<p>1. About how much time do you spend each week on school-related work? (everything from class time to reading to studying for tests)</p>
<p>Workload will vary–ie, it will obviously be much higher during midterms week–but I probably work about 4-5 hours/day during the week, take Saturdays off, and work a 2-3 hours Sunday. Plenty of people complain about their workload, but I find that it’s usually the people who are taking classes out of their league (usually overeager STEM freshman) or people who say they’re “working” when they’re really on Facebook or chatting with friends. I work in a few focused bursts between classes and am usually done by 10 pm or so, including extracurriculars.</p>
<p>2. How much time each week is necessary to receive a reasonably high GPA (3.6 or higher) without either being a genius or intentionally taking the easiest courses?</p>
<p>See above. (I have a GPA slightly higher than that.) For humanities and some social science majors, it’s really about grasping main ideas and writing quality papers. For that reason, it’s more important to be alert and focused during lectures, precepts, and readings than it is to spend inordinate amounts of time doing the work. Other tips include talking to professors: they’re awesome, interested in you, and are more likely to grade you well if they understand your ideas better. (Think about it: going to office hours to discuss a paper basically just gives you a chance to defend yourself, and to add their own idiosyncratic tweaks.)</p>
<p>Other than that, you’ll want to be reasonable with your courseload, but the keyboard is balance, not intentionally taking courses you’re already good at. </p>
<p>3. If I do end up deciding that I’d be better off at Stanford, is there any hope at this point? I’ve already replied that I won’t be attending, but could they re-accept me if I call within a couple days? If so, would Princeton let me go after committing?</p>
<p>This isn’t a terribly uncommon phenomenon. Unless Stanford has overenrolled for this coming year, you’re probably fine. (Of course, call Stanford first!) </p>
<p>However, it’s worth mentioning that I too had buyer’s remorse about Princeton. I turned down Harvard and UChicago for Princeton at the last second, and I continued to freak out until the summer. Ultimately, though, the reasons that I decided on Princeton–more faculty attention, higher per-capita endowment, more academic focus–have all turned out to be really central to my experience here. That doesn’t mean you’ll immediately get great grades and find your best friends when you arrive on campus in the fall, but it does mean that you can make it work, particularly if there are rational reasons you think Princeton is the best fit.</p>