it to take finals after break? Do you like the academic calendar?

opqpop

Did you know that they have 10 day reading periods (free 10 days of studying right after holiday ends) before finals? I'm not a Princeton student yet, but it seems like you don't have to study that much on the holidays because there's time afterwards to study.

ec1234

Current princeton student here--

the amount of studying you do over winter break can vary. Well, I think no one (or almost no one) studies during winter break, as there is 10 days worth of reading period, and the finals period is very spread out. However, I have written papers during winter break. Reading period is a super fun time to hang out with your friends on campus but without any classes. By taking some time out of my winter break, which I mostly spent at home, I had more free time once I got back to campus. Only one semester did I HAVE to do work over winter break, and that was fall of my junior year as JPs are due a few days after returning. I also had a crazy semester, with the equivalent of 6 classes, so I had 4 papers, a poster, and a presentation all due on or before dean's date.

I really like finals after break because it gives you some time to relax from the last couple weeks of school when there are often papers due before buckling down and writing term papers.

debryc

Current Princeton student as well. I'd still prefer finals before winter break and am at a total loss as to why we're the only remaining school with them after winter break. However, I do agree that there's no need to study over winter break, and that 10 days of reading period is plenty of time to get all the work done. Only freshmen will bring their books with them on winter break. By sophomore year, we already know we're not going to do work anyway, so why add the dead weight?

moodathis

thanks for responding, the insight is helpful

PDaddy

Here's an editorial on the Princeton calendar:
Survey says: something - The Daily Princetonian

Princeton starts the Fall semester later than almost all schools. Most students would rather start earlier and have finals before winter break. My understanding is that the faculty like the current calendar so that they don't have to come back to campus until their kids go off to school.

Celita

"IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE CULTURE (like quirky and fun / crazy intellectual, think MIT hackers(former top choice)) ON CAMPUS?!"

Interesting question I'd like to know as well.

dontno

moodathis:

Just curious, but is one of the "multiple reasons" your former first choise (MIT) is less appealing because you didn't get in?

moodathis

No, I got into MIT (deferred early, but accepted regular) and visited. Just from being there, it was difficult to tell if MIT was the right school for me. The culture (as I said before) has some absolutely amazing and, in my experience, unparalleled aspects to it, but I like to sleep and I might want to back out of engineering or pursue a double major / more of a liberal arts education. I'm not quite committed to anything yet, I still have to see.

But, to repeat one question that I really think is important,
"IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE CULTURE (like quirky and fun / crazy intellectual, think MIT hackers(former top choice)) ON CAMPUS?!"

debryc

moodathis, I think Princeton is definitely the place to be if you want a liberal arts education, but I just want to make sure that you aren't misinformed about certain aspects of Princeton's education before making your decision.

You cannot double major here. Our academics are just too rigorous for this to be a viable option. The major pull on your time and energy will be junior independent work and a senior thesis. That being said, we do have a plethora of certificate programs (minors) that many people choose to mix and match.

Going to rehearsal now, will post about culture later. (=

moodathis

okay, cool. Yeah, I guess I haven't researched that much :-) but I do like the idea of a minor (or 'certificate program'... damn that sounds fancy... how fancy are you princeton people) in some type of less math/science intensive field.

And I've also been looking into 4 year residential colleges, which I know will start coming online like just in time for us '12ers, so my question would be does it seem that these residential colleges will maybe take some of the weight away from the social scene on the Street / make campus better redistributeD?

JoeTrumpet

A link to Princeton's majors and certificates: Princeton University - Departments & Programs

Hopefully you're interested in one of those! You'll notice that only one of the certificates is offered as a major, and this is because a certificate is different from a minor: a certificate supplements your major, and when you write your senior thesis you have to incorporate aspects of your certificate into the thesis. They're a sort of specialization, if you will, and for the most part people obtain certificates (there's no limit as to many you can get, I believe) in fields closely related to their area of study; however, I heard of people doing a physics major with a certificate in theater. Their thesis was a play about physics! The faculty will try to do everything it can to accommodate even the most unique interests, though it's not always easy.

1of42

To answer one of your original questions: I think not too many people do a lot of serious studying over break. At least I know I didn't and neither did any of my friends, though I'm sure this becomes less common as you become a junior/senior and start taking more difficult classes. At the most, though, I think any normal (read: not ridiculously hard-working and grades-obsessed) person would at most do some light review over the holidays. There's always that 10 day reading period and 2 weeks of finals time, which is more than enough to review for the generally 3 or less finals that people have (I have 4 this semester, but that's more than normal).