My d got accepted into Princeton. She will be swimming and a CS major. She is concerned about the workload. Is it significantly harder than Harvard and Yale?
According to my S that attends Princeton and has numerous friends at both Harvard and Yale, yes. Assuming your daughter has already committed, there is no sense in focusing on that now though. There is so much about Princeton to love!!
I just don’t want her to be overly stressed and hope she is not getting into a situation where she is burning the candle at both ends.
@collegedaughters
The answer to many of your questions are it depends on the student. Supreme court justice Elena Kagan was the editor of the student newspaper. She said that she worked on the paper 40 hours per week and her studies suffered. Some students that are invoked in student theater spend long hours preparing for their performances. I knew one student that was a very diligent student and did not participate in clubs or sports. I had a friend on the swim team and he had a very active social life.
Work load comparisons are difficult since students only attend one university. Most students are very busy because they love their courses and activities. Engineering labs are collaborative - not competitive. Students work in teams to solve problems. Senior’s joke: studies, social life, sleep. Choose any two. Your daughter may be tired yet love all her activities.
Concentrate on the support that your daughter will have as a computer science major. 48% of the entering engineering class are women. Emily A. Carter is the Dean of the Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science. Jennifer Rexford ’91 is the chair of the Department of Computer Science. She won the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award in 2005, for her work on the Border Gateway Protocol, became a fellow of the ACM in 2008, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2014. According to Rexford, the increased representation of female COS majors is due to vibrant student groups, such as Princeton Women in Computer Science, which have fostered interest in technology. “Our great Princeton Women in Computer Science group runs fantastic events, provides mentoring to first and second year students, sends a large group of students to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and generally fosters a wonderful sense of community,” she said. The Princeton Women in Computer Science (PWiCS) is a club to support and encourage women to excel in computer science at Princeton. PWiCS has developed a multifaceted approach to its main goal of providing support and encouragement to women in computer science. In addition to providing advice and mentoring, the group hosts events such as course enrollment study breaks, dinners with professors, lunches with companies. PWiCS also has received funding from the Computer Science and Engineering departments to send students to the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing — an opportunity to meet other women in tech and also to find internships and jobs. In 2015 the university will sponsor 25 female computer science students to to the event. “PWiCS has made a big difference, not only supporting woman as a minority but in encouraging woman to participate in all kinds of programs like hackathons, high school outreach and internships,” said Computer Science Professor Andrea LaPaugh.
Thank very much for taking the time to explain. I am very appreciative.
@collegedaughters - My son majored in physics while competing as a member of Princeton’s fencing team and maintained a very high GPA. Balancing swimming, CS, and a healthy social life will be a bit of a challenge, but certainly do-able. Congratulations and best wishes to your daughter.
@collegedaughters it also helps if she is AB COS vs. BSE COS, check out the difference: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/ugrad/becoming-cs-major/bse-vs-ab according to posts on realtalk Princeton (a student run tumblr blog) there isn’t much difference (if at all) in internships and job offers between the somewhat easier AB COS and slightly more difficult BSE COS programs.